I do so love it when people do their homework! sid-star, The company bond you for a type rating, and paying for one will not put you ahead. There is currently no ATR sim in Australia, however I have heard rumblings of ATR throwing one in for free, and I have seen some surveyors at the Alteon building when I was there a few weeks ago.
It seems everyone wants to jump on this Skywest bandwagon. I think Toll lost close to half their pilots from the ATR. It seems they all took a paycut (Captains a significant one, 20k) to fly more and work weekends. Admittedly though, one gets to wear a hat with scrambled eggs and walk tall through the terminal, which must do wonders for the soul.
Straight home and dont spare the horses