Lanky Lad

For the replies above....sorry for delay in reply... was in Sydney doing our weekly "Day Care" for our grandson! On Monday we had an update. Our daughter had notified intent to re-claim the bond and NOT to extend it further. The money is in the bank - but the bank cannot do anything until they get a release notice - from Centerlink. The Commonwealth bank person on the 'phone indicated that the bonds are usually required to be paid at least 2 months before the CPV is granted - and accepts it can take "months" to get its release to the payee ( due to Centerlink - and a suggestion that there are staff shortages.) and.. the bank is looking to work with Centerlink to revue the process. Not sure if that is Centerlink proposed co-operation - or vice versa - or just BS! It means in real terms that the $10,000 is earning at least 4 months interest to date - that is not going into our daughters account! Will update when there is any change....

Its over 10 years now since we landed - our "kids" had to pay a $10,000 bond - repayable after 10 years. Their application for it to be repaid - received no reply - over two months on and after lodging a complaint - today received a telephone call. The gist of it seems to be. ".. wind yer neck in and wait.... it could take months before the bond is repaid" So I am looking here for anybody entering on the Contributory Parent Visa (813??) and after paying teh visa costs and the added bond cost. My wive's bond as main applicant was $10,000. Looking for more practical results and facts that what today's caller gave out.

I used the calculator as you suggested - to get an idea on what the look for....but the calculator asks about rent or mortgage - which assumes the applicant must have one or 'tother. We don't! Got nowhere with Toyota Finance... call centre type "customer services" got into a loop with emails.. they say the cannot assess until an application is submitted... I reply that the dealership have decided that even though we paid our last car loan off 3 years early.... they "assume" our income would not allow Toyota to offer a loan! Toyota in turn ignore that remark - so far three times... and offer nothing else! The dealership will not accept bank statements as proof of ongoing UK pension monthly payments! They want a letter from the UK tax office... and look blank when I say that would probably entail a 2 month wait as they decide which department deals with expats! AND anything over 90 days is not regarded as "current proof". At this point its not about getting a car loan - which our bank is happy to handle - its about getting answers. However it seems to revolve around basic aussie ways of living and paying bills.. and the mention the word pensioner - and its automatically assumed the pension comes from Centrelink and can be lowered or stopped. They don't understand - or even try to understand that a UK pension is paid for life - albeit that expat in Aussie, Africa and Canada - don't get updates as they arise in the UK. The "argument" seems to centre not on the amount of income - but where it is derived and can be proved. Centrelink don't handle the UK pension apart from wanting to record them - Aussies seem to think we can walk into a pensions office and walk out with a bit of paper! Centrelink may have its many faults - but they can - for aussies - do a pension history statement basically on request. I think this just about closes things.... not much point dealing with call centre scripts at Toyota ...... thanks for digging into all this stuff for me...it's appreciated

Hi, Sorry for delay - been busy giant killing! The other problem with the big finance companies - call centre type "customer services" - they all seem to have scripts and no brains! Using that living expense calculator - is not really helpful - Limited options which don't allow a real "picture", i.e. RENT or MORTGAGE?? We have none - we own the house and land outright - paid cash 10 years ago! $462 living expenses?? we don't buy alcohol - eat pre packed frozen meals - have a fridge in the garage full of beer and we don't eat junk foods! The dealership and Toyota Finance have not replied telling us why we have all this crap having paid off our last car loan in half the time by doubling their stipulated monthly payment.

Hi, I have added comments to your post about - in BOLD ! As the post title indicates, I am looking to find out if I am the only pensioner in aussie who had recently had this "block! mentioned re car finance from a Ford and a KIA dealership - which seems to indicate that there is in fact some new legislation involved. I am aware of all the other options and in fact The Credit Union seems a realistic option, they too hold the car title till final payment - which is not a problem. Knowing that the UK pension does not change from the rate it was set at on the day you leave the UK _ this post - as was the other - was aimed at getting details from any who may have - in the past few months - had this applied to them. I cannot understand how car dealerships - appear to be turning away sales because of - allegedly - a baseline of income that assess your ability to afford a loan after household bills, food and other essential's are taken from that income. Also, logically if it is indeed a government "regulation" - then it would also apply to all and any supplier of loans including banks!

