Between the top of the climb and the viewing platform you'll find a couple of other spots where the view is still pretty good, and, most importantly, there's enough room to allow you to take your time. It's a premium view, with more than adequate facilities pitched at a market place that's willing to pay.
The Northern equivalent looks to be largely done on the cheap, the result of pitching things to the el cheapo, backpacker economy sized end of the market. Any suggestion that the fees to access Whitehaven should be bumped up would be met with howls of protest because of the likely impact on the numbers of people accessing the various cruise operations that get you there.
There'd also be howls from the bar owners, nightclub proprietors and T-shirt vendors because the customer base has a limited budget and bumping up the Whitehaven fee will mean less expenditure elsewhere.
On the other hand, Tasmania has the ability to pitch the whole state as a premium destination, and when you know you're getting a premium product you don't mind paying. As I type this, I've just had a look at my credit card balance and can assure The Inquisitive Reader we've been paying a pretty penny for some quite outstanding experiences. Ask me to pay $12 to access almost anything you can find in a Queensland National Park (Carnarvon Gorge being a possible exception), and you'll get an extremely terse response, possibly in two words.