Senator PARER (6.25 p.m.) —I move:

2.Schedule 1, page 14, item 23, after proposed subsection 9A(2), add the following subsection:

  "(3) Subject to subsection (1), CASA must exercise its powers and perform its functions in a manner that, as far as practicable:

    (a)  is economical and effective; and

    (b)  promotes and fosters civil aviation.".

As Senator Collins mentioned earlier, this amendment is a functions clause. It says that CASA must exercise its powers subject to subsection 1. That is very important. Subsection 1 relates to safety being the priority. Subject to safety being the priority, CASA must exercise its powers and perform its functions in a manner that, as far as is practicable, is economical and effective and that promotes and fosters civil aviation.

  The CAA has a history of imposing regulations on the industry, without taking into account the cost of complying with them. Its perceived culture is often incomprehensible to the operators that it regulates. Senator Collins would know that from his own Darwin background. The coalition believes CASA should be required to perform its functions in a way that promotes and fosters civil aviation. To clarify that, there is no intention that the department should set up a separate organisation to go around promoting and fostering. In the exercising of its powers, which are very important in controlling safety, it should take on board the fact that the industry itself needs to be promoted and fostered.

  The amendment is not identical to the American requirement, but it is constructed so that the safety of air navigation remains the authority's principal responsibility. There is no doubt about that. The `promote and foster' clause is subject to subsection 9A(2), where CASA must regard the safety of air navigation as its most important consideration. Interestingly enough, subsection 9A(2), a government subsection, states that CASA must perform its functions so that the environment is protected. If the government's argument about my amendment is correct, its argument must also apply to subsection 9A(2), which states that CASA should take the environment into account. All we are saying is that CASA should be economical and effective and that it should promote and foster civil aviation.