Cerberus1
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Everything posted by Cerberus1
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Sincere apologies for the downtime. Unfortunately, it appears to have happened whilst I was in transit and I only became aware of it around 15 minutes ago. Everything should be ok now. Thanks Rob Admin
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As above, 2 bores, lack of insulation in house, inefficient hot water system etc. Things which can be improved, if/when funds allow
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Massive growth in Australia's ballooning temporary migration is dwarfing the Government's cuts to the permanent intake. The number of people who hold bridging visas — the same kind of visa given to the Commonwealth Games athletes who are seeking asylum — has hit a historic high. At the end of March, 195,000 people with bridging visas were in Australia, including more than 37,000 whose nationality was not specified. That is up more than 40,000 on a year ago, and close to 90,000 since 2014, according to official Department of Home Affairs figures. It has pushed the number of people in Australia on temporary visas to more than 2.2 million — again, a record high. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has said the Government was planning on cutting the permanent migration intake from its traditional level of 190,000 per year, down to approximately 170,000 this year. But that number is dwarfed by the scale of the temporary visa program. In the past year an additional 150,000 visitors are in Australia on temporary visas, including 33,000 more foreign students. The Government has rolled out an overhaul of both temporary and permanent migration programs in the past year. Jonathan Granger, director of Granger Australia and a former national president of the Migration Institute of Australia, described the migration program as "chaotic", saying processing times in major visa streams including the temporary skill shortage (formerly code 457), employer-nominated scheme and skilled independent visas had all grown in recent years. A Department of Home Affairs spokesperson said processing times were driven by a range of factors including: the volume of applications received, completeness of the application, how promptly applicants respond to any requests from the department, and the complexity of assessments in relation to health, character and national security requirements. The boom in bridging visas has been driven by a mysterious component of 37,000 visa holders for whom the Department of Home Affairs will not reveal their nationality. The Department of Home Affairs declined to provide more explanation about this group. Source: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-05-22/bridging-visa-surge-overwhelms-permanent-migration-cuts/9785946
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If, like me, you live in Regional Queensland, then you're in for a brucie bonus. Wait for it.. The Queensland Competion Authority has determined that power prices will drop..? saving the average consumer.. a whopping.. 5.5c per day?
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Well this is pretty disappointing given the Australian offering is pretty poor in comparsion to Amazon's US or UK sites. Online retail giant Amazon will block Australian consumers from its global sites to counter new laws to force it to collect the good and services tax on transactions. From July 1 when the new GST regulations begin, Australian consumers shopping on Amazon international sites will be redirected to the local Australian site. In a statement issued to the ABC, Amazon said it regretted the move and the inconvenience to customers accustomed to visiting Amazon's global online stores. "We have had to assess the workability of the legislation as a global business with multiple international sites," a spokeswoman said.
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A plan to make migrants wait four years before accessing welfare benefits would affect 66,000 families. Tens of thousands of families would be hit by a proposal to make migrants wait four years before accessing a range of welfare benefits. Legislation already before parliament seeks to push the welfare waiting period for newly-arrived migrants from two to three years, in a measure expected to save $1.3 billion. The federal government is now proposing to stretch the wait times for migrants out to four years from July 1. The extra squeeze on migrants is expected to save an additional $200 million. The government predicts 66,000 migrant families will be forced to wait longer for tax benefits, and 47,000 people will be impacted by the freeze on access to Newstart, Youth Allowance and other payments. Social Services Department officials say the two cohorts are not mutually exclusive, with some migrant families tapping into other welfare payments. Department officer Shane Bennett played down concerns the proposal would prove a disincentive to migration. "There is evidence from the OECD that reflects access to social security systems is not necessarily high on the factors people consider," Mr Bennett told a Senate estimates hearing on Thursday. "There is also a Productivity Commission report from 2016 that shows non-humanitarian permanent migrants had effectively lower take-up rates of income support to the general population." Migrant and community groups have pushed back hard against moves to extend welfare wait times, fearing it could force some new arrivals into destitution and poverty. Exemptions will continue to apply for vulnerable groups and humanitarian entrants, while hardship provisions also will also remain in place. Source: https://www.sbs.com.au/news/longer-welfare-wait-times-for-migrants-would-affect-66-000-families