I made a similar post in.... looking like the wrong place ( hope its OK mods??) Seems as a result of a Royal Commission on banks /finance and loan companies and allowing loans beyond the means of the recipient to keep up the payments - that an income baseline was set and any UK expat in aussie with only the UK State Pension and especially if it was maybe granted 10/15 years ago ... can have issues getting a car loan and run fact any loans. OK to keep on topic...its only experience from UK pensioners I am looking for... however for those that don't grasp that these "new" condition affect all and any loans supplier on any type of purchase, I accept these are more often " unsecured" loans and banks and some other finance shops can offer secured loans - using mainly your home if you own it. I am more concerned in attitudes from car dealerships and car finance. It seems the income baseline has been set around the minimum allowance for the Aussie State Pension, which unlike the UK state pension - can be amended and or withdrawn. It seems that cardinalships et al, are under the impression that the UK state pension is the same - which ( so far) is not so. So any UK state pension only funded having or had this problem??

Good Idea.... thanks - will do..

Things seem to have shifted from the intent of my post... I was really hoping other "pensioners" with UK pensions - have had similar problems with the finance companies and the "New" conditions and income requirements - which seem to stem from a Royal Commission earlier this years and irregularities in income when granting loans. Its looking like we are the only couple on UK pensions who have come across this! So far I cannot discover if other loan / finance companies - outside the motor industry are bound by the Commission findings and recommendations.

Not sure what you mean by new regulations...... The problem we face and presumably any expat who falls foul of - what seems to have been implemented by a Royal Commission, assembled to discuss and remedy indiscretions among the banking industry - i.e. allowing or suggesting that a person earning - say - $2000 a months to stay they get paid $8000 a month - and seemingly not seek proof of income. There also seems to be new regulation NOT in favour of banks and any others who offer car purchase loans....it seems that if a buyer defaults payments... the finance office cannot take the car back. But I only have word of mouth. Obviously - if this is fact... it seems logical the finance company and banks - will want more real proof of actual income and - that seems to be involving us. UK pension never have sent out any update info... coz it does not apply to us - so everything we have is around 8 years old! Two car dealerships finance offices - will not accept bank statements as proof of regally pension receipts! And typically they want everything valid for a few previous months to prevent somebody taking a (bad ) job.... getting a loan and then packing the job in! The spouse visa was still an option when I applied in 2009 - it saved us about £12,000 ! I don't think the UK makes any stipulations about visa's of any class.. for outgoing citizens. They are only concerned in keeping scammers out! The CPV 143 which my wife obtained, allows permanent residence - we had medicare cover - BUT in hardship - the aussie government will not assist financially in any way for at least 2 years. Don't know anymore coz we never had call to "test the system". Not knowing your visa class - I cannot suggest anything, we have a dutch friend who - originally she and her Scottish husband came over from Africa. had some form of retirement visa - which required than to proof every 4 years they had access to - I think - au$670,000 in cash or assets other than their home. Keith died 2 years back and she is still here - so not sure if anything changed.

