"Ridiculous airspace concepts" like Ballina are themselves changes, but I agree with your underlying point. The usual response is to put more lumps on the camel, rather than to question whether a camel is now the most efficient animal in the circumstances.
Dick gets criticised for using the term "affordable safety", but that is the inescapable reality of the world in which we live. And the answer to a mid-air involving a passenger-carrying RPT aircraft in 'G' will be: That's the level of safety for which you paid.