PPRuNe Forums - Dick Smith initiated change to the Civil Aviation Act....

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Dick Smith initiated change to the Civil Aviation Act....

..... sunk by the Barnaby Joyce affair!!

Front page of The Australian newspaper today:

Quote:

Barnaby Joyce affair ‘sank aviation reform’, says Dick Smith

• The Australian
• 12:00AM March 14, 2018

• Andrew Burrell

Businessman Dick Smith won approval last month from Barnaby Joyce and Anthony Albanese for a rewrite of the Civil Aviation Act aimed at slashing crippling costs, but the prospect of a bipartisan deal crashed days later with Mr Joyce’s resignation from cabinet.

Mr Smith began working quietly in January to convince Mr Joyce, then the Coalition’s new transport minister, to amend a key part of the act that requires the Civil Aviation Safety Authority to “regard safety as the most ¬important consideration” in regulating the industry. Under the planned changes, CASA would instead be required to seek the “highest level of safety in air navigation” alongside the need for “an efficient and sustainable Australian aviation industry”.

Mr Smith, a former CASA chairman, said yesterday the rewrite would stop bureaucrats using the act to impose extra layers of needless red tape, which had made the general aviation industry unviable and led to fewer people travelling by air.

https://www.pprune.org/members/11918...969-ca-act.jpg

Mr Joyce met Mr Smith on January 20 at the Promenade Cafe at Canberra’s Hyatt Hotel — two weeks before revelations of Mr Joyce’s relationship with a political staffer, Vikki Campion, became front-page news. After winning the minister’s broad support, Mr Smith began lobbying Labor’s transport spokesman Anthony Albanese.

The Australian has obtained a copy of an email sent by Mr Albanese’s chief of staff, Jeff Singleton, on February 9 in which he supports the proposed amendments to the act and suggests several minor changes.

By that time, Mr Joyce had become engulfed in the scandal over his affair with Ms Campion. He resigned from cabinet on February 23 amid revelations that a sexual-harassment claim had been made against him.

Mr Smith said yesterday he had been told by a political source that Mr Albanese and Mr Joyce had discussed the planned changes and agreed on them.

Mr Albanese declined to comment yesterday and Mr Joyce’s office did not respond to requests for comment.

Mr Smith said he considered Mr Joyce’s co-operation a breakthrough because the Coalition’s previous transport minister, Darren Chester, had been a “disaster” and had been unresponsive to changing the act.

“Barnaby told me he was the minister for transport, not just aviation, and he did not want to send more cars on the road and end up with more people dead,” Mr Smith said.

Mr Smith said he would try to convince new Transport Minister Michael McCormack to agree to the amendments.

“If he doesn’t, the whole future of aviation is doomed,” he said.
A spokeswoman for Mr McCormack said the minister could not comment on the content of any private discussions between Mr Joyce and Mr Smith.

The spokeswoman noted that CASA already had a requirement that its regulatory approach must consider the economic and cost impacts on individuals, businesses and the community.

Had that amendment occurred in the Civil Aviation Act 1988 it would have changed the course of aviation history in Australia, in the longer term forced revision of Australia's long overdue Civil Aviation Regulations and freed the aviation industry and airline industry of many of it's unnecessary regulatory costs which bear no relationship to safety of operations.

Folks,
Now we will see if this McCormack is just another ex-journalist turned politician, like Chester, or a person like Joyce, who would make changes despite voluble and concerted "public service" opposition.
Tootle pip!!

I think a change to the act that focuses CASA not just on safety but viability would be a great move.

Is it necessarily dead just because Joyce is no longer in the role? That Albanese was on side surely is a positive.

Does anyone actually know a dollar amount for how much the regulatory reform program has cost so far?

Quote:

Originally Posted by jonkster (Post 10082881)

Albanese, The Minister for Doing Nothing!

Quote:

That Albanese was on side surely is a positive.

He might be on side, but don't call him Shirley...

Why Not??

:confused: :eek:

What has he done for Aviation, G/A in particular..???????

The answer lies on the next line

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Does anyone actually know a dollar amount for how much the regulatory reform program has cost so far?

