Paul1Perth

The car industry is heavily subsidised everywhere that has one. Aus just has to decide whether it wants a car industry and wear the subsidies, like the other countries do. It's up to Ford and Holden whether they invest in the plant to make it more efficient. The technology to do that has been around for years.

If you can think of a place where skills are better rewarded than Aus at the moment flag, let me know. I certainly can't think of anywhere, maybe the middle East but who would want to live there when you can FIFO week on week off, to Port Hedland out of Perth. Housing is over inflated everywhere jobs are available.

I'm sure not all workers would be 457 visa holders. The right thing to do would have been to get rid of the 457's, keep the apprentices on and put them with the Aussie workforce that are left. They wouldn't be costing the company much what with subsidies for training them and there are a lot of jobs in that type of work where an apprentice can be just about as productive as a fully qualified worker. Companies don't care about the right thing to do though do they. They are just worried about their shareholders, profits and whether Don Veolte and the rest of the management team will get their bonuses.

My Mum suffers from Mental Illness and has all her life. When we were growing up she had a few "nervous breakdowns" where they had to take her away, basically knock her out with whatever drugs they used at the time and wait for a couple of weeks to see how she pulled up. A lot of the time, after a couple of weeks almost solid sleep, due to the drugs, she would be back almost normal. Usually she couldn't remember the last couple of weeks, sometimes more, before the Health Service had done something about it. To get admitted she had to be really bad and just about uncontrollable. I've seen her in a padded cell, in a straight jacket, she's had electro convulsive therapy and a plethora of different drugs, some of which she didn't react to very well at all. About 30 years ago they found out that lithium is an emotional stabiliser and she has been on lithium treatment ever since. She has to have regular blood tests to monitor how much is in her system as it's a poison. She got very sick at one time and nearly died, due to missing a blood test when the NHS couldn't fit her in over Christmas. Over the years the acceptance of, treatment and follow up of mental illness has increased immensely. We just didn't talk about it very much when we were younger and chose not to mention it to friends, even though a lot offered to help. It's just so hard to understand that someone they felt they could probably help was so far out of it they were a different person, almost like a wild animal and unpredictable. I don't think I've ever known more help, talk, awareness opportunity for treatment and early intervention than is available now. I hope it's the same in the UK as here. I really believe that the numbers reflect how many people are now willing to come forward and talk about there problems, due to organisations like beyond blue. Openly advertising on TV, posters to get help if you need it. Has to raise awareness and numbers coming forward. I had a 3 or 4 friends commit suicide when I was young too. As usual no-one saw it coming in any of them. Actually one did have a real rough trot when his marriage split up, he lost his house and just about everything else during the miners strike. Hung himself. Still came as a shock though. I think there is a case for over diagnosis though. Young people can almost get into a state where they are talking about it too much and persuading themselves they must have it. With the internet and self diagnosis on just about everything rife, the slightest bit of extra pressure, exams, bullying, realtionship issues and I don't think people cope as well as they used to.

Are they staying with you for 5 months? That's a long time. We limited our parents to a month after both sets seemed to assume we would happily put them up for 3 months at a time. It's a recipe for strain on marriages and relationships.

Also heard from a friend of mine, who was working on the Fiona Stanley IT project, that British Telecom who won the contract, were bringing in Indian workers on 457 visas and not making much of an effort to look for local people.

Just heard on the radio a guy ringing in about his son who got made redundant from his apprenticeship at west trac today. All while 457 visa holders were kept on. Just plain wrong.

No still there mate. Good beer, nice atmosphere, nice old building. Love it on the balcony upstairs. Live music too later on.

You say that as if it's a bad thing, going to Hillary's 50 times. How many times would you go to your local back home? I used to go just about every day of the week and still enjoyed it.

Great that the company in question had a decent HR department but you can see how employers want to manipulate the system.