It appears there was a Royal Commission early ( June?) this year - to put place restrictions on banks offering loans - knowing that the applicant is either feeding false info - being aided to provide false information and who in really terms cannot afford to repay the loan. It then cascades down to all sources of loans for any item. Australia being what it is - a land where immigration is a major factor - and a surplus of ( alleged) low educated who cannot or are unwilling to find work AND those who get loans and then prefer to go to Bali 3 times a year and fail to pay the car loans ( my words not the commissions!) That being so, it appears that a baseline income was decided - which appears to be the amount paid as the minimum paid via the Australian aged pension. I have no idea what that is and appears - as far as UK immigrant pensioners are concerned - our rate does not change from the day we flew out to Aussie - and our at least seems to be below the aussie rate. Poms eligible to an Aussie pension - no matter what the costs or situation of granted visa's - will need to submit a claim giving all the financial details requested *- if the bottom line is LESS than Aussie pension rates.. the UK pensions will be made up to aussie rates. Which is a long standing arrangement the two governments made donkeys years ago. "Would be interesting to know what conditions UK imposes if there is a parent visa there. " Not sure what you mean with this... the UK pays any and all your STATE pension as funded via your NHS contributions. Work superannuations and private funded pensions are not state responsibility...as far as I know ..and aussie see all and any income as just that and IF you applied for an aussie pension - which you can AFTER being permanently resident for 10 years.... an aussie pension application is granted on the above ( self finance) basis. We originally applied via a UK agent for CPV sub class 143 - which at that time meant au$27000 + $10,000 bond for wife as main applicant and au$27000 + au$4000 bond for me.We saw on PIO - an aussie agent in Sydney and contacted him ( Eric?????) who pointed out that we could operate within the immigration rules and IF I cancelled my CPV... and applied for a spouse visa - which I did and it was about au$1800 or so all in with fee's! It did need me to get an air ticket to NZ to cater for a 90 days tourist visa and when I applied I was given an immediate bridging visa - and I later got a refund on the air flight! It took - in the UK - just over 2 years from application to getting the visa - plus the 2 years we had to wait - which seems to give a period to allow - our kids to find stable employment and accomodation. We applied early 2004 after an over christmas recce to Sydney - flew out 3 weeks after visa granted and cleared the house sale etc 31st October 2008. Don't suppose you and your mates are on the NSW Central Coast??? I am really surprised that there are not more UK pensioners - who do not yet qualify for an aussie top up.... having problems. Toyota Finance appear to use the aussie ( state) pension lowest rate - as their baseline. We meet up regularly with others on our visa ??????? if you want any "private " info.... PM me.

As I wrote earlier - my post was intended to discover if other " senior " members had faced this same issue.... not to invite discussion - or argument - on any other subject. But thanks for your input.

Hi, Yes as the Aussies say... we are "self funded" - on UK pensions only. The criteria seems to be - that the "new" amended finance regulation... uses the aussie minimum aged pension as the baseline. It appears to be laid out to prevent the tow rags who buy on finance and end up owing more than they can pay - so don't bother! We are told the criteria is created from an average of all normal household expenses i.e. utility bills, council bills, rent or margate payments, food bills ( assessed it seems - on how many people are in the house!) and any other items purchased on credit. IF income falls below that theoretical figure.... the finance house cannot accept the purchase. ADDED to that - they ignore credit ratings and there is no avenue to appeal! i.e. we own outright or home, we own our KIA - having doubled the payments to knock it down from 7 years finance and paid it off is the just over 3 years. We also have 20 solar panels and not paid any electric for three quarters. None of these + factors can be appealed! ADDED to that, the two above car dealerships will not or cannot accept bank statements that show our pensions paid in from UK - monthly! The legislation based on aussie pension - which can be stopped by the sitting government - basically at will on any change of policy - unlike the UK which is paid until death! In applying for the aussie pension - for which we are entitled as is any other immigrant who has been permanent resident for 10 years - we were asked to provide proof of identity. One proof is citizenship certificates - I asked if our Aussie Citizen 2nd Class was acceptable. Looking confused, the lady said... there is no 2nd class. I replied that there was indeed because we are citizens, with a passport that states we are Australian subject - but we NEVER get the same allowances or treatment as "born here" aussies! Ignoring that my wives sub class 143 parent visa cost $27,000 plus and that she paid a $10,000 bond held for 10 years and now Centrelink is pigging us around to get it back". That we OWN our home unlike the majority of Aussies - we have ZERO debt. Today we went to our local MP his staff are clueless but took notes and said they will bring it to his attention! I am not holding my breath in anticipation!

