I use them cause I'm a tight butt and would rather use less electricity. Dimming thermostats are great and extend the life of your globes/CHE too. Get two wired in series and they will last years!
Perth also has large fluctuations in ambient temp. 7 degrees to 28 isn't uncommon. So using a heat source that can get the desired temp is just a basic. That said the thermostats I use are fail safe. They turn off if they fail. Most new thermostats are like that. I'm an electrical designer and fail safe is a typical design feature for most things these days.
Some of the old crusty members were around before electricity. So naturally they don't trust the automated control of it hahaha
Step into 2014 heat panels and modern thermostats are a brilliant way to control thermal gradients.