I've come to the realisation over the years that Australia is too far away and too small a market for the Amazon and iTunes of the world to bother with us.

Except... iTunes has bothered with us. Why not Amazon?

I had assumed that our labour laws, minimum wage, high strength economy all worked against the idea of someone like Amazon opening a local website. Why would they when Australians are perfectly happy using Amazon.com and paying shipping?

Amazon looking for warehouses in Australia [The Age]. This doesn't mean Amazon.com.au, this just means a local "Fulfilment Center", something that makes sense given the huge volume of Amazon purchases flowing into Australia.

I'd still have thought our labour costs would be too high (Australian Jobs on the move to New Zealand [The Age]) and our workplace laws too restrictive (Amazon warehouse jobs push workers to physical limit [Seattle Times]), but perhaps the offset costs of cheaper shipping make the venture finally worth it?

A stronger Amazon presence in Australia opens up the idea of Amazon MP3 in Australia, but with streaming services being launched almost daily, they're probably far too late.