Episode 197: A Spartan Budget

Steve & Grant are still tired after their mega-road-trip up to the Wings Over Illawarra 2012 airshow near Sydney, covering over 1,600km and an airshow in a single weekend. Still, they're not about to let being tired get in the way of reporting on some interesting topics, including:The Qantas pilots union loses an appeal in the Federal Court against their inclusion in Qantas management's Fair Work Australia ruling to stop all industrial action, despite their actions not disrupting any flights or passengersThe Australian Federal government publishes their 2012/2013 budget which features:Confirmation that decisions on purchasing the F35 Joint Strike Fighter & P8 Poseidon have been pushed back a few yearsThe retirement of the C130H fleet has been brought forward to this year, leaving the C130J as the only Hercules in the RAAFConfirmation that 10 Aleania C27J Spartan aircraft will be purchased from the USA production line to replace the DHC-4 Caribous that were retired in Dec 2009 (a decision that has annoyed Airbus and is raising questions about the $1.4 billion total cost)Departure taxes are being raised 17%, bringing the cost to leave Australia to $A55But, that's enough talking politics for now (no, really Steve!) although, then again, GM for PM?? Hmmmm, maybe that's a winner??? :)