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Interesting article on th ABC about catchment area fraud for Brisbane State High school and the steps some parents take - buying investment properties in the area and pretending to live there. Brisbane State High School has become so pressured by rising enrolments it is employing an investigator to weed out families who are rorting the catchment system so their children can attend the school. The high school has just called on the Queensland Government to introduce a cap on enrolments to tackle overcrowding. School council chairman David Gillespie said rorting resulted in an extra 200 students attending per year. "The big problem is what I would call catchment fraud," Mr Gillespie said. "It's a combination of people lying about living in the catchment, which is part of it, and probably an even bigger problem is people who do live in the catchment on the day they enrol and they didn't live there the day before. "They have no intention of staying there any longer than they have to." West End resident Lainie Diacos said she had enrolled her daughter at the school. She said she had heard horror stories about the lengths some parents went to so their children could attend Brisbane State High, including buying investment properties in the area and pretending to live there. "The kids go there [to the properties] after school and turn taps on and run electricity so they look like they're living there," she said. Ms Diacos said the school already went to extensive lengths to prove prospective students lived in the catchment. "The hoops that we had to go through to prove that we were legitimate catchment dwellers was tough," she said. Mr Gillespie admitted the problem was serious enough to prompt the school to hire an investigator and liaise with police to stamp out fraudsters. He said it was not an ideal situation. "The end of that process is ripping a kid out of that school and no matter what you think of their parents and what they did to get them there, this is still a kid we're talking about," he said. He called on the State Government to cap enrolments. "Make sure that cap is generous, make sure it allows for everyone we know who lives in the catchment — and a lot more — but when that cap is hit you can't enrol in the catchment anymore." Full article at: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-05-30/brisbane-state-high-catchment-fraud-rort-locals/9817190
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It's a go on the Skips Unfortunately, there's a bit of a crisis on the Skampi Fries front ? https://www.derbytelegraph.co.uk/whats-on/food-drink/scampi-fries-disappear-from-pubs-1302117
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https://www.go-walkabout.co.uk/quote_oneway.php One way insurance of up to 3 or 6 months depending on tier chosen.
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A bit dissapointing - NBN boss dumps top speed of 100mbps for hundreds of thousands of fixed wireless customers http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-05-25/nbn-boss-dumps-top-speed-for-fixed-wireless-customers/9797772
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Hobart now Australia's most unaffordable city for tenants, new report finds Hobart has pipped Sydney to claim the unenviable title of Australia's most unaffordable capital for tenants with the gap widening between incomes and the amount needed for rent, a new report has found. The Rental Affordability Index (RAI) is an indicator of the price of rents nationwide relative to household incomes based on new rental agreements. The biannual study is published by National Shelter Community Sector Banking and SGS Economics and Planning. From being seen a budget alternative to the mainland cities, Hobart's unprecedented real estate sales boom combined with low incomes, a tourism burst and a surge in former rental properties being offered as short-term accommodation, has catapulted it to the top of the RAI. The latest report showed tenants in Hobart were spending 29 per cent of their wages on rent with Sydney renters close behind with 27 per cent, followed by Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Canberra and Perth. "Rents in Tasmania are now on par with the rest of Australia, however average Tasmanian households earn over $300 a week less than mainland households," SGS partner Ellen Witte said. "With over 8,000 low-income households already in housing stress, rental unaffordability is now rising up the income ladder, increasingly impacting average working families." The combination of rising rent and low income growth had created "unprecedented hardship" for those seeking affordable accommodation, Shelter Tas executive officer Pattie Chugg said. "Rental affordability in Tasmania has fallen to its lowest point since the index began in 2015," she said. People in Hobart earn on average $30,000 less per year than Sydney residents but the gap in the cost of rents between the cities has narrowed. Housing economist Andrew Wilson said it costs an average of $420 a week to rent in Hobart. "Sydney has been joined by Canberra as the most expensive capital city, asking rents for housing of $550 per week," he said. "Next highest is Darwin at $530 per week, Brisbane at $400, with Adelaide the second most affordable capital city, next to Perth at $375 per week. Source: http://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2018-05-23/hobart-beats-sydney-most-unaffordable-for-renters/9788300?pfmredir=sm
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Go Walkabout offer one way insurance - https://www.go-walkabout.co.uk/one_way_travel_insurance.php
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There are many good registered migration agents who post on the forum who I wouldn't hesitate to recommend. @Alan Collett https://www.gmvisas.com/ @wrussell http://www.pinoyau.com/ @Raul Senise http://www.ozimmigration.com @Richard Gregan http://www.overseas-emigration.co.uk/ All MARA registered, many years experience as agents, all have contributed on the forum for around a decade or more.
