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Glen Buckley and Australian small business -V- CASA

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Glen Buckley and Australian small business -V- CASA

Old 24th Aug 2019, 00:25
  #301 (permalink)  
 
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The response really shows the organisational disdain for GA and small businesses in general.
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Old 24th Aug 2019, 00:27
  #302 (permalink)  
 
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Glen, sounds like they(he) are accusing you of posting fake CAsA correspondence.
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Old 24th Aug 2019, 02:38
  #303 (permalink)  
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When immaturity impacts on safety.

Stickshift, in post 299 you mention immaturity. Let me provide an example of when that immaturity impacts on safety.

For those that do not understand the CASA structure. Victoria and Tasmania have 3 teams, referred to as CMT1, CMT2, and CMT3. Each team with several members, each being a subject matter expert on a particular subject i.e. a safety specialist, flying school operations, maintenance etc. CMT3 was the team I was transferred to. The role of these teams is to be the first point of contact with Industry. To provide support and mentoring, and to work with those organisations collaboratively to enhance safety outcomes. That is the reason they exist.

EVERY Flying School in Australia has a CMT allocated to it. With the exception of APTA. CASA made APTA the only school without a CMT. I made many requests for a change to either CMT1 or CMT2. I will post those emails. For many months APTA operated with no CMT. CASA cannot possibly justify that decision on safety grounds. It is seriously ridiculous.

So I am doing my best endeavours to conduct business safely and compliantly without a CMT. I have sold the business under financial duress, and I have been the business owner for over 15 years. I am a CASA approved Head of Operations, and I am the CASA approved CEO for the Organisation.

The new owner will move into the role, and is highly capable. However; he has not completed the Company induction. Has not been approved by CASA as the CEO, or in fact for any Key Personnel position. He is the new buyer, and has not had the opportunity to meet staff and understand the business. I am still the CASA approved person fully accountable to CASA in their own rules and regulations for all APTA operations, when I receive the following email. Quite seriously, its disgraceful, and it truly makes me question, whether these people seriously even consider safety when they make decisions.!!!. They truly wouldn't last one week in my safety focussed business. Once again they seize another opportunity to frustrate me but also compromise safety!!!

"Dear GlenThank you for your email. CASA understands that APTA Pty Ltd has been sold and that Mr XXXXXX will be nominated as the new CEO.In the circumstances, CASA will now communicate with Mr XXXXX on matters related to APTA...………"

Last edited by glenb; 24th Aug 2019 at 03:33.
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Old 24th Aug 2019, 03:38
  #304 (permalink)  
 
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Carmody probably didn’t write the letter. He most likely received a brief from senior management that finished with the recommendation that he sign the attached letter.

Carmody most likely received glens letter, went WTF? Then handed it to the very people who were torturing Glen for to craft the official CASA response.

NOBODY at that level does anything on their own. Carmody knows sfa about aviation. He would have had to ask and possibly been told that Glen was a wacko troublemaker with an axe to grind, such people exist and Carmody’s letter looks like exactly the response you normally. send. At least it didn’t threaten him with an AVO and the Federal Police.
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Old 24th Aug 2019, 03:41
  #305 (permalink)  
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Raising my concerns.

On 16/05/18 I sent the following email to the Regional Manager requesting a meeting. The subject of that meeting was solely to raise concerns about a person on the new CMT that was to begin oversighting my business. I was concerned that this person may not work well with my organisation.

"Cheers XXXXXX,
Lets go for 3.30PM on Thursday. I wanted the opportunity for a one on one (but not off the record) meeting, and if CASA protocol is for someone else to be in attendance, I would be happy for XXXXX to participate. I anticipate it will be fairly brief, only about 15 minutes. After that I would be happy to meet XXXX"

I will be calling for those meeting notes under FOI.

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Old 24th Aug 2019, 03:43
  #306 (permalink)  
 
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I wonder if Glen is getting a few messages of support? My advice would be not to try and take on CASA on your own, you will go broke, mad or both.
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Old 24th Aug 2019, 03:51
  #307 (permalink)  
 
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Glen, you can call for FOI notes till you are blue in the face. “he said she said” is irrelevant now so give up on the personalities thing. You have been declared persona non grata, the drawbridge has been pulled up and they are not listening except for a slip by you that allows them to declare that you are not “a fit and proper person” to be involved in Aviation at all.

