Mike@Bonbeach

I envy you the choice of Cornish Pasties. Mike

Hi We are with Origin in Melbourne and unless you request a discount they will charge you the full amount. Each year we go to one of the comparison sites (iselect,comparethemarket for example). and find out what companies are offering and then get on the phone to Origin and ask them to match or better the offer. I think I am getting around 30% discount on electricity and 17% discount on gas, pay on time and direct debit and electronic bills. The only pain is that this has to be done each year or you will revert to full tariff. They are keen to keep your business. Mike

You have nothing to lose and perhaps something to gain, if you're able to get an appointment with ATO then go for it. Please let us know how you get on. Mike

I too have a similar situation. I have sent a copy of the UPP forms to my private pension provider in the UK and they are having difficulty in understanding the questions. They have now referred it to their "technical department" for comment. If I get any news I'll pass it on. Mike

Back to whether our pockets will be hurt after Brexit, comparing our 4 UK pensions from before the referendum to this month, we have received over $400 less this month. Hopefully it will stabilise. Mike

We kept a Halifax Account open with the attached debit card (very little balance 5GBP), we will then transfer cash into it using someone like Moneycorp and just use the debit card to withdraw cash, pay for carhire etc. Good exchange rate, no withdrawal fees. This is what we did in 2011 and what we plan to do in 6 weeks time. Mike

And almost a week later they still haven't finalised the results.

Luckily I have Overseas transactions blocked on our Credit cards and also a limit within Australia, just the other week I had an email from the CBA saying that someone tried to charge my credit card $6000 but was blocked. I have no idea how anyone from overseas got hold of my number, CBA issued me with new cards straight away, so no loss to either us or the bank. Mike

Are you sure?.That isn't my understanding. Although we don't get any Australian pension yet, (don't qualify until July 2017), I'm expecting to receive a reduced Australian Age Pension because we receive a UK Aged Pension. My understanding is that Australia will pay us the difference between both pensions, to bring us up to the level of the Australian pension. Mike

If you are thinking of Palm Cove then I would suggest Trinity Beach as an alternative, just south of PC, quieter location, fabulous beach and some nice restaurants. We have used Beachfront apartments on a number of occasions, never been disappointed. Bus stop within 100 metres of the Apartment block, Cairns in about 30 mins or so. Big shopping area about 10 mins by car towards Cairns. Mike

We too are in our mid 70's, came out here on the CPV in 2007. Three out of our four pensions have remained the same since then. Funnily enough only last week I said to Connie that if the GBPound falls any further we should consider moving back. The main benefits would be that 2 out of 3 pensions would immediately be upgraded, the sale of our house here would easily allow us to buy in the UK,(just about anywhere except maybe the SE), and we would not be paying Aussie Tax. I think the UK tax allowance is more favourable. And of course we would get the AOS bond money back. The negatives of course outweigh all those benefits as we have no children in the UK or lovely grandchildren, whereas here we have two granddaughters 4 and 5 years and grandson just over 2. Good luck with what ever decision you make. Mike

Shades of 2011 when it went down to $1.45 ish. Our 4 UK pensions are dropping fast. Two good things though, it should mean our UK trip should be a bit cheaper once we are there, and we won't be paying as much in tax at the end of the FY. Mike

Have you thought about Premium Bonds?. We still have about GBP20k each in them and regularly win each month. Never the big ones but you can always live in hope. You wont get much return on a savings account in either country. Mike

Big differences in Religion too. In Victoria it is AFL, in NSW and Queensland it is Rugby (League and Union). Mike

The main problem for Pension aged ex-pats is that both the private and UK Age pension are assessed as taxable income and not all allowances that "senior Australians" get are available to ex-pat Immigrants, in particular is the Senior Australians offset which we are not eligible to claim until we have lived here 10 years. My tax accountant made the mistake in assuming that as we were above pensionable age we qualified for that offset and didn't pay any tax for 4 years until we changed accountants and the new chap discovered that we were not eligible and we then had to pay back 4 years of tax to the ATO. The accountant's company paid all the late payment fines etc but we still had to cough up quite a bit to get back on track. Mike PS The moral of the story is ....don't change Tax return accountants. I just wonder how long we would have gone before the ATO did a spot check. Mike

It probably won't get any better, fuelled by this insane ambition of Victorian powers that be, to be the biggest and best at everything especially over Sydney and NSW. Mike

If I understand your question correctly, as an ex-CPV holder but now a citizen since last year, Medicare is available to you, that's partly what you paid your huge amount for your visa. Health Insurance is available to anyone who can afford it. If you do decide you want Health Insurance you need to take it out within 12 months of arrival otherwise you could possibly pay more tax, if your income is above a certain amount. Mike

Never mind, the dumdums on Channel 9's A Current Affair will sort it all out. Mike

DMD I hope you moved it some time ago. Mike

Hi K and L Yes, we did book with the guy from Emirates. As it will be our last trip back to the "Auld country" we are treating ourselves to Business class so no bother with picking the right seats (I hope). There was no surcharge paying with the Credit card either, he said what we quote is what you'll pay. Mike

I have just booked our return flight Melbourne/Glasgow with Emirates in August-October, started doing it on-line with Emirates but had a query regarding Frequent Flyer points so I rang their office direct and completed the booking there and then. Very helpful he was too. A380 to Dubai then 777 to Glasgow. Has anyone converted Emirates points to Qantas FF, the Emirates guy said to leave it and on completion to call Qantas FF and give them the details of the Emirates flights and the points will be transferred. Has anyone done that and does it work?. The reason we want Qantas FF points is because this will be the last time we go back to UK and want the Qantas FF points for flying domestic here. Mike

And that my friends is probably the end of an informative discussion re merits of different airlines. Mike

We are in the same position and as far as I can see now that we are citizens the only real benefit is that we cannot be removed from Australia (except possibly in extreme circumstances-highly unlikely in our case). We still won't qualify for the Aussie aged pension until the 10 years are up. We still will not qualify for the Senior Australians Tax Allowance/supplement until the 10 years are up. We have 18 months to go until we have been here 10 years and although not wishing to give my life away things should start to look up then, by hopefully having no tax to pay on our UK pension income. I have done a theoretical calculation and as far as Centrelinks web site is concerned we should even get a small Aussie pension. As far as the AOS $10K is concerned I have found nothing anywhere to suggest that it can be returned any earlier. Mike PS Thanks Alan, we must have been typing at the same time.

I'm thankful that the Peninsular Trail has been completed. I cycle 3 x 40-60 ks a week and used to do it on roads but got so fed up of idiots doing weird and unexpected things with their cars that I almost gave it up. I don't know of a cyclists who gets all the gear and says to himself "I'm going out today to do silly things and get myself injured/killed". A cyclist will always come off second best even if he doesn't get hit but driven off the road, I know because it happened to me once in one of the most "cycle friendly" countries in the world .. France. I was cycling up a hill when someone coming towards me decided to overtake a car just as they got level with me, if I hadn't taken to the gutter I probably wouldn't be writing this now. It cost me a few scratches, some new shorts and a front wheel. You can now cycle from Mordialloc to Mt Martha on the trail,(40k+) and all crossing points have traffic lights. The first part to Patterson river is on gravel but after that it is all made up tracks. Mike

Our house overlooks the golf course. We can sit on the balcony having a drink and nothing will come near us, yet I've only got to walk over to the golf course, pick up a golf club and the bleeding flies are everywhere, up your nose, ears, in your mouth. The guys I play with have tried just about everything on the market and nothing works. Most of us now don't bother with any repellent. Mike