Hobby, in case you haven't noticed, my comment wasn't directed at the "new regulations" in Australia, but at you. When you write that cats in your neighbourhood kill birds and other animals but do not do their "job" (i.e. killing mice), pardon me, you sound like you expect animals to behave in a certain way because we humans decided so. I am neither defending the Thai approach (dogs are free, but as a matter of fact they're all sick) nor the Western model (dogs are just NOT allowed to be free at all, especially in urban areas - the ones who escape get captured and jailed - but they're normally quite healthy). Dogs represent a potential danger to humans because they're biggish and could bite or even kill sometimes. Cats are way too small, and are no harm to us. Moreover, cats duly bury their droppings, so I can't really imagine how cats can turn your neighbourhood into a big toilet.
I am glad you wrote more about your definition of mateship though, as the first version sounded a little disturbing to me.