awqward, Leadsled et al,
First, yes, I agree, I think we are quite over-regulated here. That's the way it's developed over many years and many Governments. To claw it all back would be a tremendous challenge.....for any Government and for any Administrators. imagine the change in thinking required for that????
Secondly, I think you continue to miss the point on this Class E airspace discussion. As most Controllers (and aerodrome operators) on here keep saying...they'll service what ever airspace is decreed....given the appropriate preparation time, the appropriate rules, the appropriate training, the appropriate surveillance and the appropriate resources.
The question is....can that happen in Australia?
We have finite money (unless the airlines have a bottomless pit) and we have finite suitable ATC applicants...but a bloody great big airspace to manage.
Yes, wouldn't it be nice to be like Europe and the USA? However, the reality is...we just can't afford it, in so many ways. Therefore we have to compromise...and make do with a system that we can, just, afford. It's not the most efficient and it's probably not the safest...but it's the best we can do with our money and resources.
Unless Dick has a magical way of paying for the extra Controllers, extra equipment and the extra Unicoms...we are stuck with what we have...unless we hit the flying public in the pocket. That would be a very tight balancing act indeed....