Why Australia is Expensive?
Jan 19th 2010, 2:56 am
#31
Joined: Jan 2005
Location: Asia Pacific
Posts: 4,922
Re: Why Australia is Expensive?
That's such a dull and ultimately empty answer. OBVIOUSLY Australia is not London - we know that. No one is actually saying ''why isn't Sydney identical to London?'' - they are asking why something is absent/different in Australia, which surely they are allowed to consider.
We can still ask why Australia lacks something that the UK has without saying that we want them to be identical - that response is lazy, cheap and predictable. It doesn't answer the question but merely evades it. If an Aussie asked why the check-out assistants don't automatically pack your bags for you in UK supermarkets I wouldn't turn around to them and say ''cos this is the UK and not Australia''. Why?? Cos that's a childish retort and not an answer.
And why does the UK not have Myer or David Jones???!! That's easy!!! Cos they're crap compared to the equivalents in the UK.
We can still ask why Australia lacks something that the UK has without saying that we want them to be identical - that response is lazy, cheap and predictable. It doesn't answer the question but merely evades it. If an Aussie asked why the check-out assistants don't automatically pack your bags for you in UK supermarkets I wouldn't turn around to them and say ''cos this is the UK and not Australia''. Why?? Cos that's a childish retort and not an answer.
And why does the UK not have Myer or David Jones???!! That's easy!!! Cos they're crap compared to the equivalents in the UK.
Or maybe I gave an answer which had about as much thought put behind it as the question.
As a complete side note though David Jones has a nice selection of Harrods foods, teas and biscuits. I do quite like the English Breakfast tea.
Jan 19th 2010, 4:07 am
#32
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Jan 19th 2010, 4:10 am
#33
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Re: Why Australia is Expensive?
More Australians last year took overseas holidays than the total foreigners holidaying in Australia from all over the world.
Aussies are really taking advantage of the FX rate.
Jan 19th 2010, 4:11 am
#34
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Re: Why Australia is Expensive?
Jan 19th 2010, 4:15 am
#35
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Re: Why Australia is Expensive?
I think Aussies going to the UK and moaning about how expensive it supposedly is are doing their own country a great disservice in the long run because as a result of all that Brits come to Australia expecting this cheap paradise and the reality is that Australia is not really that different overall to the UK anymore. Individual items may be cheaper/more expensive but it works out to be roughly the same when you take everything into account.
It is the same as many British in Australia, especially to begin with, who find it more expensive than the locals.
Jan 19th 2010, 4:37 am
#36
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Posts: 14,188
Re: Why Australia is Expensive?
Australia was affordable 10 years ago but those days are now long gone.
I think the fact that many Brits who have never been automatically assume it would be a cheap paradise. Sterling is not the currencey it once was anymore and the AUD is now the 5th most traded.
The days of 3-1 are long gone.
I think the fact that many Brits who have never been automatically assume it would be a cheap paradise. Sterling is not the currencey it once was anymore and the AUD is now the 5th most traded.
The days of 3-1 are long gone.
Jan 19th 2010, 4:58 am
#37
Melbourne - NE suburbs
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 1,032
Re: Why Australia is Expensive?
In my opinion, it's not a relevant comparison to make.
Jan 19th 2010, 5:16 am
#38
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Re: Why Australia is Expensive?
Jan 19th 2010, 5:19 am
#40
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Posts: 294
Re: Why Australia is Expensive?
Expecting people not to compare Australia to other countries they've visited/lived in is ridiculous. Why exactly shouldn't they?? Cos you say so??!
Jan 19th 2010, 5:33 am
#41
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Posts: 10,784
Re: Why Australia is Expensive?
Comparisons are how we assess things in life. When you go to a restaurant, you inevitably compare it to other restaurants you've eaten in, if only by way of making conversation at the very least.
Expecting people not to compare Australia to other countries they've visited/lived in is ridiculous. Why exactly shouldn't they?? Cos you say so??!
Expecting people not to compare Australia to other countries they've visited/lived in is ridiculous. Why exactly shouldn't they?? Cos you say so??!
Whether it is fair or not is irrelevant, it is simple human nature. Where and how you live is at or near the top, of anyone's list of important things in life. I think it is pretty fair to assess this aspect of life and past experience of where you have lived previously seems to be reasonable enough as a subject for comparison.
Nobody expects anywhere to be perfect, that's where pros and cons become helpful!!
Jan 19th 2010, 5:42 am
#42
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Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 294
Re: Why Australia is Expensive?
People will always draw comparisons. Your new car against your old one, your new partner against your old one and so on.
Whether it is fair or not is irrelevant, it is simple human nature. Where and how you live is at or near the top, of anyone's list of important things in life. I think it is pretty fair to assess this aspect of life and past experience of where you have lived previously seems to be reasonable enough as a subject for comparison.
Nobody expects anywhere to be perfect, that's where pros and cons become helpful!!
Whether it is fair or not is irrelevant, it is simple human nature. Where and how you live is at or near the top, of anyone's list of important things in life. I think it is pretty fair to assess this aspect of life and past experience of where you have lived previously seems to be reasonable enough as a subject for comparison.
Nobody expects anywhere to be perfect, that's where pros and cons become helpful!!
On the contrary, comparisons are actually very fair because through making comparisons we place things in context and see where they fit in the scheme of things. How do we know a restaurant is good without ANY reference to other restaurants? We can see where that restaurant excelled and where it didn't and where it was simply average by recalling other restaurants.
People compare Revolver with Sgt. Pepper. Is that wrong too because, hey, 'they were recorded at different times so we shouldn't be comparing them' or some such??
Maybe people are simply anxious that Australia might be compared unfavourably with somewhere else and their issue is with that rather than with the act of making comparisons.
Jan 19th 2010, 5:47 am
#43
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Posts: 10,784
Re: Why Australia is Expensive?
I think that even if they were, people would do it. It's exactly why I am still here. I compared my life here, with my life previously. It isn't even a conscious thing, it just happens. If the comparisons I made didn't stack up, I would have left.
For some it doesn't stack up. For some reason, some people don't accept this.
For some it doesn't stack up. For some reason, some people don't accept this.
Jan 19th 2010, 5:55 am
#44
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Posts: 294
Re: Why Australia is Expensive?
I think that even if they were, people would do it. It's exactly why I am still here. I compared my life here, with my life previously. It isn't even a conscious thing, it just happens. If the comparisons I made didn't stack up, I would have left.
For some it doesn't stack up. For some reason, some people don't accept this.
For some it doesn't stack up. For some reason, some people don't accept this.
Some people find it distressing to observe that there are those who have trodden a similar path, made similar comparisons but reached a different result.
Hence you get ''you're wrong because it rains too much, the EU is evil, Birmingham is horrible, it's crowded, there's too much CCTV, there's not enough beaches, it's too expensive, Target is better than NEXT, the people aren't friendly'' etc etc etc.
