There's little to no evidence of virus transmission outdoors, so in that sense mandating outdoor mask-wearing is stupid. I think the govt has mandated it because they want people masked before they enter an indoor area, rather than have someone enter a shop, then think "oh yeah, I'll put my mask on now", and have potentially spread the virus. It's overkill at our level of community transmission though (i.e. virtually zero) and it infantilizes the populace. Stupid policy which is why so few people comply.
The mask policy in restaurants makes logical sense if people are seated far enough apart, so that the risk when people are walking past a table of strangers is mitigated. Yes people at the same table can still spread it to one another but it still lowers the rate of community transmission. The ventilation system of the restaurant probably matters more but that's hard for the government to regulate.
