Sunfish, such cynicism in one so young as yourself is distressing... :-)
You forgot two additional points:
I understand this is a husband-and-wife operation, so I expect they are already closed down. No further action by the regulatory authority required.
Anyone who once looked at a plane will now be shoved into a suit and in front of a camera as an "aviation expert".
The "Close Down Essendon Airport" crowd now have another statistic to reinforce their argument that the Airport should be closed down. 17 deaths over 40 years is a loss of life which cannot be tolerated.
Edit: Please note - I am not belittling the loss of life, as each one of those deaths is a tragedy. I do object to the fact that a similar loss of life over a similar time frame on any road in Australia would not raise an eyebrow, much less a request for the road to be closed.