Just a warning--we brought our backpacks and tents and such to Oz, but decided to wait til we got here to get cooking stuff and a cooler. Yow--$75 for a medium size one. Then guard it because they sometimes get stolen. Otherwise everything there is wonderful except for the flies.

yes a good quality cooler/"esky" is very expensive here- but you can get pretty decent soft sided ones at the dollar/variety stores for under $20. granted they will leak water and you will have to replace the ice more frequently.

As with most things in life, you get what you pay for. Most of the large supermarkets and hardware stores have a wide range of coolers, esky's, chily bins, depending on what lingo you speak.
IMO bringing your own from abroad seems like a hassle.

Cheers
Michael