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I have not read all the posts in this thread, but for some people they just have this strong emotional attachment to the UK and don't realise what they have been missing until they have experienced living overseas. The UK is far from perfect of, of course, but for me it is the quaintness and old fashioned charm of this country that I find most appealing. I realise how much I love old fashioned royal mail post boxes built into stone walls, national trust houses, English pubs, places like the lake District, cream teas, the cold, open fires, narrow country lanes, and just the sheer diversity of landscape, accents and culture in such a small country. The attachment and yearning some people have for the UK will always be more than superficial because the UK is a part of them, it's in their DNA, and no amount of counselling or counter arguments will ever change that.

I was too polite to point out that the poster had provided the perfect illustration of the point directly above.

That's true, IF the problem is nostalgia. But if you look at people like @Quoll or @Chortlepuss, it has nothing to do with nostalgia. As bugfamily says, the Welsh have a word for it: hiraeth. It's "the sense of being so much a part of a place -- and the place, a part of you -- that you feel forever incomplete when separated from it." I've never felt like that - and I'm assuming you haven't either. In fact it stands to reason that those of us happily settled in Australia have never felt it - if we did, we wouldn't be happily settled, would we? And for those of us who've never felt it, it's hard to imagine how anyone could possibly feel so closely bound up with a place. I mean, it's just a place! It's taken me a long time to accept that it's a lot more than just homesickness or nostalgia and that it's genuine and deeply felt. I can't decide whether I envy people who feel like that - imagine how deeply contented they must be when they're on their home soil - or sorry for them, because they can never be really happy anywhere else.

If they maintained neutrality it would be a good thing. They seem to have swayed so far to the left, woke, PC, anti men. SBS is about the same.

My wifes a nurse she and I have had 2 x AZ and she's read that a pfizer booster gives good results, as far as keeping you safer goes. Don't think any combination will stop you getting it but how bad you feel or how sick you get is certainly influenced. Thank goodness WA locked down when it did. Europe and the UK seem to be copping it for Christmas again.

Perhaps there is the opportunity to rethink ABC continuing to be wholly dependent upon taxpayers. Just like Netflix and similar the ABC could operate on subscription service only. If you like the ABC then take up a subscription then I and many others would not have to support the ABC and pay for its legal fees every time the ABC loses a court case.

Of course another thing is that the UK you left has changed a lot. Sometimes we remember it as it used to be. I don't know the place anymore now, it feels foreign to me the same as I suppose Australia feels for those who have been absent a long time.

Same with us, but in April. I have heard that significant stocks of AZ are being sent out from Australia to Pacific Nations, Papua New Guinea and Indian Ocean Islands.

Until I joined this forum I was completely unaware that some migrants yearned to return to their home country. It's really quite sad to read the posts from those people.

Our booster (due first week of Jan) will be Pfizer. The two previous jabs were AZ.

Different people have different aspirations. I didn't come to Australia for a house on a beach with sun.

I can understand people being concerned about the thoroughness of testing of this new type of vaccine, but to say it's "not a vaccine" is significant. It means you've been sucked in by Q-Anon-inspired propaganda. I feel sorry for you.

Basically what is happening with all this covid stuff and the coersion to have a jab that isn't a vaccine....

People with off leash dogs that are not properly controlled are a real issue. When my son was 5 we were in a car park when a young puppy off leash ran to him, he had been taught to be wary of strange dogs and backed off…….nearly into a moving car (I was near so grabbed him) as the owner cried out that that dog was very friendly and wouldn’t bite! Once the dog was restrained I told the owner the dog had nearly killed my son, he just didn’t realise and was very apologetic. I hope he learned something from it though.

