Issue 2: CAC’s role in anti-submarine warfare

And what of the past year!

A lot of the hopes expressed in the first edition have since faded. The Tactical Fighter-Force-project slipped behind many months while the Department of Defence reappraised its initial requirement. We reported on the proposed jet trainer and the tactical transport; aircraft to replace the Macchi and Caribou in the RAAF during the ’80s. This not only slipped in timing but simply disappeared; without even official recognition to those local distributors who worked so hard to provide their submissions for DOD.

With the exorbitant fuel, air navigation and airport taxes that our airlines are forced to pay we feel that it is about time they were given more of a fair go. It should be remembered by Messrs Nixon & Co. that our airlines provide employment for well over 40,000 skilled people in addition to paying government in excess of $100m in various forms of taxation.

In the meantime industry continued to wait, wait and wait for some inkling of government intentions. Refurbishment of the Macchi trainer and the Mirage does allow some hope for the future while offsets continue to grow as a major item of local aerospace capability.

The fact that we should be spending more on defence is fast becoming obvious with the apparent ease with which Vietnamese refugee boats are able to penetrate our territorial waters without always being intercepted. In the budget of 1967/68 Australia allocated 17. 1 per cent of its total budget allocations to defence, that incidentally represented 4. 4 per cent of the GDP. By comparison, in 1976/77 the defence vote was a mere 9% of total budget allocations which represented a lowly 2. 6% of GDP. Is this any way for a nation as potentially rich and underpopulated as Australia to treat defence!

On the civil front there was the ongoing battle between Freddie Laker and the beaurocrats of the Department of Transport. Sometimes I feel that if we had men like Sir Freddie running the country we wouldn’t have half the problems we currently face!

Australia’s slice of the overseas tourist cake for 1978 will reach around $350m. As almost all those tourists will choose air transport as their means to reach Australia it seems short­ sighted to overly restrict somebody who can offer not only cheaper fares but also 30,000 plus tourists per year.

West Australia’s Premier, Sir Charles Court, has been spending a lot of time since late 1977 trying to persuade the Federal Government to allow Laker to operate into Perth in­ stead of Sydney or Melbourne. This would then feed 600 new tourists into Perth each week creating a local tourist boom which would greatly aid the economy of the West and provide many new jobs. Furthermore, Qantas would then gain by flying those Laker passengers (as part of their total fare package) from Perth to the east coast. This would fill many empty trans-Australia Qantas seats on their 747s, providing that airline with an estimated $10m revenue per annum. And what has happened to date, nothing.

Cheaper air fares could be introduced tomorrow if the Government allowed. Pan American was ready and willing to introduce substantial reductions on normal economy fares between the USA and Australia as early as late ’77. And through all this, Continental is waiting on the sidelines to in­ augurate DC10 services to Sydney and Melbourne in 1979. Like Sir Charles Court, we will not hold our breath while awaiting a decision on these important matters.

General aviation is fortunate that it is not at the mercy of our bureaucracy like its civil and military counterparts. Despite a still depressed economy, light aircraft sales im­ proved marginally and most dealers express optimism about the future. The past year has also been noteworthy for the renewed interest in corporate aircraft – made extra rewar­ ding by the 40 per cent investment allowance – while more single engined aircraft than ever before are being purchased for business reasons.

The “war” between the established licensed dealers and the pirates has died down with both sides accepting their relative market position. During the year one cause for con­ cern was the increased rate of flying accidents. There is no hard and fast reason for this upsurge in fatalities and it is to be hoped that it is the one division of aviation that definitely shows a negative growth in the coming year.

All in all a lot of things DIDN’T happen in the course of the past year! However, AADR feels confident that there is a great deal of long term potential in our aerospace industry. In the coming year there will be concrete steps to deciding the Mirage replacement along with firm arrangements for refur­ bishment of the Macchi and Mirage aircraft. The domestics will have finally chosen their new wide body jet and virtually all the General Aviation people will have a bag full of exciting new models for ’78/’79.

A-better year ahead, and it could be even more produc­ tive if government would let the real experts have their say.