IMO, until SAAA & RAAus have the guts to stand up to onerous & over regulation from CASA, we don't stand a chance of surviving let alone combining resources. Both organisations have the situation where they accept (the carrot) funds from CASA but then are not in a position (if they want to keep receiving the funding, regardless of the level of it) to say no to any unreasonable request from CASA. They're not going to 'bite the hand that feeds them' so CASA can & will keep ratcheting up their demands base on either an increase in the aviation accident rate (or regulation transgressions) or their opinions or perceptions. Do CASA have to justify their demands of us based on a Safety analysis ? I think not.
Until we have a situation where both organisations are operating cohesively & FULLY COMMUNICATING with the members then any advancement of shared or joint resources/facilities & ideas will fail. FV you have a great idea, in my opinion, but I think it's a case of the cart before the horse. The way the RAAus & SAAA hierachy have been fractured & scrambling around does not give one any confidence in the future direction for any of us.
But the 'heads' of both organisations are not completely to blame here as there are some members who make life difficult for us all by not complying with the basic regulations. They put us all at risk of more regulation, IMO.
The ones that do comply spend the time, money & resources to do 'the right thing' & you thumb your noses at either the rules required by our organisations &/or CASA because you think those rules are unjust or aren't anything to do with commonsense. That last word is not in the CASA dictionary & won't stand up in court, it can't be used as a defence that you didn't know or understand the regs - they are like the 10 commandaments, your excuses are no defence against them. Also, just because our own organisations can't police the regs doesn't mean that CASA won't & you bring us all under the opinions that some have that we are cowboys.
It makes me wonder sometimes whether those that those that are so vocal on forums, against more regulation, are actually the cause of it. IF you feel so strongly about your ability to be able to afford to continue flying, without too much restriction, then do something about it by supporting your industry instead of whingeing.
Maybe I've said too much here but I feel it had to be said, you may not agree.