Yes, we looked at banks and other loan "outlets" - but facts are facts - i.e. borrow $25,000 from a bank or a car sellers finance company and the interest rate is - usually the same give or take 0.5% . The difference is - a bank wants collateral and that is usually your house - while a car sellers only course on default of payment - is to grab the car back. ( Secured and un-secured loans.) Looking at loan costs from banks and other sources, - all seem to level out around the same figures. Car showrooms often show 0% loans... or as we were offered last week from a Ford dealership.... 0.9% while KIA were offering 4.5% - 7.2%. The Ford Escape- we found was offered at 0.9% - because ( although the sales guy had not mentioned it ) the car was not compliant with a coming law ( 2019) that all cars must be fitted with emergency braking... ( forget the full title) but it seems - anti - tailgating - the model with that brake system fitted was being sold with 7.2% finance. KIA were doing the same. Also car dealers have to pay their supplier a certain set sum per model type - and its usually the supplier rather than the dealer who makes "special" offer's - but sometimes the amount of cars sold at a given dealership can also create a situation where if the dealer is down on quota... he can offer at least one vehicle at a bigger sales price discount - lose money on that deal... but get the full "promotion" bulk discount in cars sales achieved! In general from UK experiences in home and company business dealings with banks, - is to avoid them for loans. Banks can be uptight and send out threats quick time. On the other option - a car dealership finance company ( Kia in Oz use Toyota Finance - or at least our Kia dealer does!) from others in the UK I found that if an employee was sacked or made redundant, hit by a bus and hospitalised etc,. the finance company will assess the problem and come to a compromise. They don't want another used car to dump and in doing so write of the balance of the loan. ( unless they cannot get a return of the loan amount). While we have not failed to pay off in full and on time all our previous car loans - I have to say that use of the aussie motorways and main roads - is not always a safe or pleasant experience and with a seeming increase in useless drivers - there is not guarantee that s**t will happen due to idiots and write off the car and hospitalise on for both of us! That said sitting watching TV at night can often end in having a ute or crazed P plater nicked car in your settee. And should the happen... I would not like to be dealing with a bank! In posting I was not really inquiring about loan options - but looking for ex Pat pensioners on UK pensions only funding in Oz. feel sure my wife and I cannot be the only ones in Aussie to have come across this situation. And while the above all relates to cars and finance.... it can and does apply to buying a 50inch TV from Hardly Normal or any item being purchased using credit companies.

31st October and we will have been in Aussie 10 years.... and we can apply for an aussie pension. Meanwhile - having paid outright for how then new build home and our first car here, 4 years ago after a rear ender put my better half off our Holden Astra! Being about to take on day care twice a week for out then 1 year old grandson... we opted for a Kia Sportage. And found we were treated more like dole queue scroungers! The aussies have finance regulation in place to - in my thinking - stop the - moron faction of life, buying cars etc on a finance plan.... and not paying regularly. So the nanny state have set a regulation that basically calculate averages for life essentionals - i.e. rent or mortgage payments ( we don't have either) or Car payments ( at time we had none) Electricity and Gas bills - ( we have 20 solar panels and the last three quarters were $0 bills!) Gas - we pay - ditto all the council tax bill. And finally food bills. We eat well - but not pre made meals from the supermarkets . In short we manage our expenses and life style according to our means from out UK state and one work related pensions - which are less than the Aussie pension when granted. So we had problems at first from Toyota Finance because their computer system uses the amount set by the government regulation as the baseline - and we fell below it! The car dealership... as they seem able - at that time circumvented the regulation and we got the car sorted. Come January 2019, our grandson starts school and we can finally retire in aussie and after clocking up 400k each week in travel to and from our Kids place in Sydney and catering for a dog in the boot and a kids chairs in the back seats and a boot full of spare clothes, dog food and waters bottles...... we thought it would be nice to change our car before its value drops too much. Still awake?? The regulation has - we were told - been "upgraded" - which is politician crap for - " we closed a few loop holes". So having spent a frontal of 9 hours in the Kia showrooms and a Ford showroom ( Ford Escape) - the Ford finance guy started filling in the paperwork.... got to "Income" - we told him, he broke down in tears and and said how sorry he was to hear that poverty still exists in 2018 Australia ( not really) but he was amazed that expat pensioners fall way down on what the aussie pensioners get! As it is out tolled income from three UK pensions - leaves us UNDER the baseline allowed for finance! We went back to Kia and asked if we had problems after the pigeon around 4 years ago with out pensions. The guy said he had not checked because as we not got finance for our Kia on a 7 years term - which we doubled the payments and paid off in 3 years 5 months AND a $450 early closer fee! - but back he came - sorry... we don't seem able to accept your "request for finance" - he said getting official and not the mate we had hours earlier"! So - this post is to hear from other expat pensioners if they have had this issue - and if there is a "workaround" ?? We came over on a Contributory Parent Visa - which in 2008 cost au$27,000 + plus agents fees etc, - back + a au$10,00. ( our aussie agent suggested I cancel my application and agfater arriving on a tourist visa...apply for a spouse visa.... I did and saved £12,000 ! We get the bond back - theoretically, - in December '18 Looking for solutions!!!!

