Cerberus1

Housing investments, not flashy infrastructure projects, are needed if Australia is to successfully manage a migration program supercharged by international students, according to experts. The call follows news last week that Australia has taken in 525,000 international students this year, a 12% increase compared to last year, itself a record. Glen Searle, honorary associate professor in planning at Sydney University, said the Federal Government's response to immigration so far has been "totally inadequate" and it now has a "moral responsibility" to deliver investment required by Australia's immigration program. In the case of international students, he argues that means more affordable housing. "There's been quite a build-up of student accommodation, but it's nowhere near enough," he said. "Universities, perhaps with some Federal Government funding, should be directing some of their fees into providing their own accommodation." Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data released this week revealed how the highest concentrations of Australia's newest migrants can be found around university campuses and the inner suburbs in Melbourne and Sydney. Only Melbourne and Parramatta centres attracted more migrants in 2016-17 than the suburb of Clayton in south-east Melbourne, site of Monash University. Mayor of Monash Council, Paul Klisaris, said he didn't want international students to be made "scapegoats" for Australians' frustrations with congestion and the cost of living. But he said there had been major impacts for his council area "as a result of this mass movement". International students driving migration Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said the rise in foreign students has been the biggest driving factor of immigration growth. "There are around 200,000 more foreign students in Australia today than there were a few years ago," he said earlier this month. "That is the single biggest driving factor (of immigration growth). "So if you feel there are more foreigners on the tram and you can't get a seat on the tram, that is because of that, if that's your perception." The new ABS figures are the first to provide local migration breakdowns, providing an insight into how fast some neighbourhoods are changing. Liz Allen, a demographer at the ANU Centre for Social Research & Methods, said infrastructure development had not kept pace with the migration program in the past 20 years, and the blame fell on politicians. "I would be strongly urging people to be considered when they look at these figures," she said, "and not blame migrants, but rather hold politicians to account". A spokesperson for Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack, who has responsibility for population issues, said the Federal Government was working with its state counterparts to address competing challenges prompted by population growth. "Future population growth, busting congestion and investing in projects to ensure people can get to home, university and work and back again sooner and safer is a key focus of the Government," they said. Source: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-04-27/international-students-infrastructure-migration-housing/9693256?section=politics

After years in the doldrums, Queensland's economic tide has finally turned as more people flee high interstate property prices, the latest Deloitte Access Economics quarterly business outlook has concluded. The report noted that in the past year Queensland had overtaken Victoria as the state receiving the highest number of interstate migrants. "The rate of population growth is still faster in Victoria than Queensland, but the trends have turned," Deloitte partner Chris Richardson said. "Sydney house prices are begging people to sell up and move to Brisbane." The number of overseas migrants also has risen, but the report found the Queensland economy was "still running well below full speed". It concluded "many of the interstate migrants to Queensland may be mainly fleeing the mind-blowing cost of housing in Sydney — that is, the key is the push factors rather than the pull factors". LNG projects boosting export income Exports had risen thanks to new LNG capacity that, while it lagged, was still an "800-pound gorilla", Mr Richardson said. "Finally, the big spend on building these mega gas projects is turning into export earnings." The report found Queensland was through the worst of the economic slowdown with a "surging" jobs market that had created nearly 130,000 net new jobs in the past year alone. "The bottom line? There's good job growth, but the economy needs a lot more of it, because to date it hasn't put much of a dent in unemployment," the report said. The report also found retail spending was "pitifully weak" but on the improve, while the Brisbane housing market remained soft. The winding down of $66 billion in LNG construction developments was now "safely in the rear-view mirror" with new works projected on Adani's proposed Carmichael coal mine, as well as the Brisbane Cross River Rail scheme. "All up, there are $28 billion worth of projects under construction in Queensland," the report said. Acting Queensland Treasurer Steven Miles said he was not surprised by the report's buoyant predictions. "This report projects that Queensland will be at the top of the growth rate in gross state product as well as the upper end of the population growth rate," he said. "I think people in other states are seeing that Queensland is a great place to live, that there are jobs being created here and people are moving here for that reason." Queensland's Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCIQ) said that while the headline was positive, there were still several key imposts holding small and medium businesses back. "High energy prices, payroll tax and of course punitive levies which we've seen in the last four months," CCIQ spokesman Dan Petrie said. He said it was crucial for regional and rural Queenslanders to have more support for continued economic growth. "Regional Queensland needs to come up … to have a robust Queensland economy. "Without the regions there's no point even having a good discussion about Queensland."

