The Australia Electronic Travel Authority is relatively painless, cheap and instant, compared to the ordeal of leaving your passport at an embassy for days and paying them hundreds of dollars to get a visa pasted in, as I have experienced with other countries.
Oh, I'm sure. It was just weird that I can fly to Europe or even next door Bali (since Indonesia has VOA) on a whim, but not Australia. I totally get that the US requires this also, and it is all probably retaliatory.