He asked 2 and got the same reply from 2. He felt that he dearn't ask after that as the response was pretty hostile. If we are going to try and extrapolate that's 100%. Sure the politicians, press and media put out the view that all of India was disgusted. They should have been, especially about the poor girl that got killed in the van. The rape case with the tourist happened a few weeks after though, so some were still thinking the tourist lady was fair game. it was the final straw for my friends wife who is tall and blond and said she just wouldn't have felt safe. After my friend got back he was glad she hadn't bothered as some of the places he went to he admitted that she probably wouldn't have been safe. Even with him around.

Captivated Australia did it. First time I heard about it today on the news. Press love a big headline. Just watched the video. Good call by the judge I reckon.

It's quite a way out of Sydney, probably too far for your average holiday maker to be bothered, unless they have kids who are keen. Are they going to run buses and trips out there? Personally I like the wet and wild theme parks. Once set up they don't cost as much to maintain as the ones with crazy rides on, like the ones near the Gold Coast. We made the effort to visit the ones on the Gold Coast when we were there but they have 3 or 4 close together and you can get decent prices when you book from interstate. I hope it succeeds, plenty of people live out that way who may make it viable. Be a change from having to make a long trip to get to a beach.

Try RAC. They were by far the cheapest when I insured my car recently. That was including the on-line ones like youi too. They actually had people who knew what you were talking about, asked me questions about how often other people, like my 24 year old son, would be driving my car and came back with a very good price. I had insured with youi for a month to get covered quickly and they had someone on the end of the phone who was obviously going through a checklist she was reading from. Didn't sound like she knew anything about the business or insurance really. When I rang to cancel the contract after a month they offered me a cheaper price!! They could have done that in the first place. Still wasn't as cheap as RAC and you can pay a little bit extra and get the roadside coverage. That would be well worth having for an older couple travelling.

We (or the government) just have to play the game docboat.

A friend of mine went to India last year. I lent him the book Inhaling the Mahatma and he said it was great as he visited lots of places that were mentioned in the book, including having a dip in the Gangees at about the same place as the guy who wrote the book. He was supposed to be going with his wife but she refused to go at the last minute as the rape case with the tourist had just happened and the other one where the girl was killed on the bus, was just going to court. He went with his son. During the trip he thought he would bring up the rape cases with a couple of people to see what they thought. The official word coming from the government and the press was that the country was outraged and the perpetrators would be brought to justice. When he mentioned it to a taxi driver and a guy in a restaurant he was surprised to hear that they thought the women, in both cases was to blame and got quite worked up when he showed he was disgusted by it. Thought it best not to mention it again as it was just as upsetting to him to get the feedback he got.

Even better that we have no relations here so we don't have to rush off the beach on a perfect day with thoughts of having to take the kids to grannies. I love just being able to do our own thing as a family when we want to do it. call me selfish but it's so relaxing and fun.

Think I saw the same program and thought thank god I don't have to live there any more. Good job we're not all the same PQ.

While you're in Singapore there is a nice pool and bar and sitting area outside on the roof of the airport. We had an 11 hour stopover in Singapore recently and the airline got us a room in the airport hotel. Might be worth asking if you can get the same.

They are being unreasonable and selfish. They are thinking of themselves, nothing more. What di dyou have to do with them having a rough childhood? They are just putting you on a guilt trip hoping you will change your mind. You only live once and if you don't take the opportunity now it might never come again. My wife was worried about telling her parents but they were very supportive and said it's the best thing you can do. Her Dad had an opportunity to move to Canada and they lived there for a few years so he knew that there were other options than the UK. Hope they come around, stick to your guns don't give in as you'll regret it for the rest of your life.

If the UK had spied an it's citizens a bit better and done something about it, a certain soldier might still be alive today instead of getting hacked to death in the street. What's to say that the release of this story will not lead to another bombing in Bali or 2? They need to think a bit more before they print.

I don't think they realise what the ramifications will be. That's a lot of the trouble, they put a story out there and don't seem to worry about ramifications.

Are there more Indian migrants in US than the UK? Boy they must be overrun.

Spain and the UK had home grown terrorists.

Because they also have some of the poorest people on the planet and they don't have a safety net like Western countries. Bit like China.