In article ,
Janet Baraclough wrote:

The message
from Chookie contains these words:

In article ,
Janet Baraclough wrote:

Agreed so far as transport and shop prices for foods go, but in other

Don't you live in a really tiny country? :-)

Yes, but its too crowded and cool to produce anywhere near enough
food to support its population. The vast majority of our food is
imported and has travelled thousands of miles from warmer climates. Once
it arrives, it still has to be distributed. All fuel here is very
heavily taxed. The further a UK location is from a
distribution/manufacturing centre, the more it costs to deliver food,
petrol and goods.

I hadn't thought about the cost of importation; that probably evens things up
a bit. Glad there are permies who are doing their bit for the
self-sufficiency of your food supply! But I still think our idea of "remote"
is probably a bit more remote than your idea -- unless "remote" to you is the
Falklands! What I mean is: assuming our cars have similar fuel efficiency, a
remote Aussie will still use much more petrol because they have further to
travel.

snip

I'm guessing that I pay a little under $1/litre
here in Sydney,

That's about 38 UK pence per litre. The city price in the UK, is 80
UK pence per litre, (over 2 AUS dollars per litre). The rural price
where I live, is 95 UK pence per litre.

Careful; you'd have to look at it as a percentage of the average wage, or some
other equalising factor. Our average wage is about AUD38K, according to our
Bureau of Statistics; would UKP 10K be near your average wage?

When in Aus a couple of years ago, we were amazed by how low all food
costs were compared to the UK.

I have heard Aussies complaining about the high cost of food in the UK. (Is
that why all teh extras on shows like The Bill look sickly?) Where did you
look at prices, btw? There is still a big cost difference between the food
prices I can get locally and the prices in (say) Oodnadatta. Land prices in
Sydney are, of course, ridiculous, and this is where we might be looking at
the swings and roundabouts. I remember a Frenchman told me a few years ago
that for the cost of the average house here, you could buy a chateau in
France! Presumably you would have to take servicing the mortgage over eating.

--
Chookie -- Sydney, Australia
(Replace "foulspambegone" with "optushome" to reply)

"In Melbourne there is plenty of vigour and eagerness, but there is
nothing worth being eager or vigorous about."
Francis Adams, The Australians, 1893.