Hi Ben. There are many good registered migration agents who post on the forum who I wouldn't hesitate to recommend. @Richard Gregan http://www.overseas-emigration.co.uk/ @Alan Collett https://www.gmvisas.com/ @wrussell http://www.pinoyau.com/ @Raul Senise http://www.ozimmigration.com All MARA registered, many years experience as agents, all have contributed on the forum for around a decade or more.

As previously mentioned, if it were me, I'd be questioning the lack of available company information, especially if I was going to be handing over thousands of pounds potentially.

I did read this on our sister site: https://www.perthpoms.com/topic/17466-lets-go-global/?do=findComment&comment=136653

Never heard on 'Lets Go' or seen them mentioned on the forum before. Looking at the website it seems hard to work out who they are / where they are? Couldn't see a business/company registration number anywhere, no contact address, the domain registation details are hidden etc. Says "We work with a select number of MARA Consultants in Australia matching the right agents & lawyers to your unique circumstances on a case by case basis. We don not work with any affiliated third parties" but doesn't tell you which agents they use etc (Alexander James is presumably not the MARA agent as there doesn't appear to a MARA registered agent by that name - https://www.mara.gov.au/search-the-register-of-migration-agents/?location=&keyword=)

The Australian government will create a new visa to compete with other countries for “high-tech skills and talent”, with companies allowed to sponsor migrants for jobs paid more than $180,000. There will also be a new visa for start-up companies seeking talent in STEM fields like biomedicine and agricultural technology. Both visas will require the migrant to have three years of relevant experience, while the sponsor companies will need to demonstrate they tried to hire Australians first. “The Government recognises there is fierce competition globally for high-tech skills and talent, and that attracting these people helps to transfer skills to Australian workers and grow Australian-based businesses,” a Turnbull government media release reads. There will not be a cap on the overall number of visas, but individual companies will have a limit on how many migrants they can employ. Businesses will be able to take up to 20 skilled migrants under the new stream per year, while start-ups will be able to take up to five. The visas for jobs paid more than $180,000 will only be available to businesses with a turnover of more than $4 million. The start-up visas will be available to any that is authorised by an industry body, yet to be chosen by the government. The migrants will have the option of a "transitional pathway" to permanent residence after three years in the country. The details of the scheme will be ironed out over the next few months before a 12-month pilot begins on July 1. The need for visa changes to attract high-value employees from overseas has been the “number one priority” in the emerging startup sector, according to an industry group. StartupAUS chief executive Alex McCauley said the government’s changes to 457 temporary work visas last year, which restricted the list of occupations and cut off the path to permanent residency for many jobs, had made it harder for start-ups to compete. “The single biggest challenge for Australian start-ups is getting access to the best talent in the world,” “It got more difficult when the 457 visa announcements were made last year and start-ups in this country are really crying out for a way to get access to talent.” “Everybody’s looking to hire product managers, software engineers, digital growth specialists, data scientists.”

