Best gift for a newbie Aussie brewer?

[Beer O'Clock]

You are absolutely right that customs into Oz are strict. Anything that you take must be treated and/or sealed and then declared. In a lot of cases making them useless.
Good, sealed Hops or yeasts are an option.

From a personal level a concise book of recipes (Graham Wheeler) would be appreciated (and no customs issues).

[BarnsleyBrewer]

One of the Aussie members told me you can only take hop pellets.
BB

[Graham]

One of the Aussie members told me you can only take hop pellets

That explains why most UK hops in Aus are pellets.

However, Aussieland is not such of an ingredient wilderness as you might think. There was a point not long ago when Brits were buying UK hops from Aussieland cheaper than they could be bought from the shops here, and that is with postage taken into account.

There is a good range of malts, hops, and dried yeast available in Oz. Malts are available from at least three British maltsters; British-type flower hops are usually Kiwi grown, but that is no impediment; true British hops are pellets that might be an impediment. All the popular dried yeasts are available, along with the American liquid yeasts. There is very little in the ingredient line that cannot be found in Oz, or easily substituted.

Have a look at this web site here. If its on it, there will be no need to take it over. Chances are it will be cheaper in Oz anyway.
http://www.craftbrewer.com.au/

The Aussies do seem to be starved of brewing books though, so a couple of books might be appreciated. Better find out if he actually likes British ale first though.

[BarnsleyBrewer]

The Aussies do seem to be starved of brewing books though, so a couple of books might be appreciated. Better find out if he actually likes British ale first though.

May I recommend this excellent publication...
BB

[Wolfy]

I was thinking of trying to get a few packs of (probably dried) yeasts and some more special flavouring grainy bits (Aussie customs is pretty strict but I can take in yeast and 'malted grains'), or perhaps a top-notch book on brewing proper ale. The only problem is that I haven't brewed anything beyond river-cottage style elderflower champers and nettle ale, so have very little idea about what to get!

So my question is- if you were a beginning brewer in ale-starved Australia and your daughter-in-law was coming bearing gifts from the ingredients-laden land of the UK, what would you want?

I think you'll find that all the dried yeast type/suppliers that are available in the UK are also easily found here in Australia, so it's not really something that would be special or unique.
Again, we do get a range of specialty malts here, including those from the UK and Germany, then you'd have to get them through customs which would be painful, especially since (even if he was into all grain or steeping grains) he'd probably be able to get them locally anyway.

What I'd suggest (and would love for my in-laws to bring back from their visit to the UK later this year) is some real British (bottle conditioned) ale and some of the books/publications that are impossible to get here.
If you were to bring a mixed 1/2 or full dozen bottles of beer, he could sample real British Ale, decide if he likes it and it may inspire him to want to brew his own. The reason I also specified 'bottle conditioned' is that you'd also be bringing him yeast-samples in the bottles if he wanted to get technical and propagate and use the yeast that the brewers do (which is otherwise impossible to get here).
While some British ale is available for sale here, I suspect that much of it has suffered for the long distance it has traveled, and if you brought some in your luggage it should be in excellent condition.
Also if he's still new to home brewing, rather than having to make the beer he can just sample what you bring, which might be more appreciated.

There are also several books and publications that are not so easy to get here in Australia, the GW book linked above is one example.
But there are also several other self/club/home published books and pamphlets which are otherwise impossible to get here which would prove to be a nice touch if you could get some.
For books, the shipping cost is usually the highest, so again if you were to bring them in your luggage, there would be no additional shipping costs.