akiralx

It was the country that was described as a teenager, not the inhabitants. All its post-settlement history is very new, just a few hundred years. Compared to most European countries, it is a teenager. There's been no Renaissance, Industrial Revolution, Enlightenment here. There are no Australian equivalents of Shakespeare, Beethoven, Goethe, Dickens, Voltaire, Newton or Brunel.

Well, there's a fine line between patriotism and jingoism. The Australian penchant for the latter stems from insecurity: they have a beautiful country (until the miners have finished with it) but there's a nagging recognition that in global terms the country is a backwater, politically and economically at least. One of the most recognised nations on earth, but excluded from the G7, UN Security Council and NATO (obviously). Slightly irrelevant, though popular. A huge landmass but with a small population - an isolated oddity. This insecurity festers and is manifested in the 'Screw you' attitude towards other nations or global organisations who dare to point out shortcomings.

Why does it have to be a barbecues is the point I am making... Let's face it, in 1880s Australia few if any had barbecues or wore surf shirts/board shorts. Were those guys not genuine Aussies? I'm sure the first guy who ventured into the sea with a surfboard was considered unAustralian, but he did it anyway - good luck to him. It's an evolutionary thing - if new residents want to celebrate their Australianness by playing the Eton Wall Game, eating roast goat or praying to Mecca, they should be encouraged to do so. It might catch on - AFL, cricket, and surfshirts might die out in a hundred years - who knows.

The old 'fit in or FO' trope? All well and good, but they didn't 'fit in' did they? Board shorts and barbecues aren't really authentically Australian are they... The culture here evolved and continuing waves of immigrants are fully entitled to participate in that evolution.

Yes, I would tend to agree with most of this: avarice is certainly true, manifested by the almost manic acquisition of rental properties, while a national trait could be summed up as extra-competitiveness and a fear of showing weakness. Also perhaps a fear of iconoclasm - Aussies generally are suspicious of anyone who confronts the status quo of a comfortable middle-class existence: backpackers are sponging deadbeats, environmentalists are long-haired lefty deadbeats, the unemployed are bludging deadbeats, asylum seekers are criminal, sponging, bludging deadbeats...

Yes, rather like the morning TV presenter who said 'And now let's go over to Trudy who'll us what the weather is going to be like today in this great country of ours'...

So that graph tells me that the current Conservative government has borrowed more than any UK government in history? Which I knew anyway but nice to have it confirmed... Even the rogue 2008/9 figures were caused by the GFC. If the Conservatives had been in power then their borrowing would have been at least as high.

The financial hardship release would be hard to obtain as you need to be receiving Centerlink payments for 26 weeks - which you wouldn't be if overseas.

Though if you haven't got PR the ATO tell you to not mention it on your return as it's not taxable here. I only entered the rental income on my return after I got PR. In the UK a friend acted as my rental agent, asked HMRC for an agent registration number but never got a response - the rent was under the personal allowance anyway.

Probably true - but there's no chance of the Tories winning an outright majority: they couldn't in 2010 when Cameron and the party were more popular, Labour were very unpopular, and UKIP weren't on the horizon. Labour really have two routes to government: alliances with the SNP or LibDems. The latter is quite possible, as [a] the LibDems will do better than polls suggest to give them a meaningful number of seats*; and Nick Clegg may well be replaced by Vince Cable as leader, and he is much more Labour-leaning. Clegg may well lose his seat of course. *most analysts agree: LibDem MPs are not easy to unseat owing to their local appeal and they wisely target winnable seats with resources.

No, Labour under Ed Milliband is a lot more left wing than under Blair and Brown - there is more clear water in terms of policy between Labour and Conservatives than for many years, e.g. concerning the EU, and austerity.

