ozziepom

Lots of Cypriots are wishing they'd done the same thing a couple of weeks ago. I certainly wouldn't be keeping any money in Spain, Italy, Greece etc at the moment.

Good idea, because at least we KNOW M King is either an idiot or a liar and possibly both.

One of her biggest supporters just called for her to hold a "Spill" and is backing Rudd, only this morning he said he was fully behind Gillard. http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/national/leadership-live-julia-gillard-under-new-labor-leadership-pressure/story-fncyva0b-1226602153908 The politics here is far more entertaining than anywhere else!

I work in IT in Brisbane and whilst its a lot slower than it was a couple of years ago its not quite "nothing doing", also I thought Melb was ahead of Perth for IT work and Bris also. So I did a quick unscientific test, I searched for "project manager" on seek for all the mainland state capitals and got the following results, when I did this for various skills a couple of years back Perth was a distant 4th, results came back: Sydney 4962 Melbourne 2988 Perth 1778 Brisbane 1629 Adelaide 352 Obviously ads are duplicated and many roles gone but that applies to all, tbh I'm surprised as I expected worse for Brisbane. Anyway - to the OP, if you're happy where you are why go through such a big change, sadly your pounds will buy you very little these days.

Surfers itself is very touristy, brash and to be honest trashy so I wouldn't advise anyone to live there unless you want to be out clubbing every night, kind of place teens go for weekends away. BUT, the Gold Coast is so much more than just Surfers. Sarbear makes a great point, if you go for the North end of the coast you have the option of commuting to Brisbane, the big downside of the coasts (gold and sunshine) is lack of jobs. The commute is a pain but at least you have the option. In the northern part look at Labrador, Runaway Bay, Paradise Point, all near the beach. If being further north is not an issue try Main Beach, I'd move there in a heartbeat if I didn't have to commute to Brisbane. Lots of people have a downer on the Gold Coast but I love the place, just not Surfers!

The weather should be pretty good that time of year, mid 20's and going into winter which is a lovely time in SEQLD. The days will be short, sun up early and dark by 6PM. If you want to be right by the city take a look at Kangaroo Point, but also make sure you get around & visit the coasts (Gold & Sunshine Coast), and also the hinterland. Sounds like you'll have a great time!

This may sound harsh but $350 pw is not enough, even the backpacker hostels cost around $100 pn. When I was looking for short term accom when I fist arrived in Brisbane we found some in South Bank for about $800pw which looked basic but just OK. If that really is max budget maybe take a look at couchsurfing. Brisbane is wildly expensive for hotels and short term apartments.

Gold Coast every time for me, I love the place and actually commute to Brisbane. The only problem with the place is lack of jobs, wish I could find work here but the only sniff I had was $50k less than my Brisbane job.

Great news and congrats! How long had you been waiting for a ceremony?

Agreed, also you'll get more for your money in the Hills but no train line to the CBD, we preferred the Hills to Sutherland but preferences differ.

Hardly a direct comparison. A friend lives in a 2 Bed apartment in Newstead - value $1.6M. There will be cheap and expensive locals for housing in both cities, but for day to day stuff, I don't think there's much difference.

They're very different places. For pure beach life QLD would be best, but are you sure about Bribie? I hear its a lovely place but not much work there. Honestly your job and work availability should be the first thing you filter locations on, in SEQLD Brisbane should be what you're comparing Adelaide with, but you're an hour from the beach there, I was at the beach today on the Gold Coast, but I have an hours commute to my nearest work in Brisbane, from Bribie its a 1.5-2 hours each way... Adelaide's a nice city surrounded but lovely countryside but its a smaller city & I'm not sure where you'd get the 'laid back beach life' there. Again, its all about your work, its not a holiday you're booking.

