Before I did this full time I worked in a camera store, and know some ppl from Canon Aus personally, the mark up that Canon Aus sells to retail stores here is unbelievable - 3 yrs ago a Canon 580EXII flash can be bought by staff working for Canon's camera department for $210 dollars.....the store's cost price to order from Canon Aus is $570 ish, add the store's mark up for profit on top and you wonder why its almost a no brainer to go with online buying! This goes for Nikon too.

Poor form from both of them in Aus.