Interesting article in the Telegraph on life in Australia. And how it's the world's happiest industrialised nation.
There's no doubt that Australia is a happy place - any time I've visited this vast nation/ island/ continent, the people have been laid back, the weather's been warm, and it's always been a lot of fun. To me one of Australia's most striking characetristics is that nowhere could be geographically further from home - and yet if you spend long enough there, you will usually bump into people you know there, which never happens to me when I'm in, say Prestatyn or California.
Referencing the OECDs Better Life Index and its various criteria for 'liveability, the article highlights the fact that Aus is a big draw for UK expats who are retired, and that the ecnomy's doing pretty well there right now, due to the country's abundance of natural resources. There may be a high cost of living (see this post on expat cost of living for a non-Aus overview of expat expenses) and of course the Australian currency is strong right now, which could prove challenging for those hoping to make a move.
The only thing I'm unsure of is how we define industrialised nations these days. Of course the country has primary industry on scale that the UK simply doesn't have any more, but its cities seem to inhabit the same kind of post-industrial socio-econimic space as those of western Europe or North America.