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Just moved to Australia and still want to watch your favourite sports team? Below we’ll run through the (legal) options available to you. Premier League The first and simplest (but limited) option to watch premier league games is on the free-to-air SBS channel. SBS shows ONE live Premier league game a week and also a weekly roundup on The World Game show on Monday nights. The games are available on SBS’s HD channel and as such, picture quality is very good. The games can also be viewed via the SBS World Game App on Android or iOS devices. A list of games they’ve shown this season can be found here. For more comprehensive coverage (every single Premier League game), then you will need access to Optus Sport. To do that, you will need an eligible Optus plan (mobile, tablet or broadband). Optus Sport is included with selected plans or can be added as an extra for $15 per month. Optus Sport is a streaming service so picture quality will depend on the speed of your connection. If you’re an Optus Broadband customer, you can choose a package which includes a Fetch TV set top box. (Full details about Fetch TV can be found at https://www.fetchtv.com.au/) Optus Sports channels are available through the STB and the box offers a simple way to view on your TV. For eligible Optus customers, Optus Sport is also available as an app for Android and iOS devices (including Generation 4 Apple TV’s). If you have a Google Chromecast connected to your TV, it’s also possible to cast from the Optus Sport App to the Chromecast. Speaking from personal experience, picture quality has always been excellent with no buffering. The App provides comprehensive coverage – all games, interviews, highlights shows, stats etc. Football League Football league games are available via beIN Sports. BeIN Sports is available to access via 3 different methods. If you have a Foxtel (Satellite TV similar to Sky) package, then beIN Sports Channels (1,2 & 3) can be added to your subscription (as part of the Foxtel Sports Pack) for $39 per month (HD channels) or $29 per month (SD channels). Choosing this option also gives you access to beIN Sports Connect (a streaming service available on computers and mobile devices). You can subscribe to beINSports Connect separately for $19.99 per month or $199.99 per year. N.B. Although beIN Sports is also available via Fetch TV, you only get access to beInSports Ch 1. Unfortunately, Football League games are shown on beINSports Ch 2. UEFA Champions League UEFA Champions League games are shown on beINSports Channel 1. See methods above for how to access beIN Sports ch 1. Scottish Football beIN Sports Channels 1 & 3 have LIVE games from the Scottish Premiership and Scottish Championship plus the SPFL Highlights Show every week. Spanish Football La Liga games are shown live on beIN Sports channel 2 & beIN Sports connect German Football Bundesliga games shown live on beIN Sports channels 1 & 3 & beIN Sports connect Italian Football SERIE A games are shown live on beIN Sports channels 1 & 3 & beIN Sports connect World Cup Optus Sports is showing all the World Cup games whilst SBS will simulcast games featuring the Socceroos. Other Football Major league soccer, Brazilian, Argentinian & Turkish league football is available on the beIN Sports channels. Rugby Union RBS 6 Nations Shown Live on the beINSports channels Aviva Premiership Shown on the beINSports channels European Rugby Champions Cup Shown on the beINSports channels European Rugby Challenge Cup Shown on the beINSports channels Rugby League English Super League games (Live & replays) are shown on the Foxtel ‘Fox League’ channel which is part of the sports pack. F-1 The free-to-air TV channel – Ch.10 will be showing abridged replay of the races (starting after the race’s conclusion). They will also be showing the Australian GP live. For complete coverage, Fox Sports will be broadcasting all races live on their Fox Sports 506 channel. The channel is available in SD and HD (if you subscribe to the HD channels) and also streaming via Foxtel Now. In addition to the actual race, Foxtel also shows every qualifying session and official practice sessions. Cricket Foxtel usually shows England Test Matches & Limited Overs games on their ‘Fox Sports More’ channel, which is available as part of the Fox ‘Sports Pack’ ($29 per month on top of the basic Foxtel or Foxtel Now Subscription cost. Note: Optus, beINSports & Foxtel all have streaming options available. With regards the Foxtel Now streaming service, I would recommend taking advantage of the 2 week free trial they offer. We have personally found the Foxtel streams to be of very low quality on both occasions we have trialled the service at separate addresses. Our internet connection speed wasn’t the issue as we had a high-speed Fibre to the premises (FTTP) connection. Optus has always provided a high quality stream, whilst we found beIN Sports connect to be satisfactory.- 3 comments
