Nothing will change the future of aviation in Australia. It isn't an election issue and short of a massive smoking hole in the ground and the whiff of corruption/malfeasance/negligence as a cause it never will be an election issue.
The public has lived with the idea that Australia has the safest skies in the world for so long that nothing that can be said will change that opinion. Thousands of fun seeking overseas bound Australians get on board aircraft that offer the cheapest flight to whatever sun soaked playground they desire without a thought as to how the crew are trained and the aircraft maintained. They don't care so long as their luggage doesn't go someplace else.
To those who castigate Tony Windsor for siding with Labor I bet you have never bothered to read his articles about why he chose the way he did. Nor, I suggest, have you read why he has decided to stand again. Given the way Tony Abbot turned out I suggest he has more clues about politics than most on this forum.
To suggest that CASA and Airservices are incompetent is to misread the situation entirely. They are not. They have been given no policy outline by governments of any persuasion but merely given the vague direction that they are to cause no public embarrassment. This they have done but in the process, and because they have absolutely no understanding of GA, they have put in place legislation that is appropriate for an airline level of service but devastates GA.
I found it very interesting that Barnaby Joyce didn't want the Transport Ministry which is traditionally the Nationals bailiwick. It may have been on another thread on this forum where it was said that he didn't want anything to do with clusterf**ck that was aviation (my phrasing as I can't remember the exact wording). If you want another reason why aviation won't be an election issue, that is as good as it gets.
Last edited by PLovett; 29th Apr 2016 at 23:36.