Tony Windsor could be very powerful
 

Already some are predicting a hung parliament like in the past.

If Tony is elected , as there is a chance, he could be the key to getting the Aviation reform programme back on track with a concentration on removing every unnecessary cost.

From my experience he has always been very proactive as a supporter of General Aviation.

Unless of course he goes against the wishes of his constituents for his own political gain.......again.

That's just what the country needs again - not.

Which was my point in mentioning in another thread that you should run as an independent Dick. I really don't want to see the fiasco that was TW holding the country to ransom as before, and I reckon you would get the votes. Anyway the Libs in your electorate need an alternative now they have installed the left leaning Jason Falinski in place of Bronwyn. You've got a real chance.

Tony Whinger was directly responsible for one of the most miserable periods of Federal governance in recent history. If I saw his aeroplane going down in flames, I don't think I'd piss on it to save him.

Dick I'm sorry but I can't agree with you. Firstly, I think he's got a snowball in hell's chance of getting up after siding with Gillard in 2010 and betraying his electors.

Secondly, if Windsor couldn't and didn't give a rats arse about the disgraceful predicament he created for all of Australia (in concert with that blithering idiot Oakshott), what on earth would make you think he'd lift a finger to extricate GA from the pile of poo we're in now.

I do agree with some commentators suggesting you stand as an independent for the lower house - GA will wither and die without serious political pressure to excise the incompetence of CASA and Airservices.

Nothing will change the future of aviation in Australia. It isn't an election issue and short of a massive smoking hole in the ground and the whiff of corruption/malfeasance/negligence as a cause it never will be an election issue.

The public has lived with the idea that Australia has the safest skies in the world for so long that nothing that can be said will change that opinion. Thousands of fun seeking overseas bound Australians get on board aircraft that offer the cheapest flight to whatever sun soaked playground they desire without a thought as to how the crew are trained and the aircraft maintained. They don't care so long as their luggage doesn't go someplace else.

To those who castigate Tony Windsor for siding with Labor I bet you have never bothered to read his articles about why he chose the way he did. Nor, I suggest, have you read why he has decided to stand again. Given the way Tony Abbot turned out I suggest he has more clues about politics than most on this forum.

To suggest that CASA and Airservices are incompetent is to misread the situation entirely. They are not. They have been given no policy outline by governments of any persuasion but merely given the vague direction that they are to cause no public embarrassment. This they have done but in the process, and because they have absolutely no understanding of GA, they have put in place legislation that is appropriate for an airline level of service but devastates GA.

I found it very interesting that Barnaby Joyce didn't want the Transport Ministry which is traditionally the Nationals bailiwick. It may have been on another thread on this forum where it was said that he didn't want anything to do with clusterf**ck that was aviation (my phrasing as I can't remember the exact wording). If you want another reason why aviation won't be an election issue, that is as good as it gets.

An astute summation, PL.
Thank you. :ok:

Am I right in saying that aviation in Australia lacks vision?

From what I have read, there just does not seem to be an individual or organisation that has the political muscle to get the aviation industry to where it should be. That may seem blindingly obvious but the question is why? Why doesn't the electorate understand aviation better? There certainly don't seem to be any votes in it.

It shouldn't be left to the regulators to set the agenda for aviation in Australia. There has to be a better, coordinated way forward, surely? How do we turn things around so that the needs of the industry drive the actions of the regulators?

Why not? Pissing on him won't put such a large fire out. So not only would he burn but you get to piss on him as well :ok:

We'll said PLovett. :ok:

If the lower house were full of independents there'd be a chance of a return to government in the public interest. Alas ...

Surely it is obvious that the only way for changes in aviation is a number of independents in both Federal houses. Its an unfortunate fact that in our system once you elect a party in majority into Government, individual members have to follow the party line no matter what they actually think about a particular situation.

This is why Windsor ,Oakshot ,Xenethon etc have been so effective.

Its pretty obvious from the current situation where we all had high hopes for Malcom, that the party machine runs the Country, not individuals, even if they are PM.

Wunwing

Only if they could agree with each other - highly unlikely. They'd need to combine into voting blocs or common interest groups to achieve any result, much the same as the Liberal, Greens or CFMEU (Labor) parties.

Plovett. Very astute and accurate post.

One of the reasons I failed the second time around to do the cost saving reform that was required is that Minister Anderson had no vision or support for reform.

The bureaucracy quickly understood this and followed the elected representative of the people. Recently I asked Mick Toller what happened to the cost saving parts of part 91 that was to be introduced during his tenure. His explanation was that he couldn't get it through the Ministers office . I would believe this.

It's the National Party who are primarily to blame for the state of GA in this country . This doesn't mean that the new minister could be different. We are all hoping so.

In the meantime I still stand by my advice to get out of aviation otherwise you will lose even more.

Ovation.
That is exactly what Windsor et al did. Banded together and got things done and they are being criticised for exactly that here. They quickly saw that to go anywhere for the Country that their best bet was Labor, which turned out to be right as we subsequently saw how good Tony was.

I agree with Dick that John Anderson had no vision for aviation. I spent a lot of time in Canberra representing a part of the industry and met John a few times. The situations that we put to him were never acted on that I could see.

Wunwing

PLovett sums it up very well. There are no "positive" votes in aviation reform, all the punters care about is Sydney aircraft noise and a second airport. As for GA aviation, its got about the same vote winning potential as prison reform.

What saddens me is the loss of jobs, investment and GDP growth that could come from a revived GA and recreational sector. Things like adventure tourism and suchlike that will never see the light of day thanks to CASA, Nimbys and the greens.

What exactly did windsor achieve?.....:hmm:

For starters he lined his own pockets...

"...THE sale of Tony Windsor's farm to a coalminer delivered the kingmaking MP a windfall about three times greater than nearby farmers who sold to the company...

...When asked about the differences in the sale prices between his property and those of his neighbours, he said, "I think we should terminate this conversation".
"You listen to me pal, you mind your own business, it's my family's business. If you want to make up some bull**** story, go for your life, I don't care," he said before hanging up..."

Nocookies | The Australian


And it looks like that windSore clown is taking up with the corruption that is wind power.
What a surprise...:rolleyes:

https://www.gleninnesexaminer.com.au...ngland/?cs=420




.

FB
You have just proved exactly what I have been saying about the impossibility of our Industry getting anywhere politically. We need representatives in Government who are interested in OUR problems and I for one don't care what their political affiliations are or were.

Wunwing

Yep, you're spot on correct. The things we got done thanks to Windsor supporting Gillard were the Carbon Tax, School Halls, unmanageable deficit, Wayne Swan, winding back ABCC, rampant Union corruption, the (now repealed) legislation that would have sent owner driver truckies to the wall, Gillian Trigg, continuation of Rudd's self selecting country shoppers etc. The list goes on and on.....

Ahhh yes.

Corruption.

The Libs would have us believe they are genetically immune from such conduct but Arthur Sinodinos seems to prove otherwise.

The fact that the PM's office privatised Syd airport and the PM's Chief of Staff retired from public life to head up Macquarie Airports - that's all lily-white, is it?

How about every leader of the Nats for the last 20 years retiring to become a director of a major Gas or Coal producer? No nepotism or corruption there.

"Rampant Corruption" is across the political spectrum, Ovation, and none of them seem ashamed of it either.