You mention you are Australian of Middle Eastern heritage. Your prospective employer may be lowballing you based on the ethnicity of your name - discrimination based on nationality/ethnicity is rampant in the GCC. You might be working next to someone named Jones with white skin and blue eyes and he might easily be paid 2 or 3 times (at least) what you are with an Arabic (not GCC) last name - even with the same education and experience, however, holding an Australian passport should avoid some if not all of that bias.