Australia is experiencing an unprecedented increase in airlines offering discounted airfares over the last couple of years and it does not look like abating with Tiger Airways joining the fray. Established carrier Qantas held a near monopoly after the collapse of Ansett until Virgin Blue was established to bring the fun and discounts back.
Qantas responded by launching Jetstar as their discount airline, offering fares as low as $49 currently on many popular routes. Tiger Airways is offering fares as low as $39.95 on its routes including Canberra to Melbourne, giving Canberra residents a much needed respite from consistently higher fares than other Australian cities enjoy.
Unlike low cost airlines in other countries (notably Europe), all these carriers operate out of the exact same airports as the major carriers making them an option for internal travel connections to your overseas flight and they may even service your international destination.
Australia is huge country and these discounts are giving travellers an option to get further afield on their visits Down Under without cutting to deeply into the budget.
Update
Jetstar flies into Avalon not Tullamarine Airport in Melbourne.