Australia Is Such an Overpriced Sh**hole - AAARGH

[hoppy]

Originally Posted by cat man do

Where is the high speed and invariably free internet available in the cities?

What baffles me is the download limits on broadband. Sounds very 3rd world or at least 3rd rate to me.

I don't even have download limits on my mobile broadband here in Sweden and even without limits it is still cheaper than Aus

I hate the thought of one day having to watch my internet use. Hopefully before I return Aus might join the 21st century, but I doubt it

[Ex-Calif]

Originally Posted by cat man do

And in the example I gave how would that work.

$75k in an Australian account paying 6% = $4500 - tax = $3150 to spend
Same $75k in VND account paying 14% = $10,500 and no tax = $10,500 to spend.

How is keeping the money in Oz a smart move?

Depends what your goals are. First the link you provided pays 14% for vnd, 0.5% for eur and 2.0% for usd.

Presuming you stuck 1.6 billion vnd in the bank you would earn 200 miilion or so. But to buy back the aussie dollars you invested you'd need just about all that 200 million. And last time I checked the vnd is sorta not like american express. i.e. not accepted everywhere. Even of you have suitcases of it.

If you never plan to use the money outside vietnam, maybe sticking all your hard currency into dong is a good idea but I dont think so. By the way we also havent spoken of the vietnam inflation rate, especially for those foreign goods that you complain cost too kuch in Oz. you need wheelbarrows full of vnd to by a couple of Harken 40s.

On the really bright side if you stuck aud75k in vietnam you could be a billionaire for a year...

[cat man do]

Originally Posted by Ex-Calif

Depends what your goals are. First the link you provided pays 14% for vnd, 0.5% for eur and 2.0% for usd.

Presuming you stuck 1.6 billion vnd in the bank you would earn 200 miilion or so. <snip>

As I said in the post, the people I know that have these VND accounts live and spend their money in Vietnam.

$75k (1.5b vnd) in a VND account effectively has them living a comfortable lifestyle for free.
The same can not be achieved in Australia unless you have about $1.5 million in an account, in the US you probably need about $4 million usd.

[MacG]

It is a fact that boats are cheap in the US. Question is, which boats?
Very difficult to find quality labour, engines are not the very best, most boats arriving from the US here (Holland) have to be re-engined and general quality is sub-standard with some good exceptions for the specialty yards. I saw some real splendid work. Quality of production yards is pretty hopeless because most boats arrive from Taiwan and/or China.

I may be a bit critical but I come from a country that counts as one of the best places to find a good boat.

[lockie]

I'll stump up the first 10,000 vnd to help get cat man out of Oz to stop his whingeing!

lockie

[Ex-Calif]

Originally Posted by lockie

I'll stump up the first 10,000 vnd to help get cat man out of Oz to stop his whingeing!

lockie

I think even CMD could find 50 cents to get himself started, even with the unreasonably high costs in Oz - LOL

I have lots of sympathy for CMD and while buying local is probably expensive the strong Aussie makes West Marine cheaper, even with shipping factored in.

I am off to Oz this week and am not looking forward to converting my third world US dollars to Aussies, paying pretty ridiculous hotel charges and quite frankly the pretty expensive taxis. On a nine day business trip I usually end up with about aud 400 in taxi fares.

[Lagoon4us]

Originally Posted by lockie

I'll stump up the first 10,000 vnd to help get cat man out of Oz to stop his whingeing!

lockie

LOL.... I've given up. I checked that boat out in question on yachtworld.com looked at the structure and it is a definate pergola, i'm the builder of 'Spirit of Freedom', 'Sydney Showboat 11' and 'Scaffie' to name a few. 'Scaffie' is the Adams 35 that was sailed single handed around Australia by the talented David Beard winning the Alec Rose medal that year for circumnavigations.
David's story is well documented in his book "I can sail circles" a great sailor!!!
I KNOW MY STUFF. ..... CHEERS
No more comment will be made lol.......

[Capt Phil]

Please don't do that, Lockie... the 'cat man' is my lifeline to reality down under. Capt Phil

[Lagoon4us]

Originally Posted by Ex-Calif

I think even CMD could find 50 cents to get himself started, even with the unreasonably high costs in Oz - LOL

I have lots of sympathy for CMD and while buying local is probably expensive the strong Aussie makes West Marine cheaper, even with shipping factored in.

I am off to Oz this week and am not looking forward to converting my third world US dollars to Aussies, paying pretty ridiculous hotel charges and quite frankly the pretty expensive taxis. On a nine day business trip I usually end up with about aud 400 in taxi fares.

