You were totally right elkitten I went to a Skilled Migration event today and spoke to someone from immigration.

He assured me that, should I fail medical, I would have a good chance of a health waiver anyway if I meet requirements for Critical Skills List. I think I do. But I'll still apply for Partner Visa because it's wayyy quicker. He claimed <3 months for partner rather than >7 months for GSM(CSL) with no job offer.

By the way, do those numbers agree with your impressions from these boards? I have looked at the timeline posts but it's hard to get an idea of the 'average' time.