I've gotta say years ago I felt very uncomfortable when flying a C182RG from PMQ to AF at night. We had planned coastal on a nice clear night at 10k so to at least give us options of both airports and beaches if the fan stopped. After passing CH we were advised that the RAAF had activated Evans Head and our track was not available, and we were re-routed well west over all the tiger country to get back to AF, we ended up negotiating the best we could to avoid the airspace and not the CH-CAS-AF track we were told to fly, CAS-AF track in day light scared the bejesus out of me let alone at night. Yes I could have pulled up stumps and landed at CH but considering I had made a plan based on the info that EVX wasn't active, it certainly was an uncomfortable situation to be thrown, in a twin, no probs but in a single it's a diff story.
Agreed that the pilot made a lot of poor decisions, but I do agree the RAAF does seem very inflexible at times...too many things are continued to be done in aviation because 'thats the way we've always done them'