Welcome to your new home away from Home Josh
In answer to your question you need to consider several things. Firstly, you say you want to get into astrophotography. Which type is important to you? Planetary or Deep Space (galaxies and nebula)?
If planetary then a good quality refractor of say around 4 or 5" is best. Meade and celestron or vixen make these, Bintel in Sydney sell the Meade 5" with a half reasonable mount for a bit over $2000.00. ( I have no affiliation with Bintel, I am just suggesting that you look at their website for pricing and range) That includes tracking and goto computerization. That is the LXD75 05" refractor. This size scope would also be ok for most Deep sky stuff but would struggle with most galaxies. You would need to check the other manufacturers for similar models.
If Deep sky work is what you want the scope for. Then there are a range of light buckets with tracking mounts that you could go for either a Newtonian on a German equatorial mount or a Schimdt Cassigrain(SCT). The Newtonian is good for deep sky work as the secondary is not very large and will not reduce the resolution of the scope. However, they are large and not easily transported and they will not be as good for planetary work. The SCT is a multipurpose scope and one that most serious astrophotographers use. They are more transportable, but can be very heavy. They are good for Deep sky work and have pretty good results for planetary. In fact they come a close second to the refractor for planetary work. For both the Newt and the SCT you will need a good mount and there are a whole range of mounts. Main thing to look for is steel or wooden legs. Do not get a scope with aluminum legs or underrated mount. It will ruin your future needs and you will have to buy a new mount for it. I suggest that you save a bit longer and get around $3000.00 together to get a good scope and half reasonable mount.
However, for the interim while you are saving you might like to get a 10" Dobsonian as an observing scope. You will not need to spend a lot of money and there are several outlets such as once again Bintel or Andrews. With this sort of scope you can do some great viewing in your bush location and get the experience that you will need to do astrophotography.
I hope that this has answered your questions and should you have anymore please ask away.
Make your choice carefully, it will influence your enjoyment of the hobby.