The first I noticed when we moved in our then new property was that any tradie we asked to quote for anything - seemed to assume we were mega rich and stupid and the smallest job was a minimum of $400 + plus materials.....

Not totally unhappy our - as we had assumed our- confirmed none child bearing wishes - and our SIL have presented us with what is without doubt the smartest 4 years and 6 month old kid on the planet! Go read my post again in its edited version

It is an idea I can check on, thanks for that. Although If that were the case, then surely who ever dealt with my letter - should have passed it on to a relevant department or advised me to do so. i am no expert but I get the impression that those on Medicare and or whatever age/health related "cover systems get what going and those with private health cover are left to sort it out with their insurers. This is more often seen with the number of "poor" none working older aussies with two teeth! The free dental care is basically to rip everything out rather them preventative treatment and worse case scenario if getting an ill fitting denture! EDIT, after thought - although things just now are managable one of t he thoughts that cause me to contact the council is that - he is obviously getting older and if he had help - it would perhaps delay any adverse affects, that aside the situation is - it seems now - not going top change at any time.

Again the point in my post was primarily a warning to those to those planning on coming over - a short vacation or reccy does not get things like this mind - and our middle aged kids live near to Sydney for their jobs. If it was my situation - I would not expect the kids to come ( about 140k drive and cut the grass. A lot of couples coming over may also want mum's and dads etc to come over on Contributory Parent or whatever none work related visa is viable - but not live with them and our councils attitude is not an exception, from I am told in NSW at least - its the norm and goes back 100 years or more.

As I mentioned the anonymous council guy mentioned - the council do not cut grass on residential area nature strips. We have a mix here - some people keep a tidy front garden and do the nature strips... but a lot of those in corner units - leave it till its above a foot high. Now granted in aussie, in the dry hot months - if you don't water the grass - it does not grow high and often dies back - coming up again in the "wet season" - all two weeks of it! BUT don't lose the track of my post - the mention is more about the councils could not care less if you are in an iron lung - you cut the grass not the council attitude. Just had a born here aussie mate call around and I mentioned my letter to teh council for XXXXX and his health issues. He tells me " jeez mate, wadder yer expect! The day they DID come out and it was known- about 100,000 others will want the same deal". So it explains the gruff attitude from my council guy - he was not interested in anything I said. One of the moments I left out in my initial post was that I asked him, if the council will not help...why have you come. He told me because I did not include a phone number. To which I replied and if I had not included my address - on the premise that I would be issued a reference number first - you would not know where to come to - so why not just tell me all this in writing? - No answer. So at the moment I am guessing there is no "official" record or my letter!

Read my post again.. NOT me. And yes I cut the grass. "Lawn" as in a patch of grass that dies off after the rainy season? Yes I cut the grass in my garden area and teh soddin nature strips.

Sad to say.. but i am really happy you replied with your experiences - it shows where I am is not a one off! When were moved in here March 2009, it was a fairly new development and most houses where owner occupiers, few if any renters. From here to teh mall took about 10 minutes driving (7k according to Google maps) Now our rural homestead is almost a major city and the two lane road leading to the mall is almost always nose to tail and can take 30 minutes or more to get to the mall. The most busy is during the school times morning and afternoon.

