Jabba old mate;
I endorse and encourage the use of equipment when it is a mandatory requirement for a particular flight. If flying CTR means one has to have a radio, transponder of any kind, or an audible horn, and I wish to fly there, I can't see any argument for not having that gear. Likewise if RA-Aus pilots want to fly there, they should be required to have sufficient training and a suitable endorsement to do so.
If this costs more $$$ then it should be viewed as something similar to a float endorsement. If you want to fly floats, you pay to learn how to do so and be endorsed.
I don't want to fly floats, so I don't have to pay.
May I be so bold as to once again suggest had CASA completed their regulatory review process all the "exemptions" would now be written into the regulations and had the original concept of the Recreational License been adopted without the usual CASA "mongrelisation" of the concept, a crossover similar to the US system would now be in place.
Exactly what is a recreational aircraft? From what I've seen they can be anything from a B707 to Drifter. One KRudd has a BBJ for joyflights.