My first post on this thread started like this: "What most people don't realise is that many govts. including the US, Japan, Switzerland, Brazil and especially the UK want their currencies to fall, that's why they're printing more & more in what its labelled QE, its actually deliberately devaluing in an attempt to induce inflation and reduce their debt burdens. This is at the expense of prudent savers in these countries, about which the govts. couldn't care less, they're more interested in saving the banks and their other cronies. There is a currency war going on, and its a race to the bottom." Hardly suggesting its only a UK vs Aus thing. I liked the comment in the SMH article, as I thought they where pretty spot on. To paraphrase they said "many of the north Atlantic Currencies are low because of QE, if they are low someone must be high, and that is us". Any number of things could bring the Aud down, and I'm well aware of the problems it causes (as well as benefits). But AUD has been around this level (against the US$, amazingly still the global reserve currency) for over two years, and no reason to expect any big changes in the near future.

More to the point, if the housing market crashes it will destroy the banks, and the RBA and govt will do anything it can to prevent that.

We'll agree to disagree on that point, IMHO they haven't induced inflation OR lending yet so they'll keep trying, and the downward movements on their currencies will continue. Regardless of the motive, more QE (it is just money printing) looks to be on the cards, and that will not reverse the direction of their currencies, and therefore the Australian $'s value relative to them.

Not words of wisdom, just my opinion. Firstly I said further falls for sterling where a risk, its not a nailed on certainty but that's the established direction and there is no reason to see it changing any time soon. The AUD is high because other currencies are weak and because the Aus economy is doing relatively well, Aus has very little national debut and we've had a series of interest rate cuts which would have weakened it in normal times but which have had little impact. Of course it will go down one day but that could be years, no signs of significant falls in the near future, its well down from its recent high of US1.10ish. The comments in the SMH article above are about right. Lots of countries are deliberately weakening their currencies via QE Aus isn't.

Underlying weakness of the UK economy, new governor of the BOE, abandoning inflation targets, prospect of more QE etc. etc.

That's pretty right. What most people don't realise is that many govts. including the US, Japan, Switzerland, Brazil and especially the UK want their currencies to fall, that's why they're printing more & more in what its labelled QE, its actually deliberately devaluing in an attempt to induce inflation and reduce their debt burdens. This is at the expense of prudent savers in these countries, about which the govts. couldn't care less, they're more interested in saving the banks and their other cronies. There is a currency war going on, and its a race to the bottom. The RBA could easily reduce the AU$ by printing also, and purchasing other currencies or overseas assets, its actually an opportunity to add to to Australia's real wealth but so far they haven't gone for it and I suspect they won't. The RBA is well aware of the negative impacts of the strong $ but has so far shown a philosophy of not intervening in the market, other than cutting interest rates (now near historic lows). I don't know how long it will last, but I see no signs of immediate change, meanwhile there is a real risk of further big falls for sterling.

Hi, Can anyone suggest the best way of getting a good online life insurance quote, as far as I can tell both Choosi and iSelect only look at a small number of insurers and their websites just take a few basic details to get your phone number then they call you back, go through heaps of questions and then hassle you to go through them. Is there anyone like "Insurance Supermarket" or "Go Compare" which look at the whole market and give online quotes without having to listen to a sales pitch and constant follow ups? Cheers!

The Australian economy has become way too dependant on mining. A rebalancing will be painful for some but its got to happen.

Cheap and (short term) Brisbane accommodation don't go together, the YHA is $100 pn ffs! Another option is look at the Gold Coast, its off season so should be cheaper, its 1 hours drive S of Bris.

Care to name a few? The UK govt wants the pound lower, but can't admit it, and they're getting their wish. Look up debasement or devaluation or even currency wars because that's where we are.

By the letter of the law, yes they do. BUT - there has to be a bit of common sense, surely this was an innocent mistake and they can be allowed to stay for a further period, for instance during which time they should fulfil their original conditions. I think they should be allowed to stay.

All will need a power adaptor to plug into Aus power points (same voltage so just like a travel adaptor). Wii will need a different antenna cable as Aus TV's don't usually have SCART (unless you bring your UK TV). iPhone will work if its unlocked by your carrier in the UK, you'll need a SIM card from an Aus mobile phone company.

Nope, hence saying I read it somewhere, I didn't just make it up, but you only have my word for that. As I said, I think there should be a requirement to work in your nominated occupation prior to gaining full PR, to stop exactly this and ensure the country gets value for the visas it grants, but that's just my opinion.