Going back 25 years ago i was given a West Marine catalogue and i was amazed, both the prices and the range blew Bias and also Miller&Whitworths away....
Always America has been cheaper than Aust, Australia is an isolated island with a small population hence a very small market.
From this quite a few aussies have risen to the challenge as builders in the world market...
We should also spare a thought for the Kiwi's as they were/are in a much worse prediciment AND haven't they risen to the challenge??? Some of the best superyachts, best ferro-cement yachts, america cup boats WOW!!!!
The world is getting smaller!

[D&D]

Originally Posted by lockie

I'll stump up the first 10,000 vnd to help get cat man out of Oz to stop his whingeing!

lockie

LOL...ah lockie, you have an amusing way with words!

Credit to CMD though, he's certainly kicked off a lively thread! As already clear in our posts, we are amoungst the biased (and no doubt some will say ill-informed and suffering) lot who love it here in OZ...and we tend to agree with the remarks posted by others with the same handicap(s).

Nuff said...we'll now go back to watching the fireworks...

[cat man do]

Originally Posted by lockie

I'll stump up the first 10,000 vnd to help get cat man out of Oz to stop his whingeing!

lockie

Whingeing? hardly, what I have done is point out the fact that in Australia we pay 100% or more for items than the rest of the world.
If you think that is an equatable system well good for you and perhaps you can donate your obvious abundance of excess funds to a worthwhile charity.

10,000vnd wouldn't help me get the boat to Vietnam anyway as you cant get a boat into the country.

Oh, and if you are so easily upset at someone shattering your "dreams" about Australia, the simple solution is to ignore the thread .

[cat man do]

Originally Posted by Lagoon4us

LOL.... I've given up. I checked that boat out in question on yachtworld.com looked at the structure and it is a definate pergola,

You really are confused
You are commenting about a vessel in the wrong thread for starters

i'm the builder of 'Spirit of Freedom', 'Sydney Showboat 11' and 'Scaffie' to name a few.

Shall I start a list of the 30 or more boats and small ships I have been involved in (I wont be so bold as to say I actually built 100ft+ vessels by myself like you have)
These have ranged in size from 135ft down to 25ft, many built for DNV, Lloyds and Dept.Transport survey and standards

I KNOW MY STUFF

Oh dear, an all caps poster
is that supposed to make it all the more convincing?
Perhaps you should have done it in bold and red as well?

No more comment will be made lol.......

Can we hold you to your word?

[Wand]

Originally Posted by VirtualVagabond

It's not exploitation at all. It's the going rate in that economy. They are happy to do the work, and the patient is happy to pay it.
Who is being exploited?

Exploitation is when people are being paid less than the going rate and have no choice.

I'm not so sure that your definition of exploitation is sufficient. Consider this.

You're a South African immigrant and a whole swag of your countrymen and women came to Aus in the 1980s, at least some because they foresaw that the race-based privileges they enjoyed under apartheid were soon to evaporate. Most went to the conservative outlying states of WA and Queensland but I met up with a few came to the south east corner.

Discussing life and politics in South Africa, I was told by one woman that the only washing machine she'd ever known "had two black legs". She related also that her family also had a black housemaid and gardener, and indicated that this setup was not uncommon.

She agreed that they paid their black workers a pittance by standards in the white economy, but said the wages paid were consistent with the norm in the black economy. Thus she also insisted that the workers were happy with their wages and grateful for the work.

So that situation is exactly consistent with your definition (quoted above) of a non-exploitative contract between two parties.

So the question that you maybe ought to ask yourself is whether your definition - which could be seen as an endorsement of apartheid - is really adequate after all.

[Weyalan]

Australia may be expensive, but it most certainly isn't a sh**hole.
I've visited approximately 50 different countries in various parts of the globe. Some of the richest first world countries, some of the poorest 3rd world countries, even behind the iron curtain before the wall came down (and after, too), and a fair bit in between. I was born and raised about as far away from Australia as you can get and still be on this planet. Yet I choose to live here, in Australia. If you think Australia is a sh**thole, you don't get out much.

[savoir]

Originally Posted by Lagoon4us

Going back 25 years ago i was given a West Marine catalogue and i was amazed, both the prices and the range blew Bias and also Miller&Whitworths away....
Always America has been cheaper than Aust, Australia is an isolated island with a small population hence a very small market.
From this quite a few aussies have risen to the challenge as builders in the world market...
We should also spare a thought for the Kiwi's as they were/are in a much worse prediciment AND haven't they risen to the challenge??? Some of the best superyachts, best ferro-cement yachts, america cup boats WOW!!!!
The world is getting smaller!

West Marine are expensive. Beating their prices with a little shopping around is not hard to do.