Within very broad limits, I’m ok with people naturalizing their lawns. Native grasses and shrubs are fine. And I won’t quarrel with zero upkeep. I’ve never lived in a desert, but if I moved to the arid parts of the west today, I don’t think I’d worry too much about maintaining a manicured patch of green.
Honestly this winner must have worked at having such a deserty looking lawn. I lived in northern Tasmania for 6 months, lots of rain. She is in a southern Tasmania town that gets almost 26 inches of rain per year. Tasmania is an island with so much rain and water it had the first hydro electric plant in the southern hemisphere, and today hydro provides 80% of the power generation there. Lots of good clean water.