That's whats baffles me as well.There are alot of jobs out there ,one just has to get off one's arse and look and with alot better pay rates than Q without the weekend shifts and still in OZ.Heard Skippers in WA are paying $28/hr + shift for AME so go figure,don't believe their propaganda.
Also heard that Aviation Australia in Brisbane have just received JAR/EASA 147 approval and are formulating a conversion course from CASA Licence to JAR/EASA Licence, so that will open up Europe who are desperate for engineers and with rates above £30/hr and rising the future only looks rosey for a LAME.
And if that doesn't convince, just have a good look around at the LAME's that have been there for a long time with their bitter and twisted demeanor,the ones who continually look out for themselves and not the young LAME, and think ,do I want to end up like him,I know I didn't, so I left and haven't looked back since.