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Slideshow Best photos of the year 2012 Download our Wider Image iPad app Follow Reuters Facebook Twitter RSS YouTube Read French court rejects 75 percent millionaires' tax 29 Dec 2012 Senate leaders work to avoid New Year's "fiscal cliff" | 29 Dec 2012 Pakistani Taliban execute 21 captured paramilitary men 1:10am EST Body of India rape victim arrives home in New Delhi | 1:59am EST Approaching comet may outshine the moon 28 Dec 2012 Discussed 126 UPDATE 1-US administration urges Republicans not to block ‘fiscal cliff’ deal 112 Americans blame Republicans more than Democrats for ”fiscal cliff”: Reuters/Ipsos poll 112 Lawmakers play waiting game with ‘fiscal cliff’ deadline in sight Pictures Reuters Photojournalism Our day's top images, in-depth photo essays and offbeat slices of life. See the best of Reuters photography. See more | Photo caption Photos of the week Our top photos from the past week. Slideshow Life in Aleppo's ruins The quieter moments in Syria's battle town. Slideshow Sex, drugs and rock and roll: Australia's other boom Tweet Share this Email Print Related News UPDATE 4-PetroChina on prowl offshore, buys into Australia LNG project Wed, Dec 12 2012 Analysis & Opinion Coal’s ascendancy to leave ailing U.S. miners in pit Cameroon Catholic archbishop calls same-sex marriage a crime against humanity Related Topics World » Australia » Mexico » A container ship passes in front of the Sydney skyline as it departs from Port Botany terminal February 24, 2010. Credit: Reuters/Tim Wimborne By James Grubel CANBERRA | Sat Dec 29, 2012 9:25pm EST CANBERRA (Reuters) - Forget Australia's mining boom. The nation's strong economy, high currency and wages have made it a magnet for sex, drugs and rock and roll. Foreign sex workers, drug smugglers and global rock acts are all targeting Australia to cash in on an economy growing at 3.1 percent when other developed nations are struggling to expand at all. The alternative boom has emerged as Australian average full-time wages hit $72,500 a year, and with the Australian dollar trading stubbornly above parity with the U.S. dollar for the past two years. That has made Australia even more profitable for fly-in and fly-out rock acts and prostitutes, and especially for drug traffickers who are taking bigger risks with the hope of windfall profits. "Offshore organized crime syndicates perceive Australia to have a robust economy and to have been less affected by the global financial crisis than other jurisdictions," said Paul Jevtovic, the Australian Crime Commission's executive director of intervention and prevention. DRUG PROFITS Australian police made 69,500 illicit drug busts in the year to June 30, 2012, the highest in a decade, and have made record arrests in the first six months of this financial year. In recent months, police have intercepted drugs hidden in a 20-tonne steamroller and heavy machinery, in a large wooden altar, and they have broken up a drug ring involving smugglers in Australia, Japan and Vietnam. One of the biggest smuggling operations was a failed bid to bring in more than 200 kg (440 lb) of cocaine across the Pacific Ocean from Ecuador on a 13-metre (40-foot) yacht, found grounded on a small atoll in Tonga with a dead crewman aboard. Australian police, who work closely with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and authorities throughout Asia and the South Pacific, said the high prices paid in Australia and the strong dollar all helped make the country attractive for smugglers. Crime statistics show why some are willing to risk up to 20 years in prison. The Australian Crime Commission, which examines trends and works closely with police agencies, said heroin and MDMA, also known as ecstasy, sell for about eight times more in Australia than in Britain and the United States, though Australia is a much smaller market. Crime Commission data given to Reuters shows a kilogram of cocaine is worth about $2,400 in Colombia, $12,500 in Mexico, and $33,000 in the United States. The same kilogram of cocaine is worth $220,000 in Australia. ROCK REVIVAL Once a remote destination for big rock acts, Australia has been flooded with talent over the past year and faces a steady stream of musicians, including heritage acts, in 2013. The strong dollar has made Australia the ideal place to perform for musicians wanting to make money at a time when touring rather than album sales is the main driver of income, with many acts charging a premium in a cashed-up economy. In the first half of 2013, Australia will see tours by Bruce Springsteen, Pink, Guns N'Roses, Ringo Starr, ZZ Top, Thin Lizzy, the Steve Miller Band, Deep Purple, Santana, Status Quo, Robert Plant, Neil Young, Carole King, Paul Simon and Kiss. The high ticket prices have upset some fans, who question why an artist like Springsteen charges $220 for a premium ticket in Australia, when the same ticket to the same show in Connecticut in October cost $90. "You can't tell me it costs more than double per head to stage a concert here in Australia," said music fan Robin Pash, who has just returned from the United States, where he saw Springsteen and a series of acts for what would be considered bargain prices. Entertainment journalist Jonathon Moran, however, said the higher prices reflected the higher cost in Australia, although Australia's strong dollar did make it more attractive to perform downunder. "More people want to come here, and Australian audiences are comparatively well off and can afford the tickets," Moran, from Sydney's Sunday Telegraph, told Reuters. SEX AND THE BOOM Sex workers are also cashing in on the boom, particularly in remote mining towns, where the world's oldest profession is the latest to adopt fly-in, fly-out work practices. And more overseas sex workers are heading for Australia. A 2012 report for the government in the most populous state, New South Wales, found a marked rise in the number of female sex workers from Thailand, Korea and China since 2006, with 53 percent of sex workers from Asia and a further 13.5 percent from other non-English-speaking countries. The report, by the University of New South Wales, found a median hourly rate of A$150 for sex services in Australia's largest city of Sydney, although sex workers can charge double that in remote mining towns full of cashed up men. In the gold mining town of Kalgoorlie in the Western Australia state, the Red House brothel, which has operated since 1934, advertises services starting at A$300 an hour. Proprietor Bruna Meyers said women in her establishment earned up to A$4,000 a week at a busy time, or about three times the average full-time Australian wage. "The girls who come here are mainly from over east (eastern Australian states). They come in, sometimes for two or three weeks at a time. Some are just girls who are travelling around the world," Meyers told Reuters. ($1 = 0.9652 Australian dollars) (Editing by Ron Popeski) World Australia Mexico Tweet this Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/ Comments (0) Be the first to comment on reuters.com. Add yours using the box above. 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