Chinese state media has issued a "red alert" advising students not to enrol in Australian universities after a series of public accusations that Canberra was delaying visas for politically motivated reasons. Many Chinese students and scholars have said that their Australian visa applications have been taking "oddly long" since 2015, with most of those affected from an engineering or technology background. "Australia thinks we are academic spies, or that there is some kind of grand conspiracy behind us," one student said. "Isn't that ridiculous? We just want to go there to study. It's not that complicated at all." Earlier this month, the China Scholarship Council under the Chinese Education Ministry also alerted students that "in order to avoid unnecessary losses caused by Australian visa applications, we'd like to remind students going to Australia to make plans in advance". "Research Australian visa policies, and carefully choose the country and institution you want to study in," it added. The accusation of delays in processing visa applications follows an increase in tensions between the two nations. Last October, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop issued a blunt warning to Chinese university students affiliated with the Communist Party, urging them to respect freedom of speech in Australia. China also reacted furiously to proposed foreign interference laws, accusing the Australian Government of making "irresponsible" comments which have hurt "political mutual trust", after Australia unveiled the biggest overhaul of espionage and intelligence laws in decades amid growing concerns over international interference in Australia. The Global Times, a state-owned Chinese newspaper, recently blamed the "anti-China rhetoric" in Australia for the prolonged visa processing time for Chinese students. The newspaper also told students "do not go to Australia" for the time being: "It's not worth it to let the narrow-minded Australian Government sabotage your future!" Source: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-03-22/chinese-students-angered-by-visa-processing-delays/9574838?section=politics

Hi James There are many good registered migration agents who post on the forum who I wouldn't hesitate to recommend. @Richard Gregan http://www.overseas-emigration.co.uk/ (Australia & New Zealand) @Alan Collett https://www.gmvisas.com/ (Australia) @wrussell http://www.pinoyau.com/ (Australia) @Raul Senise http://www.ozimmigration.com (Australia)

Mercer has just released the Quality of Living City rankings for 2018. Mercer is a leading provider of data on quality of living for employees sent to work abroad. Ongoing research on the practicalities of daily life for these expatriate employees and their families forms the basis of their annual ranking of the quality of living in many prevalent assignment locations. Melbourne and Sydney have held onto their top 20 positions in Mercer’s annual Quality of Living ranking 10th and 16th respectively. Mercer evaluates local living conditions in more than 450 cities surveyed worldwide. Living conditions are analysed according to 39 factors, grouped in 10 categories: Political and social environment (political stability, crime, law enforcement, etc.). Economic environment (currency exchange regulations, banking services). Socio-cultural environment (media availability and censorship, limitations on personal freedom). Medical and health considerations (medical supplies and services, infectious diseases, sewage, waste disposal, air pollution, etc.). Schools and education (standards and availability of international schools). Public services and transportation (electricity, water, public transportation, traffic congestion, etc.). Recreation (restaurants, theatres, cinemas, sports and leisure, etc.). Consumer goods (availability of food/daily consumption items, cars, etc.). Housing (rental housing, household appliances, furniture, maintenance services). Natural environment (climate, record of natural disasters). The scores attributed to each factor, which are weighted to reflect their importance to expatriates, permit objective city-to-city comparisons. The result is a Quality of Living index that compares relative differences between any two locations evaluated. 2018 CITY RANKINGS Other cities outside the top 25 29 Adelaide 30 Canberra 37 Brisbane 41 London 46 Edinburgh 50 Birmingham

lol, Brilliant, more comedy gold from the Chuckle brothers. "WTF, the UK not top, BS aint it mate" Well, no, it's a 170 page highly detailed annual report by the United Nations, who, (and I realise I'm going out on a limb here) probably have no interest in rigging the UK Australia positions. and then, rather brilliantly, lets run with: 'interesting the top countries are cool' (lets put to one side the fact that if the results were a sliding scale based on climate, that would position the UK on the equator) "the top countries are cool, we're cool - bob's your uncle" except, and I really don't want to be the harbinger of bad news boys, the six determing factors are: levels of GDP life expectancy generosity social support freedom corruption I'm afraid the weather doesn't come into it. lol

No, not heard of anyone else with issues. Just tested in Firefox, no problem

Took a short drive out today up to Lake Cressbrook and Ravensbourne Only about 50km, nice drive out. Normally take the good roads when we go up that way but took a 4wd track today. Some snaps below. Lake Cressbrook Lookout at Ravensbourne The Drive up Tagging along for the ride ' Lake Perseverance

+1 We went to Singapore twice while we lived in Cairns. I thought Cairns was humid but Singapore is something else

The Sustainable Development Solutions Network for the United Nations has just released 'The World Happiness Report 2018', which ranks 156 countries by their happiness levels, and 117 countries by the happiness of their immigrants. The annual report weights in at 172 pages and can be viewed here - https://s3.amazonaws.com/happiness-report/2018/WHR_web.pdf As well as looking at the overall happiness of a countries population, it also looks at happiness of the immigrant population.

