When you use a charging station, you pay for the power you consume, but not for "parking".

This usually means you can't stay for a particularly long time.

Correct, but the time you can stay is surprisingly generous in Oslo, between 3 and 24 hours, depending on location. I used to dread driving to Oslo, but after I discovered that the municipality had repurposed an old bunker to fit hundreads of chargers/parking spost dead in the middle of town, I visit with gleeful joy :P

Here is a map of all charging points provided by the municipality around Oslo: https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/2053e5d9f24c48c487e...

I see on that map, that on my last visit to Oslo I could have parked 20m from my hotel entrance for €10 over night, instead of parking in the garage 50m further away for €120. Didn't really need to charge, so just went for a normal spot.

I wish we had the brains to do this in Aussie cities

Not in Trondheim. You pay one fee for the parking and another for the charging.

Part of it is likely because Norway has done a lot to encourage the use of EVs. I wouldn't be surprised if this were part of this system. There have been things like tax breaks, not paying for tolls, and allowing people to drive in taxi/bus lanes. I'm not entirely sure about the extent: I haven't driven since I moved to Norway. This is all in addition to building out infrastructure - it is far easier to get around with an electric car now than it was when I moved 10 years ago.

This program isn't the same throughout Norway, though. In Trondheim, it looks like you pay for parking and then you pay for the charging separately so you really aren't parking for free. (Private parking might vary, and sometimes city parking is free).