Chuck
[my opinions only here, not those of AOPA]
In the last month I have spoken with both Smiths on NAS. I am fairly happy with all aspects of it except perhaps 'see and avoid'.
I have flown within a 500 m 'GPS zone' of another (bright yellow) aeroplane and not found it despite 'I'm over the power lines' calls etc. Neither Smith has convinced me that the NAS version of see and avoid is perfect.
BUT, and this is a big BUT, neither is what we have now. I was very taken by an argument of the bigger 'Smith' that the problem lies in the culture of full reporting. I then spoke to a US friend who flies both privately and professionally and has flown in Oz. he basically confirmed what DS said commenting 'there is waaay too much radio chatter there'.
Another interesting perspective he had matched that of AsA/CASA Smith, that ATC in the US have a culture of being helpful, that is they will give you traffic where needed.
In oz there seems to be a culture of avoidance (no pun intended) probably brought on by too many lawyers in CASA and AsA and a subsequent culture of risk aversion.
Surely there is a balance somewhere. Trying to hold back the tide ain't going to work, but also Gaunty is right, there is a lot of expertise here, so instead of trying to stop the inevitable how about we all try to come up with solutions to make it work.
AK