ddzx - what I can tell you, having spent years on US and Europe, Aus has one of the highest wage structures and cost of living around, getting towards European French levels.
The US is so cost competitive with Aus that it will be amazing for any large scale manufacturing to come back to Aus, unless the $ goes back to 56C and that would only happen is the Aus economy was shot to pieces anyway.
Try and get a tradesman for under $1k per day - everyone feels entitled to a high standard of living, Good for them, but the piper must be paid in the end.
