Quote:
Originally Posted by xsboost
But we pay more for EVERYTHING, tax, rego, insurance, income tax, tax on tax, housing, land, groceries, you name it and we pay top dollar! Now they take our private health rebate and fuel excise. I'm seriously contemplating moving o/s in a year or two  |
I reckon that's the price we pay for living on a sparsely populated island far away from everything - and there's only a few of us.
So competition is constrained, infrastructure is expensive, talented politicians far and few between, and corruption rife whereever you go.
I used to drive a (3 year old) 325 eta fresh out of uni on my first income. That was back in Germany. When migrating, I contemplated having the car moved here as well, together with a right-hand drive conversion. It would have been expensive, but would have ended up costing the same as buying the same car on arrival here. That was the difference in price, I think it was the equivalent of $10k-$15k at the time. I couldn't afford a beemer from my first salary here on arriving in '95, because salaries are 20-30% lower here (IT Industry). Cost of living (basics) is ridiculously cheap here however, one must say (energy, groceries, housing). So, i guess we can't have it all.