2011 is proving difficult to maintain wealth.
You are still ahead of the game because real inflation is eating into your debts
Aussie tradepeople are becoming like Beijingers - You give them money to do the work but they will reject the money and ask you to look for someone else. :|
Ditto re:2011. On the plus side, I'm taking up this slack to earn AUD back. (now I appreciate what the folks from .my do in .sg). In the negative side, lifestyle has turned noisy.
Currently though, the flooding of work demand in Melbourne exceed Sydney's by (well, in my particular trade) 2:1. There appears to be a skills suckage from QLD, ACT, SA into Melbourne.
NT appears to be starting another Melbourne-style bubble, especially in Darwin. The Asians (predominantly Japanese) appear particularly interested in furthering their purchasing of Australian-denominated assets, and as such offer an attractive opportunity for the Australian financial sector to service them. Just recently I am also made aware that there are market representatives 100% stationed in Parliament hill spending time lobbying or dealing with legislation to facilitate that interest, and as such their intention is not mere expression. We're talking about immigration, employment, asset taxation, etc.
Interesting seeing an "FT"-like situation in Darwin.