http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-21519050

Australia, well i would rather be poor here than in the UK, and i have had a sh!t time here since arriving, but not sure i want to go back yet, just yet? I cannot say i luv it here, but i cannot say i miss blighty? Only posted to see some one elses thoughts? maybe to convince me either way how lucky i am? btw, i am no bbc lover at all.

Although in a lot of ways we have a better life here than in the UK, we are poorer in terms of what we can afford to buy. I've been here 4.5 years now, and I'm just about learning to stop comparing prices and take Australia for what it is. Sure, food is more expensive, as are clothes and books, but it has other compensations.

I am taking my citizenship test today because Australia is my home now, not the UK.


Hope things improve for you.

The article didn't really resonate with me. It seemed to suggest that everybody is rolling in it and nobody bats an eyelid about paying $2.25 for a lime. I don't think this is true.

I'm damn well off considering the blue collar job that I have..... However when it comes to things like limes etc... I tend to work around it a bit and work out whats expensive then buy a tree or a bush and grow them in my decent sized back yard. It's exactly why I've got a lime tree.

The article is a load of crap, there's much more bangers on the road in QLD than in the UK.

No drive from Brisbane to the Sunshine or Gold Coasts was complete without passing at least 5 broken down vehicles.

And the only people rolling in it are those fortunate enough to have benefited from the rise in house prices or those working in professions in demand, much like the UK.

I think the article is referring to a small town over run by FIFO's where the local shops, real estate etc charge these guys want they like as they realise they are away from home, bored and cashed up. I think there is a different reality when you re normalise prices etc in more populated areas where there is more competition on the demand as well as supply side.

Gosh...she didn't see where I live then. Litter everywhere and a retirement home for an ever growing number of decripit Holdens out the back!

Terrible article. I find it interesting that some articles on the BBC allow comments, but others don't.

I've never ever left a comment on a BBC article. But I wanted to, with this one!

Having said that..... clearly the author knows exactly what she's doing. Balanced views aren't nearly as interesting/ provocative. ha ha...

When life gives you $2.25 limes, buy a lemon.

The mental picture of someone storming out of a shop infuriated with the price of limes is pretty hilarious.

Its based on the authors perception and her own lifestyle, sounds like a posh bit of totty proclaiming how fortunate she is and is definitely seen through rose tinted spectacles.
No litter?? No cars over 8 yrs old?? She is either blind to truth or lives exclusively in one street and doesn't travel.

What an odd article!!

I've just read it....has to be the funniest thing I've read in weeks!!!!

We are rich. Bloody rich. So rich that no-one blinks an eye at paying as much for a lime as some of our neighbours in Asia earn in a day.

no litter on the streets. Nowhere. And I am yet to see a central reservation where the grass is not well-tended and the attractive shrubs not perfectly pruned.

t is the cars. I swear there is none on the road that is older than eight years. They are clean and dent-free and meet strict safety standards.

FFS sake which Australia is she living in?!!!!!

Yeah, I didn't recognise that bit of the article but I did recognise the cashed up bogans bit. Especially here in Perth.

It is expensive though. I was just saying to my wife how in the 10 years we have been here just about everything has doubled in price: houses, petrol, rent, insurance etc.. but my wages haven't and I've been promoted up 2 levels in that time.

Definitely expensive....shame I'm not rich to cope with it!