[cynix]

I know this is likely going to be better than "other options in Australia", and I respect their efforts for making this happen, but that's not my point. I was comparing "options in Australia" to "options in the rest of the world".

The same happens with a lot of different things, such as the cost of computer hardware/software, furniture/home appliances, cars, etc. Occasionally it's possible to work around it: I buy most of my gadgets from Amazon or other US/EU online retailers, and even with international shipping it's cheaper than buying locally. Unfortunately we often get hit hard on the larger, more expensive items that are impractical to import: IKEA furnitures cost 3x as much as in the US, cars 2x as much.

[TimJRobinson]

Economies of scale, it's a lot easier to sell to 300 million people than 20 million.

Plus we have the 2nd highest minimum wage in the world (over 2x as high as the US, our welfare is almost as high as their minimum wage) and we live in an amazing country, so it all balances out.