alvin77

Hi All,

I personally feel that (in my opinion) that Australia is expensive(grocessory,garments etc.) when I compare it to US or UK?Why its like that.

The house rent in Sydney is comparable to NewYork or Los Angeles. The temperature in Melbourne,Sydney and Perth in Summers go upto 40C-45C and normally the rental houses doesn't even have ceiling fan. In US or UK when we rent an accomodation mostly we get furnished kitchen whereas in Australia normally rental accomodation doesn't have any refridgerators etc. in kitchen.

Australian market also lack famous brands/variety like Harrods', Marks and spencer, etc. etc.

Why we dont get quality rental accomodation in affordable price in Australia?

Petals

Its because Australia is Australia and we are one of the only countries to live on the so called level playing field. We have no European Union subsidising out farmers in fact there are very few subsidies provided by our government.

Its also because its a very large country with high infrastructure costs due to size and the small population.

As for the furnished rentals you can get them in Sydney but they have never been popular in Melbourne.

If you require all mod cons when renting then you need to look at the properties with higher rent.

Why oh why do a lot of people expect Australia to be like the country they are moving from and have the same shops and goods. We migrated for difference not same.

Devlin

I don't think expect it to be the same. They are definitely sold the expectation that at the very least their standard of living will be the same or better. Unfortunately for a lot moving from western Europe or North America the reduction in the standard of living is a shock!

Centurion

It's perhaps self evident why Australia does not have British institution shopping chains or an iconic single British store. This is Australia and not London or anywhere else in the UK.

Why does the UK not have Myer, or David Jones ?

As to quality rentals, I never had a problem. My first rental here was a brand new house with all appliances and so on. I'm not suggesting that rents are cheap for a moment, but its market forces that determine the level of rents which people are prepared to pay ultimately.

RenShen

I don't think its any great secret that we don't have Harrods or Marks and Sparks here. Anybody doing even the smallest bit of research before moving here would be aware that this country has a certain standard of living. To decide on if its better or worse than somewhere else would be a subjective matter. To me, its better than our lives in England. However, I do agree that its expensive. To be fair though, I think the cheapness of some items in the UK has led to consumers not being very responsible in what they buy. Food wastage, throw away society etc.

I have certainly found since being here that I tend to just buy what I need and am less hung up about brands, shopping sprees etc. In that respect, I still prefer Australia to the UK.

bcworld

Actually EU agriculture policies (the dreaded CAP etc) are often credited with artificially inflating the cost of groceries.

bcworld

How many towns & cities in the UK have a Harrods then?

steve`o

its nothing to do with subsidies and all to do with the fact that only two companies control 80% of the supermarkets so they charge whatever the market will stand, farmers here get paid less than a sixth of what these big two sell the produce for so forget level playing feilds etc its all a myth

if you want cheap veggies, cheese or fruit go to your local growers or farmers markets

for example if your local to me ( goldcoast qld )
http://www.goldcoast.qld.gov.au/t_st....aspx?PID=7332

regards steve

Amazulu

Sounds like the UK or US is the place for you then.

mono

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.

mono

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.

RenShen

What a nasty post.

RenShen

Surely the price of goods when you travel just depends on the exchange rate at the time?

4500 Times

Would'nt you say this whole topic is dull.......

Obviously people havn't done enough research on Australia b4 deciding its the place for them.
You don't know if you can live here until you've tried, which is fair enough, but you can research about everything else (rentals / supermarket prices / etc etc ) just whinging pom syndrome again

4500 Times

What a stupid thing to say.....thats it blame it on the aussie tourists....