ramot

I watched Palaszczuk recently telling everyone at the end of a meeting, I think it was in Mackay? could be wrong as the meeting was about the Burdekin Hydro Electric Scheme? to stand up if you are voting yes to the Voice referendum. The impression was that everyone stood up. I think its out of order, for a politician irrespective of which party to put a group being filmed for tv on the spot to say what their potential vote will be. Who knows of course whether they will vote yes or no, or not sure but some might have felt forced to stand up, so the overwhelming subtle impression to the tv audience was everyone is voting yes,

My daughter paired Action Man with Barbie, never wanted Ken, have memories of Barbie in her brothers Action Man tank

Add the expensive cost of pilot training into the mix, then by not selecting the best person for pilot training based on diversity, logically more will fail the training, thereby costing the country money, just because of box ticking. As the wife of ‘a useless white male ‘ RAF pilot for 20 years, (what an insult to him and all RAF pilots, irrespective of the supposed explanation) it’s a highly skilled demanding job, so it’s crucial that all the applicants have the right qualifications to apply, and get the chance to train as pilots, and not refused because of quotas

Yes, not the same obviously, but enjoyed the first 2 episodes

Best this thread is closed down, it’s not achieving anything except a platform for a poster.

I’m really surprised by Virgin’s reaction. We have used Wise, previously Transferwise, for years and continue to, to transfer money monthly as all our income is from Uk. We have never had a problem, and the money is usually in our Australian bank within 24hours. I genuinely think Wise has a good reputation, and think I would try to to get a bit of proof from Virgin about their stance. The information, if true?, could be useful to know.

Should have said 2 of my children

Don’t blame you, unfortunately time after time threads are taken over by a poster, and deteriorate into online ‘I know better than everyone else’ , especially if the thread can then include the use of illegal drugs, even if irrelevant to the original post. I wish you all the best with your decision, both my children followed us here in their 30’s. sadly they don’t have children, but they love their lives here, as does my son and family who are equally happy in Bristol. No one place suits everyone. The Sunshine Coast is fabulous place to live for families judging by the young families I know., x M

I do tend to agree with you Cherry Thistle about negative and incorrect advice given to prospective immigrants who post on PIO, even though I am one of the oldies who does post, I never give immigration advice. . I think if anyone who seeks advice from a public forum, should realise that most replies will come from other posters, who however well intentioned are not M Agents So the advice might not be correct, but I also know how much help and support I have had and been grateful for over the years of my and my children’s immigration journey. The problem that occurs is that sometimes, potential immigrants take offence at the replies or at the tone of the reply to their questions, respond accordingly, and that doesn’t help anyone. Long term members of PIO who stay around to help new posters, including me, do it to genuinely try to help. If we had all left, or never replied, there would be no point in PIO continuing, as not many new members who have been helped bother these days to stay around to help.

Such an exciting time for you, where did yo end up getting a job. Wishing you and your fiancé all the best for your new life here xM

It’s interesting how we react differently. We first had AstraZeneca, I felt a bit rough and tired for 24 hours, my husband was fine. We had Pfizer for 3rd and 4th booster, I had no reaction apart from the usual sore arm, but he felt very rough for 2 days, but he is a man! It’s been over a year since then, but he is a bit wary about having the 5th, although it’s a different vaccine this time? We also reacted differently to covid, it hit me harder than him, he tested clear quite quickly, I was still showing very positive after 9 days.

As it’s 6 months since I had covid I asked my Dr if he recommended I had the latest jab. my 5th, and I am in my 70’s. He is a very respected experienced Dr, and has been known to be honest about other matters and sometimes say I advise yes, but it’s your decision. His said he absolutely recommend i have it, the new jab covers the newer strains of covid, and make sure it’s the bio (sorry can’t remember the next word) one. Booked in next week.

I agree with Lavers last paragraph. Lots of people have it tough, sometimes luck plays a part, but mostly it’s down to hard work to try to get a better life. I left school at 16 with almost no qualifications as my Mother couldn’t make ends meet any more as a single mother.but I managed to make a successful life through hard work. When I got my Australian citizenship, I didn’t think I was going to be a 2nd class citizen, I thought like the song sung by so many wonderful mixed choirs ‘I am, you are, we are Australian’ was the right definition of my new status. I think there are too many unanswered uncertainties about what exactly the voice is actually about, to be able to make a balanced, and not a political decision.There are many problems with disadvantaged areas of Australia, but I’m not clever enough to know if the Voice is the right way to go to help solve them. I certainly would like to know how many committees there already are, what their purpose is, how much money is allocated to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, and how it is spent, and if or not what might change. if the Voice happens.

My question is what is anyone who posts doing about poverty , other than posting? Does anyone support the Smith Family for instance, help out at a homeless shelter, soup kitchen? Or just discuss it, and feel holier than thou? before you ask, no I don’t these days, but feel I have in the past, but probably not nearly enough.

