James, I like the UK and the convenience of having Europe just across the pond but I can see why Australia is appealing. The climate in the UK I could put up with, plus it is cheap by comparison to live. Overall though I see the two countries (when I say country, I mean UK) being very similar. Remember, Australia is a very young country so using history UK and Europe will always have it over us. We also have a fairly small population. The northern hemisphere is more populous because everything is far closer and 10,000 years ago it was easier to get around.
I will admit, it can be pretty awful waking up at 6.30am with the sun shining and coming home at 6.30pm with the sun still shining, instead of waking up in the dark and getting home in the dark (insert your own sarcasm here). But not every Australian city is stinking hot and sunny all year round. Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth can be quite cold. Darwin is in a tropical zone, much the same as Singapore, or Miami, Florida. Each to their own I guess.
To say the UK have the best paying jobs is incorrect. The average Australian salary is hovering just over AUD 70k, or GBP 40,000. The average UK wage would be lucky to be GBP30,000? I don't know where I can find a reliable figure so I can't be sure of that. We've seriously considered moving to the UK and financially we would be taking giant leaps backwards because of the high AUD and current comparative low wages.
Also sports and entertainment events, I guess that is based on location and what you were raised on. Americans think basketball, baseball and American football is interesting, whilst over here our biggest sports are probably Australian Rules/Football, Rugby League and Rugby Union in that order. Most Australians dislike 'soccer'. We are a multicultural country, maybe not quite to the extent of UK but again, we are much smaller and far more isolated.