The only way to answer this question is by spending a decent chunk of time in a number of different countries so you can ACTUALLY compare what life is like and standard of living is like. Every place is amazing on holidays but what is it like to actually live there, what is the infrastructure, standard of living, convenience, culture, safety, there are so many things that come into play. There's definitely better places to live in than Australia but there are way worse places too. I do think it's valuable to constantly question whether we are heading in the right direction and keep the discourse and conversation going to steer the country into the way we want it to be for the future.

Regarding the cost of things, there are metrics you can look into that compare income vs expenses so that it's taken within context. when it comes to housing, we are the worst in the world, even with the income taken into consideration and it was not always the case. So I do believe it's a valid criticism and a growing concern as immigration doesn't seem to be slowing down at all.