I wasn't going to respond....but I'm afraid you are wrong on several points. First - I agree that solid instrument skills are required on a moonless night away from cities or towns....however this is not unique to Australia....I ive in Scotland and away from the coast there are very few lights (only mountains)....and I have flown very long distances in California, Arizona and Nevada where there are almost no lights.... Second - in the US (and the UK pre-EASA) it is perfectly legal to fly within inches of the ground (ar water) provided you fly no closer to 500 ft of any person or structure....now I agree this is not always wise and I for one would not do it... Third - I was born and bred in the Aussie bush....my nearest ancestor NOT born in Australia was one great-grand mother...one of my ancestors helped draft the Australian constitution....my grandmother was even born in Adelaide (we may be related!)....I only have one (blue) passport....Aussie enough for you? Far from being disgruntled I consider myself enlightened by having lived and worked (and flown) in many parts of the world...
I stand by my assertion that the Aussie culture is to creation of rules in anticipation of a problem that may or may not even exist....you mentioned 9/11...the US does not require an ASIC to be revalidated every two years (or ever)...only foreigners are vetted - not citizens...and why renew every two years? Is there a high risk of becoming a terrorist in the interim??...and they don't require secondary locks on aircraft.... You also mentioned formation flying - of course training should be conducted first...but there is no CAA rating in the UK...same as aerobatics (although this will likely change with EASA)....
And now I've started ranting I may as well mention ATC/airspace.... I wanted to fly VFR across Perth a year ago only to discover that VFR transits over YPPH are prohibited! Why? Less traffic than Aberdeen and way less than the Class B airports in the US where a simple radio call will get you through/over/around....and with a helpful attitude....And forget about even asking to use the couple of approved sight-seeing routes if you haven't filed a written flightplan....and military airspace (which takes up half the airspace around all the state capital cities)...don't even ask them...ever....
So no, I don't consider it the country's fault....it's the fault of the unquestioning, accepting (even encouraging) attitude of many (but not all) Australians