Its a friend across the road with the grass thing... but he does not know I inquired - I did not give any info about him in my letter. But again.. the amount of land that would need covering would cost a bucket load of $. Although I did suggest wood chippings - but he was right to comment it would be worse because if the get shifted so some went onto the road... its a bigger mess to clean up - ditto on the double strips if it blocked even in places teh footpath... although aussies consider the footpath a free parking space and bugger you if you are in wheel chair - a whinge to the council and it invites grief.

So sad to here about Gill. I first had contact with her on an agents forum and we had a few emails off the forum on none visa stuff and she showed a very caring nature. Some years back I sent an email but no reply - but as all the main email "makers" hotmail, Google etc seemed to be in flux I just assumed either she had changed or moved on away from forums. At that time I recall her mother was a cause for concern - and again thought maybe she was prioritizing family before "fun".

Sadly.... all I wrote and more ... is truth.

EDIT: Please Note: I started this post with a couple of - what I thought - may be a light hearted reminder that Aussie can seem hard and strange - even if the movers have been to Oz once or more to reccy - to check if they can cope with heat etc or as I said to my wife at 3pm in the Botanic Gardens on New Years Eve 2003... "Could we live here? ". It was a Yes BUT we knew nothing about oz then! My mention about my mate and trying to get hos grass cut - about the equal of a 1/4 of a football field seems to have become the focal point - it should not be!! It is just one if the points I tried to make to those planning on coming to Oz and who may have thoughts about getting their parents/grandparents over here with them. The age care structure in Oz is no where like the UK and to make matter worse - teh UK pension sticks at whatever rate it is when you depart the UK, works or private pensions superannuation etc are whatever you signed up for. No pensioner can claim and aussie pension until their tenth year ( bloody whoopee for me!) Then the aussie pension is the difference between the UK - and what one would be entitled to by circumstance as a "real" aussie would get. So please accept it for what it is.. not my plea for help +_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+ I don't suppose there are many of us who were regulars on PIO around 2006 / 8 - who are still regulars! Fact is, unless its changed since then - getting through the visa applications with the aussie admin - was akin to wading through 6 foot deep ( or 2 meter's) horse s**t. Especially the Contributory Parent Visa! it took us 19 months from submitting applications to landing in Sydney 28th October 2018. What ever happened to Nigel and that darling Gollywobbler ( or summat similar) and how fast the time as past...it seems. After getting settled here and buying our home and "living the life" - looking back now that advice to get out and do a reccy or rekky visit to test the water - seems better ignored. We did three three month visit to stay with our kids in Sydney and " live the life". NO... its just a long holiday and getting up the kids noses and ruining their love life!" ( amazing how daughters talk to mum after she - the daughter gives birth and become... a mum. So here we are up on the Central Coast, on what was then a new town in the making - and still is. Getting used to the people is a real experience. Lots of "tradies" a man and his ute / best mate or son. Over time we had roof fans fitted - the guy hid the 3 way wall switch - said it was not included with the fan...but he had one for $25 - we declined. We have a water rain tank which is used on toilets washing /utility room and garden hose - till it runs out and teh mains takes over. Our water switch failed - we get a guy in to quote its an insurance job, we opts for a replacement at $200 rather than new $2000 and while he was alone... be got the pump out and buggered it! The water switch failed after 3 months and we found that the "NEW" stop tap he fitted was an old type...and did not turn the water off - which makes changing the water filter $60 + a year - a sloppy wet feet job. A couple of years ago we finally decided on aircon. The tradie we had seemed OK and I cannot fault the work of the unit. BUT a week or two later we were having our kidz up from Sydney for the weekend, getting the tables and chairs outside on our "Pay she Oh" or patio to us Poms.. we found the ring with the roller ring for the lazy Susan - was gone AND two wicks out of the new anti mozzie oil burners were gone. There are others but it gets past the laughing stage. I did think of getting bumper stickers made... BEWARE Tradies are out to make YOUR stuff THEIRS! . Now, in aussie you buy /rent your home and in most cities and suburbs... out