I lived in Australia in the 1970s. The "give way to traffic turning right when you are turning left" applied in Victoria, but nowhere else (from memory). I recall once nearly getting smashed up in Melbourne taking my right of way. The other driver had seen my NSW plates and assumed that I would give way, as that was the rule where I came from!
However if it's a consistent rule I can't see any problem with it, as it helps traffic flow. The problem in Oz was that the rules varied between states.
The worst rule of all I came across was the "give way to the right" rule (when going straight on). Once I had to do an emergency stop from about 120 km/h as this muppet on the right stopped at the stop sign [1], looked right, then ambled out straight in front of me. (As he had "priority", of course there was no need for him to look left.) His passenger looked really terrified as I screeched to a halt in a shower of dust and pebbles on what passes for a hard shoulder over there. I must have missed crashing into the car by about a couple of feet. (Oops - sorry about the mixed units!) It was being phased out when I left, but this just made matters worse, as at some junctions you were supposed to give way to the right, and at others not. Almost every intersection on the Pacific Highway in Sydney had little piles of broken glass.
The really amusing one was this car that went the wrong way down a one way street, then took his "priority" as he plunged out on to the main road at a junction which was traffic light controlled. They had not thought to put a red light on the one way street!
[1] In those days, "give way" meant "you don't need to stop but you must give way (to traffic from the left)". "Stop" meant "you must stop but you then have the right of way over traffic from the left". No sign at all meant look right and if it's clear, just plunge out.
Can anybody confirm that these idiotic rules have finally bitten the dust?
Brian