Thanks for the replies. Answering some questions above:

I didn't book online as every time I tried to access the UK site it redirected me to the Australian web page, showing prices in dollars. I got someone to try the booking from the UK for me, and that too displayed AUD when the departure airport was Sydney.

As my savings are all in GBP I wanted to be charged in pounds, thereby avoiding the foreign transaction fees so I phoned the Emirates call centre number for the UK.

I could've booked online with my UK card, paid the foreign transaction fees and still saved a great deal of money. The only reason I didn't is because I was lied to by the Emirates employee who told me the figure of $2134 was not including fees and taxes.