I tried that. My last 3 purchases (2 in limbo now) have gone exactly as OP said, and I made sure, even paid more, to buy from sellers with listings stating that the Item was/is located in Melbourne(1) Perth(1) and Sydney(1).  I see (now I've searched) comments about it on the AusPost site dating back at least 3 years. The item I bought that's allegedly in Sydney, was "posted" 6 days ago, but it hasn't even arrived at Chullora.

It borders on fraud, in my non-legal opinion, and Ebay is complicit in it.