Flying into Essendon is a great move. MEL like all other big airports are bloody horrible places.
You keep rolling out this line about how bad the major airport are in Australia, but apart from in Flight Sim, have you actually ever been to most of them.
Have you been to Essendon? The terminal is a miserable, bleak, cold, run down s#!thole. Sorry, but I'd rather go to Melbourne and use my frequent flyer privileges. In fact, apart from Gold Coast airport during school holidays, from a passengers perspective, most of the major airports in Australia are fine.