I have 2 cats and a dog. My dog is a now 12 year old Labrador who was bred to be a Guide Dog, but failed testing as a puppy as he was too friendly! He is however, very well trained, but he is not happy at other dogs who bound up to him off lead, so we do not walk in parks where there are off-lead dogs anymore. He gets plenty of off-lead time at the beach though, and we have a large garden that he has claimed as his own, especially the corner where he digs his massive holes! My 2 cats were rescued as kittens last year and are now 14 months old. I have had cats for 30plus years, and my last cat was a homebody and rarely left the house or garden, but unfortunately we have a new neighbour who is an animal hater, so I have turned about a third of my large garden into a "Kitty Kingdom" that is totally enclosed in steel cage and cat proof netting. My Kitties have constant access through a cat flap door, and spend a lot of time out there amongst the shrubs, vegies and herbs that are growing. They have enrichment toys, shelves, hammocks, climbing frames etc. I think that every cat owner should either keep their cats indoors or provide a secure outside space for them, as they are definitely wildlife killers..... natural instincts. I also think that people who walk their dogs off leash in general public areas and allow their dogs to bound up to people and dogs, should be fined, at the very least. A few years ago before I retired, my woofer and I were walking around the Canning River where I live. We were in an area that is designated "Dogs on Leash", and a yappy little Jack Russell (not on leash) came bounding up to us and went to attack me and my dog. The JR bowled straight into me to get to my dog and sent me flying. My Lab, who is the gentlest of boys, went into defend his Mum mode and growled and woofed loudly, which brought the attention of the owner who was walking along looking at his phone.... he grabbed his dog, told me to F off and strode off. I laid on the pathway in acute pain, guarded by my Lab for a minute or two until a couple who had seen what happened, rushed to my rescue. An ambulance ride for me and diagnosed with 6 cracked ribs and concussion, followed by 5 weeks off work. Woofer had a visit to the lovely couple's house until my family could pick him up, and the AH whose dog caused it all, got clean away. We were never able to find this guy again, even though we walk that route almost daily. The majority of dog owners are caring, concerned and wonderful dog owners. But then there are the tossers who just shouldn't ever own a pet.... and don't get me going on personality disorders of these people!!

I'm guessing that had I said, "Freo, Scarborough and Victoria Park" or "Cottesloe, Subiaco and Ardross" you would have had nothing good to say about them either?! "Perth people?" How do they differ from Sydney people or Surfers people? They're just "Aussies" to me. They don't even have a different accent so I can tell which part of Australia they come from. I can always ask if they are into AFL or NRL which narrows it down a bit. Very expensive homes in Applecross? Does that make the inhabitants snobby? How do you tell a snobby Aussie when they all have the same accent. You could be in Double Bay or Vaucluse. I suppose the private schools are educating them not to say "youse" and "filum" but that's me being patronising now. South Perth has a nice pub, the Windsor, which I went to almost every night and a strip of shops and restaurants in Mends St. There's a ferry to the CBD which I never went on and amazing views across the river to the city. There's easy access to the freely and more shops etc on Angelo Street, everything that I want. There's some more shops and units which were being built when I was there but now finished. Northbridge could be Surry Hills though not quite the same. Very close to the city. Surry Hills, Redfern, Waterloo all have drug problems and huge public housing estates. Surfers Paradise of course has a bad rep in some parts but again I accept both good and bad.

Why so many down on the ABC I don't know. To have a form of media not reliant on commercial interests is a definite positive. Important to have a form of media that maintains a neutrality and airs minority issues regardless of viewing numbers. It has already been brought to heel by successive governments not wanting to be held accountable.

Worst thing that could happen. The ABC doesn't need further dumbing down and has never been a populist form of media. It has been an essential part of remote life in form of information and once the only way environmental hazards like fire could reach people. I expect areas with limited or even no mobile coverage it is still essential;.