The last reliable figure I heard a few years ago was just north of $350 Mill. If Dick's changes were implemented many of the "new" CASR's will become redundant as CASA will be required to justify all changes on the basis of safety and cost.

A change in the Civil Aviation Act from solely "safety" to safety and realistic cost will be one of the most significant shifts in Australian civil aviation policy in more than 30 years.

Don't expect CASA will take this change without a fight. They have controlled the Minister since Anderson days. :mad:

A fundamental change in the Act will be an entire new ball game, long overdue! :ok:

Quote:

Does anyone actually know a dollar amount for how much the regulatory reform program has cost so far?

Pete; I believe that Tailwheel might be able to give us a rough idea of that. A rough idea but nevertheless I suspect that it would be a fair indication.

Hats off to Dick for having a go....

Let's hope this succeeds..

I know the Nats have been canvassing at least one GA business owner as a potential senior Aviation advisor to the minister.
Additionally, the Nat's new federal director Ross Cadell is a pilot (Commercial or PPL I am not sure) trained at Cessnock in the late 80s/early 90s.

Tragedy of it all is that they only seem to realise too late, with an almost-certain election loss only 12 months away. :ugh:

Dick Smith had his time in charge and his time is long gone.

In my opinion he should have made drastic changes when he held the baton instead of moaning now.

He was never in charge. The Chairman of the CASA Board has power to do f*ck all.

That's not what CASA staff say about his time there. Apparently he was very "hands on" when his NAS changes were going through.

Quote:

Does anyone actually know a dollar amount for how much the regulatory reform program has cost so far?

SP.
It is not just the cost of the program itself, bad though that is, but the horrifying costs of compliance with the "new" rules, that have no counterpart anywhere, and imposed restrictions that have largely rendered Australian aviation a non-starter where we once had export markets in the field.

There is a reason why QANTAS' huge new maintenance investment is in Los Angeles, to employ US A&Ps, under FAA rules, to maintain QF longhaul aircraft.

Tootle pip!!

Parts of that rewording are a bit playschool. It's an Act of Parliament ffs, not a manifesto.

Quote:

He was never in charge. The Chairman of the CASA Board has power to do f*ck all.

Typical bogan Oz comment. Mate what have you ever done in aviation apart from look after yourself and take cheap shots from the peanut gallery..?

It occurs to me that there is a much simpler, cheaper, quicker answer to the whole conundrum regarding regulation in Australia.

CAsA attempt to write a sensible, comprehensive, workable rule set that complies with the "Safety" imperative, but still allow an industry to survive and grow has failed miserably, cost the Australian people hundreds of millions of dollars and in the process decimated a once thriving GA industry. Ultimately it will compromise our airline industry as well, we already see that in the export of our heavy maintenance to foreign climes.

The legacy of their failure will go on costing the Australian people into the future in the ticket price everyone who buys an airline ticket pays. The loss to the economy is already apparent and it will grow worse, anything to do with aviation is captured within the CAsA straightjacket. As businesses close providers contract into monopolies, charges go up and the whole process becomes a self licking stamp to oblivion. The innovators and entrepreneurs amongst us already take their ideas offshore.

I absolutely reject CAsA's insistence that US style regulations cannot be implemented in Australia. They did it in New Zealand, a democracy not unlike our own. with dramatic results. All it takes is the will.

Its so disappointing to read in the Australian just how close Dick Smith came to fixing the fundamental flaw in the ACT.

Without that, reform is improbable.

New Zealand gave us a prime example of what can happen for a few million dollars and a couple of years, their success should be CAsA's shame.

There is an article in The Australian today ("Aviation rule changes still safe, says former CASA chief") with Bruce Byron's comments on changing the Act. Here is a quote from the article:

Quote:

“Mr Byron said he had tried to make similar changes to the act when he ran CASA between 2003 and 2009. “This part of the act has sat there in stone for 30 years and I think a review of it would be appropriate,” he said…”

Here is a link to the article.

Changing the Act will unlock the door to reform Dick, wether CAsA will open it is another matter.
It is a myth that Australia is so much safer than anyone else. Your mantra of copy the best and reject the rest must apply if there is to be any hope of a viable industry in Australia.