[motto]

Thanks for your kind offer of assistance Derek but the real problems were all at this end. Wallace Wade were helpful and the only glitch in Texas was that the carrier did not put my contact phone number on the documentation and I was not given a tracking number. This meant I had to be advised by snail mail about the arrival of the shipment in Melbourne two days after the event. Meanwhile I was getting toey and e-mailed WW to try and find out where my tyres were.
The biggest anomaly seems to be that the $1,000 cut off point for the Goods and Services Tax is on the PURCHASE PRICE ONLY. However, if the purchase price exceeds that figure you are then required to pay the 10% Tax ON THE TOTAL COST OF THE SHIPMENT and this includes the cost of freight. Customs also take the opportunity to slug you with processing fees and other statutory charges and Quarantine get in on the act as well.
I didn't ask a direct question about this but that seems to be how it works.
David