There is something to be said for creativity and personality being stimulated from difficult circumstance, hardship and desperation. Treat em mean, keep 'em keen. Australia doesn't have as much of that as the UK does, but it's been cultural and economic policy in the UK for years to try and drive efficiencies through the class system. From that comes humour, character and personality as a defence mechanism. It's no secret that Liverpudlians are known for their humour, but it doesn't come from everybody being rich and living in comfort....it's been a mechanism to cope with life. The London Olympic's opening ceremony was perhaps the best description of British life I've ever seen, no other country on earth could have produced a demonstration of historical culture like that, but most of it came from ordinary people's creativity, experimentation and invention. The UK, certainly the music industry, isn't mostly populated by rich kids with the luxury to make a choice, it's dominated by people who had nothing at all and had to fight for everything they've had. Australia could never produce a Sex Pistols or a Beatles, because there is no cultural base born out of deprivation to enrich it. Australia is a wealthy country and people are overall, far more comfortable and secure than counterparts in the UK. It does lead to a sanitised, dull as dishwater atmosphere at times, because there is nothing really pressing that needs worrying about. Australians are generally well provided for, their societies are not overridden with crime, the provisioning for public spaces and facilities is generally excellent. They do not have much to complain about at all. That can actually become very boring and less stimulating than developing your character in much more difficult circumstances in the UK.

@Sw4S, the crucially important thing is to make sure you understand how your partner feels. It's actually quite unusual to have a situation where both partners have an open mind about which country they'd prefer. More often, you'll find that one partner is really thinking, "I love my partner and I'm willing to live in his/her country for a while, if that's what will make him/her happy". The problem is, "for a while" often turns into "forever", especially once kids come along. So don't ask yourself, "where would we like to live now?", ask yourself, "where do we want to spend the rest of our lives?". And make sure you know what your partner's real answer is, and not the answer he thinks you want to hear. Real homesickness never goes away, it just gets worse as the years go by.

realistically it was as soon as we had our first child and realised that we were living in a very small house which was never going to support a family and we both spent too long commuting and not spending time with our baby. Where we live now i have a five minute commute and have a proper family home and we only need one income. In reality the pandemic has made travel impossible but once you have child(ren) travel is financially difficult in any case. We have 3 children so we are looking at $10,000 for flights and that's not an every year trip....!

Sky News Australia - sensationalist fakery and lies with a crystal clear agenda. Nowhere close to being a real news channel. Fox America for Australians. News from the 'number' channels are basically light entertainment and fluff. ABC really quite good.

Labradors are usually good learners, they were bred to fetch and carry, but it doesn't mean they can all be guide dogs, just as all people can't be trained to do exactly the same things despite being 99.99% identical.

It doesn't mean you'll be microchipped, but collective psychological control through manipulation to promote similar robotlike actions is already here. The rapid advance of technology will undoubtedly mean inventions will continue and somebody will harness that technology to control people even more like another node of a chain. Isn't it already happening with the advent of technology, collecting up huges swathes of populations and manipulating them, albeit with a pretty basic set of ideas to control human response through coercive behaviour, then you will be able to predict their future behaviour and use them as tools? Look at Cambridge Analytica and the Brexit bunch, and the USA Trump elections ? Horrendous mistakes that have immensely damaged the countries and the very people who made those things happen....with the exception of the controllers who orchestrated it and have done very well thank you. The days of only coercing people who read newspapers or went to hustings is long gone, millions can be coerced by deliberately crafted viral campaigns, creating echo chambers and automatic and predictable responses to suit somebody else's objectives. You show those behaviours quite often...poke a stick in, try to get a reaction, link to a website that has been created solely to suck you in, then use you as a message spreader? Is there any righteous and productive reason for you doing that to benefit yourself? No, of course not, you get no real benefit from it but are programmed to agitate for no good reason. So to who's end are you serving? Susceptibility to coercion - Simmo v1.0, including the giggle. How can aomebody make a v 2.0 out of you? The power of independent thought is no longer promoted in preference to large scale psychological campaigns to sway populations into believing they're doing the right thing when they're doing what other people want them to, often to their personal detriment? The amplification is x 1000 compared to 20 years ago. The secret is to make them think the opposite to what their outcome will be and make them do it anyway. So that is your robot building itself right there.

UK I'm talking about. No live coverage or highlights on terrestrial.