Similar to above, we got a rental without having jobs when we arrived, just showed them bank statements showing we had sufficient funds.

Looking good for the week ahead

Points remianed the same for the latest invitation round (21st Feb) Minimum of 80 points for the 489 and 780 points for the 189.

New guidelines suggest it's not a good idea to use a bug spray as a mini flamethrower to kill cockroaches http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-03-08/insect-spray-flame-thrower-causes-explosion-in-mt-isa-kitchen/9526452

Australia and New Zealand Top the List of Dream Destinations for UK Migrants in New Survey Given the choice, Brits are most likely to choose Australia or New Zealand as the destination where they would like to start a new life, results of a new survey show. The two commonwealth countries were jointly voted as the dream countries to migrate to in the PSS National UK Emigration Survey conducted by PSS International Removals. Unsurprisingly, English-speaking countries dominated the top five, with Canada taking third place and the USA bagging the fifth spot despite recent controversies. Thanks to its appealing climate and accessibility from the UK, Spain was deemed fourth in spite of the language barrier. European countries continued to make up the rest of the top ten with France, Italy, Cyprus, Portugal, and Greece all earning a significant portion of votes. When commenting on why they would be tempted to emigrate, better weather and lifestyle were common themes among the participants. Liam Witham, Managing Director of PSS International Removals, said, “It was not a big surprise to see Australia and New Zealand at the top of the list but we were surprised to see a draw. We help thousands of families relocate and in recent years the relaxed, family friendly culture that’s found Down Under has really appealed. The lifestyle of these two countries is exactly what families are seeking in the 21st century. “It was also interesting to see how the aspirations revealed in the survey differ from economic reality. For example, Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates are two of the most popular destinations for UK international removals thanks to the booming economies but neither rated highly.” Economic opportunities in Asia and the Middle East have seen a growing number of Brits move to these regions in recent years. However, they’re not the first places that spring to mind when families are considering the locations they would most like to set up home. China and Hong Kong were named 24th in the survey, while the United Arab Emirates placed at 53rd. Liam Witham added, “Although it’s becoming slightly more difficult, there are still many opportunities for British people to start a new life overseas. Australia, New Zealand, and Canada are still keen to recruit British people in many skilled professions. Also, for the immediate future, there is still no barrier to Europe, so Spain, France, Portugal, and other Mediterranean countries are all attainable for everyone. “Over the next few years, it will be interesting to see how the impacts of Brexit influence the results of the PSS National UK Emigration Survey.” The latest edition of the report was built on over 1,000 responses gained from adults living across the UK through social media platforms. Correlating the information, PSS International Removals was able to identify the top dream destinations for Brits moving abroad. To find out more about the survey and see the full top 25 league table visit https://www.pssremovals.com/national-emigration-survey-2018. About PSS International is an independent, UK family run business that has over 36 years of experience specialising in helping people move from the UK to countries across the world. Last year PSS International undertook over 7,000 international household removals, making it one of the UK’s leading global removal companies.

I do like the lace monitors. When we used to live in Cairns we'd often see one on the tree at the side of the house.

Hi Annie You can look up the cost of medication at http://www.pbs.gov.au/pbs/home (top right - PBS Medicine Search) @Richard Gregan (https://www.overseas-emigration.co.uk/) wrote an article for us at: It's worthwhile having a read.

Haven't heard of haskew law. @Alan Collett (GoMatilda) has been a member on here since 2006. Many members past and present have used GoMatilda. @Richard Gregan (https://www.overseas-emigration.co.uk/) is also UK based, again, a member on here for over a decade. Both MARA registered, both well respected on the forum.

Pretty certain they're Alexandra Palms