I agree they're long overdue in this part of the world but they're not the only piece in this jigsaw puzzle.
I don't understand our aversion to installing contemporary aviation infrastructure.
Hempy's argument that real pilots don't need ILS is nonsense. I bet the old & bold said the same thing about the introduction of VOR. With the generally benign weather in Australia we can get by without it it, but why? Are we a first world nation or not? I've noted before that we could install ILS in 4 airports for the cost of the Mildura passenger terminal renovation. It shows were our priorities lie.
The trouble is that we don't have a strategy for upgrading our air navigation system. We won't put in new ILS systems, but neither will we embrace WAAS. What else is there?
Before we get too far into the debate about re installing FSO's, its worth remembering is that all these flights needed was the BOM to get the TAF remotely correct 2 hours into the future. I suspect the Mildura TAF was still saying PROB30 FOG while it was forming on the runway.
If the diverted flights had better information on Adelaide 60 - 90 minutes out, the decision making would have been better / different.
If the crews had better information on the Mildura weather at the time of diversion, the decision making would have been better / different.
If there was an ILS at Mildura, it would all have been a non-event.
I fly to Mildura about 6 times a year and the number of times the TAF is comprehensively wrong is staggering. But it used to be good. Something changed, I reckon, 3 - 5 years ago. I have no idea what it is, but I suspect there is too much reliance on computer models and not enough judgement. Morning forecasts are always better than the overnight ones. I used to reckon that the 6am forecast was the first of the day that got better. I often used to see significant differences in the forecast then. Now, I think its 9am. My imagination is that the BOM has de-skilled the overnight shifts and are now primarily a 9 - 5 operation.