Erchie,
If you are in fact a new pilot....you will be confronted with lots of decsions in your working life that do not fit into the orderly frame work you describe.
You will find that "time" is the very essence of a pilot's life. It may be revenue hours for pay to the contract, to your purse, or for bonus calculation. Time may decide how many lifts you get done in a day and the lifts are paid by tons moved....thus wasted time is expensive. Time counts towards component wear, TBO's, fuel burn....the list is endless. Thus I suggest you consider what these "Bush" pilots are telling you. They have all been out there doing the job and know too well what "time" means to a pilot.
Your point is well taken...."time" alone should not dictate safety standards but one has to balance "time" against the risks as you balance other issues including revenue earned and costs incurred over "time".
It is not as simple as it appears. One of the requirements of being a safe, professional pilot is being able to strike that balance so it all works out.