Folks,
Let's go back a bit further, as this has been a long time coming.
The WA Government, in times past, put together a quite large scale plan for development of aviation businesses in WA, to the intended long term benefit of the WA (and Australian) economy ----
In short, to "Promote and Foster" aviation in WA.
I still have a copy of the report and final policy document --- an impressive publication, whichever way you looked at it, except if you worked for CASA in Canberra.
A direct upshot of that, and WA trade missions to RP China, was WAFC becoming China Southern WAFC --- Merredin airfield was acquired, and a (then) US$750,000,000.00 (three quarters of a billion dollars US) development was announced.
That is a bloody big investment, even in 2017 dollars, let alone fifteen years ago.
Then came CASA, after frustration after frustration, the investment program was truncated, and finally canned, and most of the money went to NZ, and to Canada, where the respective regulatory authorities are not actively hostile to aviation --- the hostility often tinged with undisguised racial bias --- as exhibited on this thread.
A couple of years ago, I attended a major GA conference in Xi'an, China, where I had a long conversation with the head of China Southern's external to China cadet pilot training program -- unsurprisingly, his comments were scathing.
He made it very plain( at a breakout session) that they (China Southern) would never again consider Australia as a place for cadet training, as had originally been intended ---- they have a policy of training cadets in a western environment.
Australia really is "the lucky country" ---- and Donald Horn did not mean that to be a compliment.
Tootle pip!!