Spin training is also not mandatory in New Zealand, although stalling a Tomahawk with power on and flaps out (as I recall) can produce a fairly sporting wing drop...the worst of which I encountered in my GFT-equivalent with the CFI.
I would have thought that anyone that has trained in Tomahawk may have a greater appreciation (than a student on say a 152) of the correct spin recovery inputs even if he / she has not spun, since they are likely to have encountered similarly pronounced wing drops in certain configurations.
But that is certainly no substitute for proper spin training. In my case, I then managed to get through several years of GA flying without even having spun. Predictably perhaps, this lead to the spin becoming a bit of a mental block.
So when I first spun in a Yak 52 6 years after gaining my PPL (with Russian instructor in tow I might add), it was pretty exciting. It did make me wonder why it was not part of the syllabus for the PPL. So for what it is worth, my vote is for spin training to be included as part of PPL training. But not just an hour - several hours. Why? Because a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing.
Perhaps this will increase the number of hours that a PPL will take - not a politically correct suggestion in the current era where the NPPL is suggested as a qualification that will take fewer hours than a "normal" PPL.
However my view is that in any event, the best time to take further instruction is immediately after gaining your PPL. Perhaps an IMC rating, perhaps a few flights with a safety pilot eg a Cross Channel check out etc etc.
So really why not add a few hours of valuable training to the PPL and extend, rather than reduce, the syllabus. Surely the incremental cost is insignificant, if additional training does in fact reduce the number of deaths of injuries from accidents resulting from faiing to recover from a flight condition that the new PPL-holder has never experienced?