No, there is no relevance to the comparison at all.

Petrol, commuting (public transport) and parking. For us, ('old' migrants) : housing cost. Rates. This is in itself significant.

I'd add eating out, a lot of insurance, car service costs, and a lot of labour charges for all sorts of odds and ends.

I'm being conservative here. In years gone by, I have been able to say that a lot of fixed costs are cheaper here with the 'nice to have' things more expensive. I'm guessing it's closer now.

The cheaper things subsidise the really expensive things - eg. groceries. If we were 'new' migrants then Australia would be very expensive.

So for those who "can't think of anything other than petrol", there's a tonne of pages here listing exactly what is cheaper. nuff said really.

Thank you Chris. Out of interest why couldn't you live here or a big city for that matter?

Well actually there's a tonne of pages listing what some consider to be cheaper but because others will say the opposite then we are back to page 1 really.

Petrol...house insurance....car insurance.....meat.....vegetables.....most fruit....parking.....sunshine.....wine.....electro nics......

Toowoomba just isn't somewhere that appeals to me but I could give you a list a mile long of places I wouldn't live to be fair. I like to live within easy travelling distance to a big city but living in one would be my idea of hell.
My personal preference is an outer suburb such as the one we currently live in or a quiet English village such as the one we hope to be in next year

You see exactly what I said earlier, I don't find those things any cheaper here but you do. In fact on my recent trip to England I was amazed at the cost of fruit and vegetables for instance. Car insurance isnt cheaper FOR ME and judging by quotes we have had neither is house insurance. Petrol definitely is though. This is why this subject is so difficult.
Unfortunately many people pay a fairly big price for the sunshine later in life.

Fruit and vegetables? I truly am amazed to read that! Fruit and veg to me seem very expensive.

Yes even I have noticed that and my wife who knows better than me agrees. Also amazingly not as great a choice as in the UK which seems weird.

It probably depends on where you live and where you shop........like the cost of most things. If you don't shop around and only visit Coles or Woolworths, then expect to pay more. Using the accepted 2.2 formula, I find fruit and vegetable prices in the Lockyer valley and Toowoomba to be favourable with those in the UK.

Plenty more lettuce options tho

I only go for the green ones to be honest

Blimey! Perhaps you can send me food parcels?

Sure, will do. What UK address do I post it to? I can guarantee it will be just as fresh as you will find in the supermarkets. In the UK green veg can be up to 3 weeks old before it hits the shelves.