the front you will have a "nature strip" which may be just the one from the road to the pathway or one that runs from the roadside to your garden boundary and may or may not have a pathway in the middle. If you have a corner plot ie your house is on the end of the road/street - you have the nature strip at the front maybe 20 /30 yards and one up the side and from the front path to the fence line at the back of our house - is 50yards and each strip is 6/8 feet wide. The local council NEVER cut grass or in fact sweep roads unless its an accident or other sudden generator of crap and debris in the road. No - the councils have no Federal/State laws or bylaws to enforce this and if asked will tell you that homeowners always prefer to look after the nature strips and cut the grass themselves! A neighbour if ours is 73 years old, arthritis in both hands and shoulder ( he says he was crushed as an 18 year old in the army - between a railway wagon and the platform - while trying to lift the big manual brake and his shoulders were wider than the gap and got spun around and squashed) he is also waiting an appointment for a knee operation. I contacted ( eventually) the local council to advise these issues my friend has and asked if there is any option available to get the grass - at least that on the council owned "nature strips - cut for him. i heard nothing back and assumed my letter was ignored. Until we had a visitor from a council guy... never got his name - coz he never gave it or showed any official pass/ID information. "What's the issues with your grass?" he asked. I said I had none but did he mean the person at the address I gave in my letter. " You wrote in - so WE have to reply to you - but be WARNED(!) WE do not cut residential grass". I asked if he had seen my letter and understood that the person concerned had worsening health problems - of which heaving an heavy petrol mower over what amounts to about 1/4 of a football field - none of which is his land and that its getting to the point where he will not be able to do it any longer - also, I can find nothing in the local bylaws or information from any person I ask about the nature strips - being a condition on the nearest property owner". He then stated that there was no obligation or law and that if the person did not cut the grass - the council would - when it considered the matter a danger to people using the footpath....kill off the grass. So I said, "So its just blackmail - we know you will cut the grass rather than have neighbors upset by it. So i am right - its just blackmail. At which point he said nothing and walked off! Now for all you nice folk who came on a reccy for a two or three week holiday and check if you could deal with the heat and the flies and mozzies etc,. you will laern almost nothing about the real Australia. Move next door to a dog owner and you may be in for a shock. Few aussies allow the dogs inside - the are instead of a burglar alarm - which is useless because nobody would phone teh ploice - and if they did - by the time they arived they may have seen the last brick of you house being thrown on a the truck! So the dog owners work all day - the dog is behind a 7 foot high tin fence and see's nothing all day - gets lonely and barks at the only thing that moves... the clouds or a bird. So in the UK, you could phone the council, environmental dept or whatever and somebody would get involved. Not in Aussie. You would phone the Rangers office - you would have to record dates and times THEN attend with teh dog owner at a mediation meeting with at one or even two officials to seek a solution. That fails coz he ain't gonna be there to shut the dog up and when teh council decide to collect your records of offense - IF it issues a fine its can be as much as $250 per recorded incident $2000 or so is typical. Now IF that happens - you have just entered WW3 because the guys mates are liable to hurl bricks through your windows, or the odd petrol bomb or even drive a stolen car into you house - which will likely knock it off the concrete block ( no "foundations as such here") and need to be demolished and rebuilt - OR they wait while you are out and smash their way in and your house us usually a fancy garden shed ..ie wooden frames with "plaster board" cladding and there is no insulation in the cavity - and a fist goes through both panels very easily.... and it will cost thousands to repair. So knowing this when the dog barks for 7 hours - get headphones and watch TV. Oh, and don't buy or rent an house on a corner plot.... unless you like cutting the council grass at your cost and nopayment. I think the European Civil Liberties would consider it a form or slavery.... working without payment and in fear of retribution....but as tghe council guy said.... well this is Australia - not England! How bloody right he is! If you want MORE real Aussie life .... ask because this post is in danger of becoming a book!