The federal government is on track to deliver its response to the Aviation Safety Regulatory Review (ASRR) by the end of the year, Department of Infrastructure and Regional Development Secretary Mike Mrdak says.
The department was working through the government’s response, Mrdak told delegates at the Australian Airports Association national conference on the Gold Coast on Tuesday.
“The department has received over 60 industry submissions on the report and we are currently in the process of completing the government’s response which I anticipate will be tabled in the Parliament before the end of this year,” Mrdak said.
The ASRR was commissioned by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development Warren Truss.
Written by former Airservices chairman David Forsyth, the ASRR made 37 recommendations and found the relationship between the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) and the aviation industry was “in many cases, adversarial”.
The Australian Aviation Associations’ Forum (TAAAF), an industry group that brings together the peak bodies of the aviation sector in Australia under one banner, recently criticised the government for its delayed response to the report.
“In considering the government’s performance against their 12 key aviation election commitments, TAAAF scored the government as having delivered around 40 per cent of their commitments,” TAAAF said last week.
“A key issue noted was the lack of drive and commitment to act urgently on aviation – even judged by the government’s own promises.”
