CASA Board - August 2008?

[hiwaytohell]

I came across a media release from the Australian Government August 2008 announcing the appointment of a new CEO. It included the following paragraph:

"The Rudd Government has committed to introducing a board for CASA, to provide the Minister and the CEO with additional support in setting strategic direction and to enhance aviation safety outcomes. Subject to passage of legislative amendments, it is expected the board will be in place by July 2009."

Good idea... no execution!

Dear Minister, please explain?

[Creampuff]

The Board has been reintroduced.

It looks just like the old Board.

You know: The old Board that was abolished for the purpose of making it easier for the Minister and CEO to set and focus on strategic direction and enhance safety outcomes.

[Old Akro]

"I was to learn in later life that we tend to meet any new situation by reorganising; and a wonderful method it can be for creating the illusion of progress while producing confusion, inefficiency, and demoralisation."
Petronius Arbiter (c AD60)

[hiwaytohell]

Despite all the old board's many failings there was at least some semblance of a link to aviation.

The current board is invisible, has no meaningful connection with industry, nor for that matter the travelling masses.

The lack of vision did not strike me until I reviewed the NZ CAA for another thread. See Civil Aviation Authority of New Zealand (http://www.caa.govt.nz/about_caa/vision.htm)

The contrast is striking!

[rutan around]

Bruce Highway AKA Highwaytohell
Brilliant! NZ caa says in about 50 words everything we could wish for with their Vision,Mission & Priorities statement and not a mention of demerit points. CASA couldn't come close to achieving the same result using half a million words and 10 years of committee meetings. We need CASA disbanded today and the job handed over to CAA NZ lock stock and barrel . Without going into longwinded argument we just have to open our eyes. NZ GA is encouraged and is going forward. Australia is going the opposite way slowly being crushed to death with bureaucratic lunacy.
Cheers & tears RA

[Kharon]

RA #5 - We need CASA disbanded today and the job handed over to CAA NZ lock stock and barrel .

What RA and HWTH said: it's a most refreshing approach from the Kiwi's.

There was somewhere posted on PPRuNe the text of the policy, just recently; perhaps it was only a link. Anyone know where it is, would like to read it again.

[hiwaytohell]

Not only that the NZ Government holds the organisation accountable to the strategic priorities.

Note the adjectives "efficient, effective, responsive and capable". I doubt these words are even in the Office of Legal Counsel's vocabulary!

Having dealt with the NZ CAA I can attest that all these adjectives applied to my dealings.

[gobbledock]

Highwaytohell, meet the team!!!
And what a team of Board members it is. Long term bureaucrats and lawyers. Yep, they realy know about aviation don't they?? And what has aviation safety achieved since the appointment of these individuals? If you find anything please let me know,ta.

Allan Hawke - Chair
http://www.casa.gov.au/wcmswr/_assets/main/corporat/images/hawke.jpg
Dr Allan Hawke was appointed Chair of the Board on 1 July 2009. He has a Bachelor of Science (Hons) and Doctor of Philosophy. He joined the Commonwealth Public Service in 1974 and rose through the ranks to be Secretary of the Departments of Veteran’s Affairs, Transport and Regional Services, and Defence.

Dr Hawke was appointed as High Commissioner to New Zealand in 2003, and in 2006 was installed as Chancellor of the Australian National University. In recognition of his outstanding contribution to public service Dr Hawke was awarded a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Public Administration in 1998 and a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Management in 1999. In 2001 he became a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. The Australian Financial Review’s “Boss” Magazine, named him as one of Australia’s top 30 true leaders in its inaugural list in 2001.

In June 2010 Dr Hawke was made a Companion (AC) in the General Division of the Order of Australia for eminent service to public administration, particularly through the formulation and implementation of policy in the areas of transport, defence and education, and to the strengthening of bilateral relations with New Zealand.

David Gray - Deputy Chair


http://www.casa.gov.au/wcmswr/_assets/main/corporat/images/gray.jpgMr David Gray was appointed Deputy Chair of the Board on 1 July 2009. He has an honorary doctorate from the Queensland University of Technology and is a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, and a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society.


Mr Gray was managing director of Boeing Australia for 11 years until 2006. Prior to this appointment, he was managing director of GEC Marconi and a divisional chief executive of GEC (Australia) Heavy Engineering.

In 2003 Mr Gray was awarded a Centenary Medal for services to the aviation industry, business and commerce. He is currently Chairman of the Queensland Cyber Infrastructure Foundation, Chairman of the Australian Research Council for Aviation Automation, a Director of Brisbane Airport Corporation, and a Director of Collection House Limited.

Helen Gillies

http://www.casa.gov.au/wcmswr/_assets/main/corporat/images/gillies.jpgMs Helen Gillies was appointed to the Board on 1 July 2009. She has a Bachelor of Commerce and a Bachelor of Laws (Hons) from the University of Queensland, a Master of Business Administration from the University of Sydney, and a Master of Construction Law from the University of Melbourne.

Ms Gillies has been practising law for 20 years and is currently Corporate Counsel and general manager of Risk and Compliance with Sinclair Knight Merz. She won the Australian Corporate Lawyers Association, Australian Corporate Lawyer of the Year award in 2008 and has been admitted as a Solicitor of the Supreme Courts of Queensland and New South Wales, and admitted as a Solicitor of the Supreme Court of England and Wales.

Trevor Danos

http://www.casa.gov.au/wcmswr/_assets/main/corporat/images/danos.jpgMr Trevor Danos was appointed to the Board on 1 July 2009. He has a Bachelor of Economics and a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Sydney and is a member of the NSW Law Society, the Law Council of Australia and the NSW Society of Notaries.

Mr Danos has practised law for over 30 years and specialises in the areas of banking and finance as well as Federal and State government procurement. He is currently a Partner with Corrs Chambers Westgarth.

Among other current Board memberships, Mr Danos is a Director of TransGrid and a board member of the Sydney Local Health District. He is Immediate Past President of the Science Foundation for Physics and an Honorary Adviser to the Human Research Ethics Committee (University of Sydney). He is a trustee of the Cure for Life Foundation and the Adolph Basser Foundation; and a member of the Cooperative Research Centres (CRC) Committee.

Mr Danos was appointed as the Chair of CASA’s Board Audit Committee in February 2010.

[T28D]

Lots of talent there, pity none of it is directly attributable to aviation safety in any form.

Reality they are all apologists for the Office of Legal Counsel.

A classic waste of money and time, obsfucation at the highest level.

[hiwaytohell]

Gobbledock

My point precisely!... no go and take a look at the Kiwi CAA!