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it can be expensive.
however I'd still rather pay the 1.5% tax, and have some public care. I don't like the US system where it seems private insurers get way too much say in what happens.
It could be better, but it could be worse.
I paid $10K in dentist expenses last year due to a dodgy dentist, and I understand that not that many people would be able to cover that (and I'm hardly "well off")... so I do think our system could be improved, however I am grateful that we have options.
Here's a bucket of cold water for all you drunk Aussies. Australia is not the best county in the world, its not even really the lucky country.
Australia has one of the highest tax rates in the world. The crumbling free medical system everyone bangs on about costs you a fortune! Now if you want good health care you have to buy private insurance to get off 3 year waiting lists. If thats not enough the government actually slugs you for even more tax if you don't buy private....what free medical system???
The cost of housing is absolutely mad! How I ask does Melbourne get to be the most live-able city when it is hard to find a shack of a house to live in for less than 400,000$ You can get a nice "cheap" place for about 250K if you are willing to face at least 1 to 1.5 hours of traffic to get to work. An average 3 bed 1 bath house close to the city is not much shy of a 1,000,000 and you will spend far in excess of that if you want something nice.
Wages for the average worker dont pay enough to get even close to that. I know adults in their 30 - 40s still living at home. Dual income is a must if you want to qualify to get into a house.
Food, cars, white goods (appliances for the northern folks) all cost a fortune. My brother in the US is crying that he has to pay around 2.60 for a gallon of gas. I pay about 1.45 per litre which works out to 5.70 per US gallon! A pint of beer is now getting up around 5 to as much as 9 bucks! A night out for two can hit 100$ real fast and you haven't done anything special.
Do I need to go on about weather, traffic, racial tension, rising crime? how about the governments addiction to speed and traffic cameras? They clearly do not want anyone to stop speeding, they make way too much off the revenue!
On the plus side,,,,,yes I actually do enjoy some things about living in Melbourne, Great food, lots of life, parks, arts, night life ,,,,Yes Melbourne is the best city in Australia. Pity about the weather....
Toronto and most of Canada is nearly-as-expensive,
and for those who prefer "warmth and sun" the weather is mostly-disappointing, 6+ months a year.
The best thing imho about living in Toronto is that flights to the SunBelt US States,
the Caribbean, Central America and Western Europe are fast AND (relatively) cheap!
Even Melbourne "can" have occaisional warm days in winter...
Dec-Feb, it's basically-impossible for Toronto to have even a single day at 18+ C; (65+ F)
our daily-records are broken if we reach highs like 12-14 C.
Last edited by ColdCanadian; 02-17-2010 at 07:37 AM..
Here's a bucket of cold water for all you drunk Aussies. Australia is not the best county in the world, its not even really the lucky country.
Australia has one of the highest tax rates in the world. The crumbling free medical system everyone bangs on about costs you a fortune! Now if you want good health care you have to buy private insurance to get off 3 year waiting lists. If thats not enough the government actually slugs you for even more tax if you don't buy private....what free medical system???
The cost of housing is absolutely mad! How I ask does Melbourne get to be the most live-able city when it is hard to find a shack of a house to live in for less than 400,000$ You can get a nice "cheap" place for about 250K if you are willing to face at least 1 to 1.5 hours of traffic to get to work. An average 3 bed 1 bath house close to the city is not much shy of a 1,000,000 and you will spend far in excess of that if you want something nice.
Wages for the average worker dont pay enough to get even close to that. I know adults in their 30 - 40s still living at home. Dual income is a must if you want to qualify to get into a house.
Food, cars, white goods (appliances for the northern folks) all cost a fortune. My brother in the US is crying that he has to pay around 2.60 for a gallon of gas. I pay about 1.45 per litre which works out to 5.70 per US gallon! A pint of beer is now getting up around 5 to as much as 9 bucks! A night out for two can hit 100$ real fast and you haven't done anything special.
Do I need to go on about weather, traffic, racial tension, rising crime? how about the governments addiction to speed and traffic cameras? They clearly do not want anyone to stop speeding, they make way too much off the revenue!
On the plus side,,,,,yes I actually do enjoy some things about living in Melbourne, Great food, lots of life, parks, arts, night life ,,,,Yes Melbourne is the best city in Australia. Pity about the weather....
Best post I've ever seen.
It's all the work of Kevin Rudd and the state labor governments.
