Don't you mean no GA pilot can afford not to join. We're in the almost hopeless position we now find ourselves because of addle brained thinking.
What does $1,000 represent? A few % of the cost of a basic licence, less than 1% of a commercial licence, a quarter of one years insurance for a private aircraft and less than 10% of one years insurance on a charter aircraft.
If CASA was pulled into line and forced to operate on data and evidence the once only $1,000 would be recouped many times over and no pilot would live in fear of drawing the short straw in the insane lottery of interpreting correctly CASA's impossibly numerous , poorly written conflicting rules or doing battle due to some arbitary decision of some incompetent inexperienced officer.
United we stand,divided we fall.