Hope you feel better soon xM

Yes you are right, I meant not being a part of the community when we visit our son in Bristol. We have never lived in our investment properties, and always had a home base, which for the last 20 years has been the Sunshine Coast. I don’t worry at all about leaving a house empty, as we have never ever had a house/flat without a tenant. I was just pointing out the pitfalls that others might not have considered. I didn’t intend to confuse, I was trying to fill my time in hospital waiting for my husband to have the plaster taken off his broken ankle, X-ray etc, so kept stopping and starting while I was writing. His ankle is mending but another 6 weeks before he can drive, not a happy husband.

We bought as investment properties which is why we would never leave them empty. We only go to UK to visit our son and grandsons, don’t need to feel part of a community as we have never lived there. It did became increasingly hard though to bother to readjust to living in each country and community after 10 years.

We wouldn’t rent out on Airbnb, but even though we are far from financially uncomfortable in our retirement, wouldn’t consider leaving 3 properties empty with only limited use. There would be concerns about the upkeep, possible insurance restrictions if empty? and as another poster mentioned, break ins, squatters. When we were in Brunei, we bought a small easy to maintain terrace house in our old village, as all our 3 children were still in Uk, either at boarding school or university, to have a base for them, and as I was probably back about every 6 weeks, it made sense, until the older 2 were settled. We then bought a house in London for our daughter to live in while at University, rented out 2 rooms to other students, and since she left, it has been rented out for about 20 years. The thought that we would leave any of our properties empty since we retired 20 years , never crossed our minds. The income is far better option, than worrying about empty costly to maintain hardly used properties,

We always had house sitters for here until last year, as we only went to England for 5 weeks, our son and wife came most weekends and we have good neighbours. We won’t be going so often now, and more likely for a shorter time. Renting in England before Airbnb was almost impossible as most rents were for a minimum of 6 months. Airbnb and Stayz made such a difference. We rent mostly though Stayz, it’s very easy. We don’t go in summer, we prefer Spring and Autumn.

Of course I answered straight away, it was only when she asked me again and I repeated he doesn’t have a middle name, that I said I can’t give a different answer as I had already repeated the truth. I nearly said I had probably originally given the answers before she was born as I’ve held them well over 50 years, so it’s pretty certain I have absolutely no recollection of any of the questions or answers No I didn’t say that but I was tempted So many security questions before that one. Eg 2nd, 3rd letter, my mother’s maiden name, my brothers name, my secondary school, my sons birthday, my date of birth, my husband’s birthday, and the middle name question All because they needed security confirmation of my mobile number

We seriously considered living between UK and Australia when we retired 20 years ago. We already had properties in both UK and Australia. I was the one who decided against it, I had already lived between Brunei and England for 10 years, coping with never feeling really settled in either, and needed to feel one place was going to be home. The other reality was the necessity of renting out the main property while in the other country, then deciding to give the good tenants notice in either country when we wanted to move either way, to then have to find new tenants every 6 months. For us it didn’t make sense to do that. So we kept tenants in place in our UK properties, made our Australia our home, had house sitters, and rented in England as we have visited for about 3 months almost every year.since. It’s far less disruptive, we kept good tenants and the regular income. We do advise using good accountants.

I had to contact the Premium Bonds office yesterday as they needed to update my telephone number. To do this I had to answer answer various security questions. All went fine until they asked me my husband’s middle name? He doesn’t have one!! There was no way past that, apparently when we first applied, years and years ago, we must have put something there? I kept asking for advice, but all she did was to repeat the non answerable question!!! So I was refused on security grounds and blocked. Will have some forms sent snail mail from UK, so will see what happens next. With hindsight perhaps the answer is not applicable? but if so I think she could have helped by hinting that? Apart from cheeky answers, and yes I have only had one husband, anyone got any ideas for my next try?

The first step is the hardest, but the most important, whether it leads to friendship or just interacting with another person, every little helps when you are new somewhere.

2 different situations affected us, Son was on a student visa and there were 2 retrospective changes made to the visa conditions by the then Labor immigration minister. It was a long time ago, the 2nd was the worst one, and I can’t remember the details, except my son had lodged his application for PR, which up to then came through in weeks, instead to the best of my memory, the very next day he, and thousands of other students were retrospectively placed on temporary visa A for at least 3 years, before the majority were then told to leave the country in weeks. Sadly some students committed suicide, it was a bad time for those affected. We were on the 410 retirement visa, closed to new applicants, we had to be totally self funded, no access to Medicare, or any state help. We had to have overseas health insurance, which became so expensive over the years in comparison to what we were charged when for instance we came in 2003 that many people who had lived here for 30 years could no longer afford it and had to leave Australia.

I can only help with living on the Sunshine Coast, and not with the work opportunities. July usually has beautiful winter weather, sunny clear blue skies and reasonably warm in the middle of the day, chilly at night. Most schools have a good reputation, the families that I know have a great life here, lots of sports all the usual clubs eg scouts, guides, nippers. Great beaches, Many families seem to go camping at every opportunity. There are of course the usual problems that exist everywhere, but it generally feels a safe place to live, property has increased in price, and houses are still selling quickly. Brisbane airport is an hour away, an hour and a quarter to the center of Brisbane on a clear run, , but the traffic can be bad at rush hour, busy at weekends, and bad if there is an accident. Lots of road works at the moment between S Coast and Brisbane prior to the Olympics in 2032, but should eventually make it a lot better. Maroochydore airport covers most internal routes.