I'm not defending anything. I was responding to the claim that Australia introduced this in retaliation to the US.

(Australia choosing to call the ETA a visa and the US choosing to call ESTA not a visa is immaterial. The effect on passengers is the same.)

Hong Kong charges $300 (A$50-60) to fly out in long haul business, but you don't notice as it's part of the plane ticket price. As already mentioned Australia charges even more but also hidden in the airfares.

Perhaps mods can move these off topic posts to a new thread.