Awol57, yes, it was a GAAP, when they were called that. Pitched battles between the far west and the far east to call themselves the 'busiest' aerodromes in the southern hemisphere.
Mr Approach, yep, some aerodromes were using the flight strips, some weren't!
You still won't get a Tower at Mildura, no matter what the criteria. Or The Rat etc. I kinda enjoyed the the old FS days as a VFR. Pity it wasn't tweaked, morphed into a sustainable service.
And Bloggs, any chance you could point me in the direction of the stats you say that have the Yanks plowing into each other daily?