The clothes dryer is a big energy user, and the exercise of hanging clothes would be good for me - as long as I have my dryer to fall back on when it rains or I don't have the time (or would rather quilt). I do love the fresh smell. We would no more be allowed to put up clotheslines here than paint our house orange with green stripes. It's a shame, I think, though I agree with the paint rules.
If there is social pressure to dry outdoors in Australia, I wonder about the division of labor for this task in households where both spouses have jobs. My DH never did laundry before retirement unless I was flat-on-my-back sick, and we did not have clotheslines back then, either.
My mom, who had a full time job, didn't get a dryer until about 1957. Dad helped with the laundry some, until I got old enough to be useful.