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Fantastic Autumn morning, around 12c at 07:00, not a cloud in the sky. Top of around 23 today. Favourite time of year.
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We secured a housesit for 5 weeks (the family were off touring round Europe),
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Australian Citizenship - Is it worth getting?
Cerberus1 replied to Saurer Pfirsich's topic in Citizenship
$20 for federal elections,. State elections differ, QLD is $126, not sure for other states. -
The Australian government will scrap its controversial changes to parent visa sponsorship rules. The climbdown follows weeks of backlash from migrant communities and will completely reverse the changes, less than a month after they were introduced by Social Services Minister Dan Tehan. Mr Tehan sent a letter to Greens senator Nick McKim on Wednesday, confirming the government would undo the regulation rather than face a narrow defeat on the floor of the upper house. Labor and a group of key crossbenchers had agreed to back a Greens disallowance motion to torpedo the change. The changes, which took effect in April, meant residents needed much higher salaries to bring their parents to Australia on a visa. An individual trying to sponsor their two parents would need to prove they earn an annual income of $86,607, up from $35,793 under the previous rules. The government will revert to the old rules and will “reassess” any migrants who applied since the April change. Mr Tehan plans to rewrite the legislative instrument before May 23, the letter confirms, and will “replicate the circumstances as they were prior to April 1”. “Any individual that has had an assessment under the new provisions will be reassessed,” Mr Tehan writes. The backflip represents a substantial departure from Mr Tehan’s previous argument. Last month, the minister said changes were needed to ensure migrant parents did not become a drain on the welfare system. “The Australian Government wants to ensure newly-arrived migrants have the financial capacity to support themselves, while also ensuring the social security system remains sustainable,” Mr Tehan said at the time. The change would have impacted thousands of migrants on Australia’s long waiting list for visas, who were yet to have their sponsors in Australia submit their proof-of-income documents to Centrelink. Discuss Parent Visas at https://www.pomsinoz.com/topic/50481-the-brand-new-pio-parents-visa-thread/
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No, it's been reported on SBS - https://www.sbs.com.au/news/exclusive-coalition-backflips-on-parent-visa-crackdown
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Letton Percival insure for moves in both directions (UK->Aus, Aus->UK)
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Sunset this evening
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https://www.pomsinoz.com/settings/signature/
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A new report has singled out Tasmania as one of two regions in the country where soaring tourism has led to a "rapid decline" in affordable rental properties. The 2018 Anglicare Rental Affordability Snapshot, released today, singled out Tasmania's tourism boom and expansion of holiday rental provider Airbnb in Hobart as key contributors to a housing shortage. The authors said a record 1.3 million tourists to the state in 2017 created "unprecedented" demand for accommodation, resulting in Airbnb listings jumping from 2,874 to 4,459 in the 12 months to February 2018. Three quarters of those listings are full homes and 61 per cent are in Tasmania's south. Anglicare concluded this growth, alongside rising housing prices, have taken rental affordability "from bad to worse". The snapshot of 1,285 Tasmanian properties is taken from websites and the three major newspapers on one weekend in March. Properties are deemed affordable if the weekly rent is less than 30 per cent of household income. Of those properties, less than half were considered affordable for Tasmanians on a minimum wage. Only 21 per cent of properties were affordable for households on income support payments. Anglicare social action and research manager, Meg Webb, told ABC Radio Hobart there