Has anyone from the "Down-Under" area noticed that the newer single phase 10A plugs have a tendency for the phase or neutral pins to break prematurely, as of late?

Here's a picture of the 2-pin version of these plugs:

[Linked Image from electrical-photos.com]

Those from overseas will note that the pins have a layer of plastic on the pins, where they exit the plug body.

Now this layer of plastic isn't thin, but the issue is, allowance for this plastic is at the expense of pin material all the way around the pin.

In this last week, I've replaced 6 of these plugs for various people, where one of the pins has snapped.
It also raises a safety question of "What is the mechanical/electrical integrity of one of these plugs like where the pin(s) might be bent in use, but hasn't broken yet?".
The pins on the older version of the plug, were quite hard to bend, these ones are quite soft.

Bear in mind that these are the only version of the plug you can buy now, manufacturers are required to conform to the regulations.

I also have a problem with this plug (in it's current guise) having a specification of 10 Amperes, with the reduced cross-sectional area on the pins.

This idea came about a couple of years back, the concept being that if a child removes a plug from a socket-outlet, there will be a wide enough gap between the socket face and the plug-top front, for a child to be able to get thier fingers in that gap, causing either burns or electric shock or both.

One other work-around would be recessed socket-outlets, these are on the market here, but you need a good stiff drink before reading the unit price of them. eek

Your thoughts?