It's actually the frosts that would probably prevent you from growing them where you are.

They do love water but their trunks collect & store a lot of water. There's a lady that's growing them in lightning ridge (semi arid). She basically had to establish a small forest around them first. This year I'm growing them in the dryer parts of my block, it will be interesting to see how they go. We have wet summers but long dry winters. I'll be using them to help support my citrus & other fruit trees through the dry spells.

I'm a lazy gardener though. Why put in heaps of time/effort trying to grow something that's not suited to your area? There's so many European plants that I can't grow easily here for various reasons. I see plants as survival food for when times are tough. Eventually I'll get some pigs to help convert the plants into real food.