Haven't seen even-odd watering here for a couple of years. We went straight from level 3 to level 4 restrictions. No-one thought to invent level 3a back then.
I'd assumed it was probably invented because it was expected (correctly) that Melbourne would bottom out at the usual May/June minimum very close to the stage 4 threshold of 29%, and that it would look a bit silly if Melbourne went to stage 4 and then went back out of it two weeks later.
I prefer rural conspiracy theories.
Nothing wrong with a good rural conspiracy theory. The letters page of the 'Weekly Times' is always a good place to find them (and 'Queensland Country Life' even more so).
I think there could be some merit in starting a rural conspiracy and whinge review page. Yes, the Weekly Times has some rippers. As does Stock and Land and even the local Addy at times. Have been musing on this for ages. Time to act. What is a good site to start this sort of exercise?