were a combination of factors at play. "Let's talk about it as two things, because one of the things we notice with this snapshot each year over the last five years is that the number of properties advertised is dropping, and the second part is what proportion of that pool is affordable," she said. None of the properties in the sample were affordable for a young person on Newstart, which has been the case in consecutive reports. The authors note Tasmania's wages remain the lowest in the country, potentially inhibiting the ability of people to access housing. "While the state's housing market and cost-of-living pressures surge, Tasmanian wages continue to be the lowest in the nation," the report said. "If wage growth continuously fails to keep up with property prices and living costs, Tasmanians will continue to be locked out of their own housing market." These results come off the back of Commsec's State of the State report, which revealed Tasmania has recorded the strongest population growth in the country. Tasmania ranked fourth overall in economic performance — finishing behind New South Wales, Victoria and the ACT. Commsec senior economist Ryan Felsman told ABC Radio Hobart the economic data supports the idea of a tightening housing market. "Certainly, if you look at house price growth in Hobart at the moment it leads the nation at 13 per cent on an annualised basis, and at the same time, rents are up by 3.7 per cent," he said.
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If you're moving to Australia and haven't decided where to want to live yet, it may be worthwhile keeping an eye on CommSec's 'State of the States' reports. The quarterly report attempts to find out how Australia’s states and territories performing by analysing eight key indicators: economic growth retail spending equipment investment unemployment construction work done population growth housing finance dwelling commencements. Just as the Reserve Bank uses long-term averages to determine the level of “normal” interest rates; CommSec do the same with the economic indicators. For each state and territory, latest readings for the key indicators were compared with decade averages – that is, against the “normal” performance. The latest State of the States report also includes a section comparing annual growth rates for the eight key indicators across the states and territories as well as Australia as a whole. This enables another point of comparison – in terms of economic momentum. FIRST - New South Wales SECOND - Victoria THIRD - Australian Capital Territory FOURTH - Tasmania FIFTH - South Australia SIXTH - Queensland SEVENTH - Northern Territory EIGHTH - Western Australia NSW has retained top rankings on five of the eight economic indicators: retail trade, dwelling starts, equipment investment, construction work and unemployment. NSW is in third spot on economic growth, population growth and housing finance. Victoria is second on the economic performance rankings for five of the eight indicators and in third spot on the other three indicators. The biggest improvement has been the job market with unemployment now almost 3% below the decade average. The ACT has held on to third spot on the rankings. The ACT is top-ranked on housing finance, in second spot on the job market and in third position on dwelling starts and retail trade. Tasmania has held fourth position on the economic performance rankings and it can be broadly grouped with the ACT. Tasmania is top-ranked on relative population growth and is second placed on equipment investment. Population growth is the strongest in 7 years. South Australia remains in fifth position on the performance rankings and it can be broadly grouped with Queensland. South Australia is ranked fourth on dwelling starts and fifth on three other indictors. Construction work done is at record highs. Queensland remains in sixth position on the performance rankings. But annual employment growth is the fastest in the nation. Population growth is at 4-year highs. And the annual total of export receipts is up more than 26% over the year. The Northern Territory retains its seventh position on the economic performance rankings and can be broadly grouped with Western Australia. The NT is top ranked on economic growth and second-ranked on construction work done. But it lags all other states and territories on five of the indicators. The good news is that exports are growing strongly, up 22% on a year ago. Western Australia is seventh on five indicators and lags other economies on the other three indicators. But equipment spending and exports are posting firm annual growth.