This problem is not going to be solved within CASA. You need to take your complaints somewhere else.
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Old 24th Aug 2019, 04:06
  #308 (permalink)  
 
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Glen, sounds like they(he) are accusing you of posting fake CAsA correspondence.
Gordon Gekko's line in Wall Street seems appropriate in this context:
Stop telling lies about me and I'll stop telling the truth about you.
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Old 24th Aug 2019, 04:23
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The danger, I believe, is that they will try to discredit Glen's account of the truth. I disagree with those above who say that a crowdfunding effort would not pay off. It may indeed not reach levels necessary to hire top lawyers for years on end, but it certainly will spread the word and raise awareness beyond this forum. I truly mean no disrespect to the many of you who show support on pprune, but at the end of the day this forum is just that: a niche for initiated and by definition not mainstream. People could just scroll through the many threads here to conclude that disgruntled pilots converge simply here to rant on the system, hence views on this forum form by no means an objective depiction of the aviation authorities. A campaign for Glen's cause needs to reach people beyond aviation communities if it is gather enough momentum to takeoff (no pun intended). That's not going to happen through pprune alone but it may through crowdfunding and sharing on social media.
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Old 24th Aug 2019, 05:31
  #310 (permalink)  
 
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Glen seems a bit proud to ask for assistance, but we could invest in our future as an option.

https://thirdsector.com.au/introduci...ding-platform/
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Old 24th Aug 2019, 07:05
  #311 (permalink)  
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Final correspondence with CASA

Dear Mr Carmody,

I am compelled to respond to your recent letter dated 23rd August 2019 as my allegations are related to the conduct of 4 personnel working within the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA). They engage broadly with industry, and if my allegations of misconduct are substantiated in a court of law, that has safety implications for the wider industry.

Those personnel have:
  • Breached CASAs own Regulatory Philosophy;
  • Breached their obligations under the PGPA Act;
  • Not acted in accordance with the Ministers Statement of Expectations;
  • Breached the obligations placed on them by Administrative Law;
  • Reduced aviation safety measurably and demonstrably by their conduct;
  • Clearly breached procedures outlined in CASAs enforcement manual;
  • Not acted in accordance with their respective Position descriptions;
  • Bought their fellow employees within CASA into disrepute through their actions.
I fully appreciate the substantive nature of the allegations, but the consequences of their actions are also substantive, and include not only negative safety outcomes but the closure of three businesses with an associated loss of jobs and the attendant domino effect down the chain. It is likely that more businesses will shortly be affected. As you are aware, I availed myself of CASAs internal procedure for dispute resolution, but the final report completely avoided the matters raised. The final ICC report was significantly “watered down” from the Preliminary Report, and the core complaints were completely omitted. The Prime Minister has called for members of the public service to work with industry, and many points from recent speech are pertinent in my situation. You have made it very clear that you will not be engaging further with me on this matter; accordingly, you leave me no option but to write to the Prime Minister.

Respectfully



Glen Buckley

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Old 24th Aug 2019, 07:20
  #312 (permalink)  
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Bendalot-Crowd Funding for litigation

Cheers, I just had a look at that website. I appreciate that I appear to be holding off. I can assure you that I will have no hesitation. First however I must satisfy myself that I have exhausted every option. Mr Carmody has firmly slammed the door shut on any communications with CASA.

I will write to the PM and all Senators, and post that correspondence on here. I will be working towards a resolution this week. During this week, I will also initiate a crowd funding campaign.

Thankyou all for your advice and support, cheers. Glen
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Old 24th Aug 2019, 07:24
  #313 (permalink)  
 
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I had the misfortune to sit in on a presentation by Carmody some time back. What an arrogant pr>>k.
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Old 24th Aug 2019, 08:49
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Originally Posted by glenb
Cheers, I just had a look at that website. I appreciate that I appear to be holding off. I can assure you that I will have no hesitation. First however I must satisfy myself that I have exhausted every option. Mr Carmody has firmly slammed the door shut on any communications with CASA.

I will write to the PM and all Senators, and post that correspondence on here. I will be working towards a resolution this week. During this week, I will also initiate a crowd funding campaign.

Thankyou all for your advice and support, cheers. Glen
I was your first support on this thread, you have my respect on your stance.

Once you start I shall make regular contributions and I am sure others will.

Tell your lovely wife we support you and her & the very fine work she does with the elderly, I am sure your children have great ethics.

Well done.
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Old 24th Aug 2019, 08:54
  #315 (permalink)  
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Reply Tailwheel post 289

APTA had endured the restrictions on its trade for a period of 9 months, and there was uncertainty regarding its continued operations. It had little value as a business, and was sold for a contracted nominal 5% of its agreed value. With the CASA restrictions and uncertainty, it had no value. I sold it for the value of the debt, and at that time CASA had still not made a determination on APTA despite repeated calls for CASA to do so. Had they at least made a decision I would have had something to appeal, and perhaps even a business that had some value.

I had a meeting with the Chair of the CASA Board requesting compensation on behalf of myself and affected parties. That meeting is summarised in my correspondence in posts 147 and 148 that I sent to him after the meeting.

The letter you refer to in post 287 is his response to my requests for consideration of compensation. Its CASA effectively saying NO!