The point is Farage wants Labour to win the 2015 election. If the Tories win then a Euro referendum will almost certainly held by 2017, and if the result is to stay in the EU, then UKIP are finished. If it is to leave, then UKIP's work is done - either way UKIP wouldn't really have any reason to exist after 2017/8. But if Labour win in 2015, the Conservatives will implode (or explode...), probably into two pieces: a moderate right-of-centre group, and an anti-EU hard right party - and Farage is planning to link UKIP to the latter and take it over as leader. That is what he is plotting right now. Every vote he takes from the Conservatives (5 times more than he takes from Labour) brings Ed Miliband closer to an election victory - which is exactly what Farage wants...

Agreed - I would go so far as to say that unless there is at least one aspect of your UK life that you are definitely unhappy about, do not emigrate here - particularly as the economy seems likely to take a downturn. Potential emigrants who say on this forum that they have a wonderful UK life with great jobs, excellent house and wonderful circle of friends and family - but are considering emigrating to Aus because they'll 'regret it if they don't' - my answer is yes, you might, but you're more likely to regret it if you do come here...

Yes - comparing grocery spending is nigh-on impossible between families: some buy everything at supermarkets, some buy from grocers and go round farmers' markets, some buy organic, some don't, some buy more expensive meat and seafood, some don't... As Quinkla said, you will manage, generally by living within your means. On your husband's income you will be fine, especially if you work as well.

It will be preserved at the point you left work, and remain there, increasing in line with indexation until you claim it or decide to transfer it. The latter is possible to Aus super funds but a decision to be taken carefully, probably after financial advice.

My interview was the guy asking me whether I'd seen the recent Geelong Cats record AFL defeat - so a verbal test of Aussie culture in the guise of a casual chat... The test is easy, most questions are pretty obvious, though they do lob in a few about dates of public holidays and the colour of the Torres Strait flag. Having said that I seemed to be the only person passing it on the day I went - there were a few 'You've had 4 attempts now, if you don't pass on this try you will have to come back on another day...' so it clearly weeds out some applicants.

I never considered bringing out cat, not on cost grounds, but because the trip could be too traumatic. He was fostered out to a nice acquaintance couple with a larger house and garden and is thriving, probably thinking 'why the hell wasn't I allowed to live here years ago...'

We seem to be getting half the story - why can't you comment: you, your partner and the company concerned can't be identified from your posts so just tell us what happened...

Some Damart thermal underwear?

Yes, good point about the UK pension, though won't it be from age 67 or later? I'm sure I will pay the NI contributions. The thing I'm considering is that I'll still be under the asset test with the commuted pension, but would break the income test if taken as a pension.

Oh, yes - I know that. I would remain in Aus until then, maybe after giving up work 2-3 years earlier and hopefully managing to survive on super and other investments - probably downsizing our house. The asset test shouldn't be an issue, but I might have to commute a small UK occupational pension to a larger lump sum to avoid exceeding the income test - I assume they include overseas benefits in these tests? Not sure how they check though...

Question - how much UK state pension could you receive before breaking the income test for the Aus pension? I will be in Aus at retirement so could claim the latter (only have a small amount of super at the moment after 5 years' employment but paying extra contributions) - so I would have to decide whether it would be worth topping up the NI to receive a higher UK state pension if that is just going to be deducted from the Aus pension. I currently have 20 years' NI history. At the moment (age 48) my inclination is to live in the UK in retirement.

I got a job at NAB in 2009 when on a 309 visa, before getting 'official' perm residence. I'm sure I had some documentation/letter which confirmed I was eligible to work. Still here 5 years later, now a citizen...

Yes, I would tend to agree - though a tourist acquaintance was boarding a long-distance bus in Alice Springs last month and was slightly perturbed when the driver informed the waiting passengers that 'the whites' should get on first...

If you're living in an urban area you won't see snakes. Very few spiders in Vic as far as I can see, maybe our cats get them if they venture in our house. I used to see more house spiders in the UK than here. We did have a white tip spider (poisonous) on the outside of our house in Geelong, but I clobbered it...