It's possible that I was "told wrong" about the equipment on the Dornier and, Shannon, if you are saying that ATZ was properly equipped then I accept that. A deiced Dornier 228 has got to be a step up from the 404s that ran the RPT service and did not have deice boots.
My remark still stands, where was the regulator in all the years of winter operations across Bass Straight (and into Canberra & elsewhere) in ill equipped aeroplanes?
As the OP notes, flying in ice is no new thing, but in Australia we often don't give it the weight it deserves.