During the last 9 months with the uncertainty over continuing operations, some members have had to cease operations i.e. Simjet in Brisbane , and Whitestar in Ballina. Other Members began working towards their own 141 approval i.e. LTF, ARC. Members that wanted to join were placed on hold, and were impacted, with some now having ceased operations while awaiting a CASA determination. CASA has insisted that all staff are paid by APTA in a model they call "direct operational control". I have asked CASA to define that, because that's what we had in my opinion. As expected they have not replied.

CASA insisted on this DOC Model. All MFT students and staff were transferred to APTA, and effectively my business MFT has been transferred to new ownership with all revenue and operational costs met by APTA. That's all well and good, but I have had to effectively transfer my business of 15 years to the new owners of APTA, depriving my business and me of any income. CASA have this insistence that all salaries must come from APTA and everyone must be an APTA employee. This is an unusual stipulation, and in my opinion flies in the face of accepted industry practice.

On 30/06/19 I sent the following email trying to get CASAs interpretation of an "employee" in the APTA context. Email to follow'

Dear Mr Craig Martin, I refer to your email on 20/06 where you made the following statement;

“For the avoidance of doubt, this would allow flight training to be contacted by APTA employees only – not employees of affiliates”

As you are aware there is only one Authorisation, and all personnel operate under that Authorisation. I note you state that “training can only be conducted by employees only”.

Personally I am of the opinion that I am 100% responsible for all personnel operating under the APTA approval, irrespective of where they draw their income, and in fact I feel that is the safest and most compliant option.
However, whilst I have a different perspective, you are the regulator, and I am willing to comply. My concern is that you are actually making the situation less clear and concise, and may actually create a less safe situation, but obviously that is your determination.

I have tried to access the CASA definition of an employee, and am having difficulty locating it. In the CASR dictionary, I found the definition for an “employee” which stated;
employee, in relation to an approved maintenance organisation, includes: (a) a maintenance services subcontractor; and (b) a CAR maintenance activities subcontractor.It appears that this definition fits in with my perspective on the situation i.e. accepting responsibility for all personnel operating under an Organisation including contractors.

It appears that your preference is to tie the definition of an employee, with where that person derives their income..
I also viewed the CASA Drug and Alcohol Management Plan (DAMP) guidance, and it makes the following comment; “It is important to remember that DAMP obligations extend to all individuals (including contractors, subcontractors and volunteers) who perform SSAAs for your organisation, regardless of whether they are directly employed by your organisation.” Once again it appears that the CASA definition was more in line with my own preferred approach.

In fact, my very strong preference is this definition as it is clear and concise, and covers all situations.
As you will be aware, one of my major concerns is the failure of CASA to provide clear and concise aviation safety standards. Therefore, for me to finalise this matter, may I request provision of a definition of an “employee”, for the purposes of what you are trying to achieve. I suggest the clarification of this will help me to move forward. Yours thankfully, Glen

I sent a follow up request on 21/08, neither of those requests has been answered. It appears that CASA are working towards a new model tying responsibility to where they derive income rather than the Authorisation Holder. Its an interesting model, but fraught with danger and confusion in my opinion. I await there definition, but will not be holding my breath.
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Old 25th Aug 2019, 04:17
  #316 (permalink)  
 
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With the current ceo, just as the indecent, recent McComic, is no shining example of administrative integrity... what hope would have aviators and the GA Industry have for sanity and a future .?
May I make the pun, Buckley’s and none.
had the same response...take us to court. Believe me, as someone earlier here said re procedural fairness and natural justice..with CAsA there is none.
All hail to Glen. Should there be a class action, I,m in.
Dont forget to keep writing to Senators requesting a JI or RC.
signed : broke, mad and very very angry that the flying industry that we know and love has been allowed to come to this.
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Old 25th Aug 2019, 08:49
  #317 (permalink)  
 
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Glen, Don’t publish correspondence to the PM and Parliament here. Take it off line. If you do otherwise you risk being labelled a conspiracy nut loony and you will just get brushed off and ignored. At best, all you will get are “ I’m advised that Mr. Carmody has dealt with your matter” letters, at worst a lawsuit for defamation that will take everything, including this thread, offline and then bankrupt you.

You only go full operatic public publication nuclear after all other options are exhausted. You are not there yet. Trust Parliamentarians to listen to you if you give them a well reasoned and unemotional argument.
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Old 25th Aug 2019, 09:11
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Originally Posted by Sunfish
Trust Parliamentarians to listen to you if you give them a well reasoned and unemotional argument.
Can I have a bit of what you are taking.
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Old 25th Aug 2019, 11:16
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Glen was in front of Barnaby, Wacka, and Glenn Sterle in November last year. Also present were Steve Campbell and Andreas Marcej...Marc...whatever his name is.
That went precisely nowhere.
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Old 25th Aug 2019, 21:36
  #320 (permalink)  
 
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So Glen, does all this boil down to the definition of “employee” in a regulation that is relevant to APTA’s activities? Someone in CASA decided that the word has its narrow meaning, and discovered that APTA has/had personnel who should be employees but are not?
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