Recce

The genesis for both the CAA and FAC date back to the Bosch Enquiry of 1984 which was established specifically to develop a method by which full cost recovery could be implemented without causing irreparable damage to a financially sensitive industry. In his report Mr Henry Bosch (now deputy chairman of the CAA) recommended that full cost recovery be introduced over ten years from 1985. The Government endorsed his recommendations and industry generally went along with the sensible proposals engineered by Mr Bosch.

However, barely ayear had passed before the Government began to accelerate the programme with the result that by 1988 full cost recovery was pretty well complete. It was only because at that time the Australian economy had been experiencing a boom that enabled many GA operators to weather this unfair, illogical and hypocritical grab for gold by a Government that was becoming legendary for its subtle increases in taxation. And this is no personal political statement. Consider for a moment the level of taxes (both direct and indirect) that you were paying per dollar earned a decade ago as against today. The difference for most people is around a quarter more taxation overall!

This aside, it appeared for a time that the promised efficiencies of the CAA and FAC would actually reduce the cost of aviation to the operator, and ultimately to their clients. In establishing the CAA through anAct of Parliament in 1988, the Government stated its support for the safety regulation responsibilities ofthe old Dept of Aviation remaining a responsibility of the Government and not the aviation industry. This had long been a stated fear by all within the industry when the CAA was first mooted years earlier. To quote from the official ministerial release; “At the outset the Government recognises that certain functions to be undertaken by the CAA should not be charged to the aviation industry but should be paid for by Government. Accordingly, the Government agreed to pay the CAA for the following: the development of safety standards; the monitoring of compliance with safety standards; the maintenance of the capability to undertake Search and Rescue. ”

To put it politely, like the verbiage of most politicians those words weren’t worth the paper they were written on.

Today we have a situation where an ever more greedy Government has reneged on its commitment in establishing the CAA and is using every increase in efficiency by that organisation, not for the benefit of aviation, but just to feather its own treasury nest. I sincerely wonder how the 2,000 plus CAA employees who have already lost their jobs feel about that saving going straight into the coffers of Keating & C o instead of industry?

The latest proposal for the Safety Tax, which commences on July1, is an annual levy on aircraft on a weight basis irrespective of their utilisation or geographical location. Most affected will again be GA ( a perennial whipping horse) where light aircraft will be classified as being used for either private or commercial purposes. By comparison a Cessna 152/ 172 in the private category will (at presstime) cost $175 as against $450 in the commercial category. Now the rub here is that more than half of the total light aircraft training and hire fleet in Australia are privately owned and on line at the local aero club or flying school. These aircraft are typically owned by people who don’t themselves do a lot of flying though are able to justify the ownership of an aircraft via the meagre revenue that it can earn whilst available on line for hire. The extra payment, along with all the other additional charges the industry has had to stomach these past five years, will be enough to make many private owners simply withdraw their aircraft from the flight line. In many cases it is expected that an owner will decide to sell the aircraft as they cannot any longer economically justify ownership of a light plane. You don’t need us to tell you of the long term consequences of such a scenario. The CAA itself would be savagely hit over time if a thousand or more aircraft were progressively taken off the register and largely sold overseas due to the soft local market.

Charter operators are also hit, though not as hard as their single engined puddle jumping cousins, while the larger operators can easily amortise the extra cost over the relatively massive capacity of their jets. F or example, whilst a 767 operator would be incurring a cost of less than llc per passenger the operator of a Chieftain commuter would be up for at least 50c. By comparison, the owner of a Warrior or 172 on the aero club flightline would be up for a minimum ofan extra $2an hourjust to have it available for hire.

So what happens now? Government again rips us off, lies to us and as usual gets away with it. Well maybe not, or at least not that easily if the influential Aircraft Owners & Pilots Association has its way.

AOPA are rightly so incensed by the reneging on the safety contract and the means by which the industry is continually being ripped off, and it is urging its 11,000 plus members not to pay the tax.

The logistics of this is that invoices will be issued to aircraft owners during September. There is then a three month moratorium whilst owners finally decide in which category their lightie is to be classified. If payment in full isn’t received by December then proceedings to eventually deregister the aircraft will be activated. If, for instance, several thousand light aircraft were deregistered nearly simultaneously then where would this leave the Government on the eve of a crucial federal election? Well, with a well orchestrated publicity campaign for GA’s case, it could well leave them up the proverbial creek without a paddle!

If this scenario appeals to you and you own an aircraft then consider your options carefully. This Government (and we still don’t know if the Coalition would be any better) has taken every single opportunity to suck more and more money from an industry that is currently fighting for survival. It has taken in every way possible, using every hard won efficiency from both the CAA and FAC to reap more and more revenue for its own purposes at the expense of those who generate that revenue in the first place.

AustralianAviation thinks that it is high time that this Government became accountable for its continual greed. W hen you get your safety tax invoice send it back to Messrs Keating and Collins with a message that even they can understand.