Man, I wish it could be the same for the US... It is my DREAM to travel to Australia one day and rest assured, I WILL make it happen!! I am still young and am not tied down with family obligations yet. The only obligation I have is university right now but that's exactly what is going to help me get there one day.
Australia being the best place to live does not surprise me. I've often heard that Aussies are very friendly, down-to-earth people. I have never ONCE (in my 20 years that is! lol) heard an American say something bad about Australians or Australia in general. That's got to be a good thing! Oh, and have I mentioned the accent is the hottest accent I've ever heard? I wish I had an Aussie accent! I hate my accent... it's so nasally and annoying.
But anyway, again, this posting does not surprise me in the least!
Here's a bucket of cold water for all you drunk Aussies. Australia is not the best county in the world, its not even really the lucky country.
Australia has one of the highest tax rates in the world. The crumbling free medical system everyone bangs on about costs you a fortune! Now if you want good health care you have to buy private insurance to get off 3 year waiting lists. If thats not enough the government actually slugs you for even more tax if you don't buy private....what free medical system???
The cost of housing is absolutely mad! How I ask does Melbourne get to be the most live-able city when it is hard to find a shack of a house to live in for less than 400,000$ You can get a nice "cheap" place for about 250K if you are willing to face at least 1 to 1.5 hours of traffic to get to work. An average 3 bed 1 bath house close to the city is not much shy of a 1,000,000 and you will spend far in excess of that if you want something nice.
Wages for the average worker dont pay enough to get even close to that. I know adults in their 30 - 40s still living at home. Dual income is a must if you want to qualify to get into a house.
Food, cars, white goods (appliances for the northern folks) all cost a fortune. My brother in the US is crying that he has to pay around 2.60 for a gallon of gas. I pay about 1.45 per litre which works out to 5.70 per US gallon! A pint of beer is now getting up around 5 to as much as 9 bucks! A night out for two can hit 100$ real fast and you haven't done anything special.
Do I need to go on about weather, traffic, racial tension, rising crime? how about the governments addiction to speed and traffic cameras? They clearly do not want anyone to stop speeding, they make way too much off the revenue!
On the plus side,,,,,yes I actually do enjoy some things about living in Melbourne, Great food, lots of life, parks, arts, night life ,,,,Yes Melbourne is the best city in Australia. Pity about the weather....
I just had to laugh. Excellent post. Most things are ridiculously expensive in Oz compared to here. My wife and I can hit the town for drinks with just $30, (and that's a good night), $2 for a beer over the bar, $2.50 for a spirit, as for cars...OMG...my mom sent me the Adelaide Advertiser newspaper for some light reading for me....my wife almost died when she looked at the used car section. An equivalent 6 year old car in Oz was the same price as a brand new one here. Mobile phones are dirt cheap to use. We don't even have a house phone, just use our mobiles for everything. Domestic holidays and airfares are cheap. Some routes you don't even book. Just turn up at the airport and buy a ticket like at a bus terminal. If the flight is full, not to worry, they depart every half an hour. And the list goes on. Yes there are some things I hate about the US. The traffic, although places like Sydney aren't much better. I live in a very small town (population 500) to traffic is not an issue, yet I'm only 1.5 hours from Denver (how I dread going to the big smoke), the healthcare system, it just stinks but Oz is catching up quickly.
BUT.....there are some things I love about Australia. The Aussie meat pie....how I miss them.......the tropical weather of Northern Queensland, the Daintree Rainforest, the culture of Melbourne, the Outback, Pilbara Region, Kakadu.
Personally I think the best place in the world to live is where your heart's at...
You'll be in a shock down under. I found Toronto much cheaper for most everything! From Broadband to food, etc. etc.
Well I thought it was similar...
Almost everything is cheaper in the USA than Toronto... except healthcare! ()
*Auto-insurance in Oz sounds ridiculously-cheap;
how anyone could get insurance in a city like Perth for a few hundred a year
with all the stories of "hoon culture" is totally perplexing to me.
Around here auto-insurance for 25+ yr old with a clean-record in a new, but "ordinary" car is like $2000+/yr.
Any male unfortunate enough to be under 25 and not married? Looking at $6000+/yr for even an old "beater."
Last edited by ColdCanadian; 02-21-2010 at 10:08 AM..
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Sweet!
....the tropical weather of Northern Queensland, the Daintree Rainforest, the culture of Melbourne, the Outback, Pilbara Region, Kakadu.
)
Looking at $6000+/yr for even an old "beater." 
