Everybody who visits or moves to Australia ends up being astounded by how much books cost here. I always just chalked it up to transport costs and local profiteering. That’s why I was interested to read former NSW Premier Bob Carr’s blog post this morning: “Protectionism Means You Pay More for Books”. So it sounds like there’s some rule that local bookstores can’t import stock from overseas if there’s an Australian publisher carrying the same book (inevitably for a higher price). The justification is that by propping up local publishers, we’re ensuring they’ll continue to publish Australian literature. Huh! I had no idea. THAT SUCKS. I guess that’s why most people I know get their books from Amazon or The Book Depository.