"That said, she gets paid $95K for a part time job with full benefits. She had a similar job in the states that was full time and it paid $34,000 with minimal benefits."
And there you have it.
If you want to live in a society with high pay, good benefits, free Medicare, compulsory pension contributed to by your employer, etc -- then be prepared to pay.
Also, there is nothing stopping you from importing cheap clothing, goods, books, whatever from overseas.
Not everyone in Australia has the ability to earn $95K. There are the rare exceptions where you can get an unskilled mining job in a remote area, but that's every bogan's dream. Actually landing such a job is another matter.
That said, the minimum wage at $16.37/hr is much hire than other countries. In Melbourne at least, you'd probably gobble that up pretty quickly on living expenses.
And there you have it.
If you want to live in a society with high pay, good benefits, free Medicare, compulsory pension contributed to by your employer, etc -- then be prepared to pay.
Also, there is nothing stopping you from importing cheap clothing, goods, books, whatever from overseas.