Having not started flying until 2006 I have never had the restrictions Dick had in 1982 Australia. I love flying in this country and I thought we had it pretty good here, and compared to some countries I'm sure we have. However is was not until I went to the States for an endorsement that I realized how restricted we VFR pilots still are. Flying over there was a revelation, their system works, everyone knows the system and it works well. Air traffic control are there to serve and help. No plan required. FAA people I had dealings with were efficient and courteous and actually seem to want to make aviation work. The only money I had to pay for my FAA certificate was $50 to CASA to send a validation email to the FAA! Independent instructors without the overhead of our expensive AOCs keep the costs down.
Will we change? I doubt it. Useless politicians, apathetic public, divided aviation bodies, RAAF has way too much say and their ex members keep finding jobs high up in civilian aviation administration for some unknown reason. We have an abundance of people who tell us why we can't do something and very asking how we can. Some of you guys who think our system is so good really need to go to the US. Go to Oshkosh in late July and see what busy really means. Go to LAX and see how VFR pilots can get through a busy airspace without having to detour out to sea or over tiger country (or put a plan in). I'm back there next year for another endorsement holiday!