I was mainly thinking of a less expensive way to obtain Kato replacement parts locally. How about dealing with Kato Japan? Probably wouldn't save much on shipping and duty charges?
You need a Japanese mailing / residential address to sign up for Kato Japan. It's far cheaper for modelers downunder to get it from Kato USA. Just bulk buy as the postage is fairly static as we are buying itty bitty parts
. Alternatives are 1999.jp (Hobby Search) and Plaza Japan.