FYI. I actually talked to the live administrator.
They checked my router port (which was ok), cleared my cache on the xbox (which I had already done, got me to delete my gamertag and reinstall it (didn't work). They got me to disconnect from the internet and change the time on my xbox to 15 november 2005 and reconnect to internet and reboot xbox (didn't work) and delete game data and reboot (didn't work either.
After approx 3 hours I was still at the same place. Endless searching and multiplayer lists, but maybe some of these may work for you.
For me. I can't ask the retailer to take back the game because it's not really faulty so am going to have to wear a 90 dollar bad investment.
My advice. Please tell anyone in oceania to NOT buy this game.