Skani

Not concerned about the expats but totally agree about the humidity. For some of us it would be the second worst option in Oz - after the N.T.

I've known people with Agas in Australia - Tasmania though, not Cairns.

My grandfather loved it: he had hordes of old ladies (residents) doting on him and he thought it was wonderful.

I don't think that will wash in Australia. Wills can be contested and I doubt a court would find this a justifiable reason.

The tax rates for 2023/24 are here: Tax rates – Australian resident | Australian Taxation Office (ato.gov.au) There is an annual tax free threshold of $18,000 but the tax rates above do not include the Medicare levy of 2%. Employers generally withhold an amount from pay-as-you-go wages which includes the Medicare levy and an adjustment - refund or extra payment - will be made once her tax return has been assessed by the Australian Tax Office at the end of the financial year.

Three Registered Migration Agents answered your thread of 26th September. Choose one of those. Their posts all have links to their websites which will give you further information.

No, it's 5 years from the date the visa was granted - as explained in your previous thread of 26th September.

No, it's not normal in cooler areas either. Although Tasmania has introduced hot school lunches in a few schools in low socioeconomic areas in the hope of improving health and educational outcomes. These are schools where students would often turn up without lunch - or breakfast either. It's a trial at that moment so it remains to be seen if it will be extended. I should clarify that I used the term canteen in my previous post in the sense of tuckshop as IV did above - not the sort which provides cooked meals.

The norm in Australia is that children take a packed lunch to school and eat in the playground or under cover if the weather is poor. But there are always seats/benches provided. Some schools have canteens which sell food at least some days a week. I did all my schooling in Australia and never once was the ground the only option for seating.

It was a vote on a single proposition, not a personality or general policy. It has no relevance to a general election where you are voting for someone to legislate on a multitude of topics over several years. A significant proportion of the electorate were intending to vote contrary to their general voting pattern on this single issue. The last published survey I saw had 33% of Green voters choosing No and 28% of Liberal voters choosing Yes. Even a (smaller) percentage of One Nation or National voters intended to vote Yes.

Love the bright spark who was peeved that the top of a 4,000+ ft. mountain might be a bit chilly...and thought the "parks department" should do something about the "fog" - otherwise known as low cloud.

I was the same when living in Sydney. March average rainfall there is higher than January or February, so although it may technically be a degree cooler, the humidity could raise the apparent temperature.

It has a "Very High" rating in summer but less than the "Extreme" of other states. One advantage though is the (average) cooler temperatures means it is more comfortable wearing a long sleeved/legged cover for sun protection than in hotter locations.

It's certainly true that heat puts an extra strain on your body and carrying extra pounds will exacerbate it. But there's more to it than that. I suspect that there's a genetic component. We moved to Tasmania because my English mother couldn't stand the heat and humidity of northern NSW - not even Queensland. She was quite young and certainly not overweight. Now I watch my teenage grandsons in hot weather - one absolutely loves it and thrives, like his father...the other wilts like a soggy lettuce leaf at anything over 25C - like his mother (and me).

Latvia is closer to Moscow than Ukraine and is already a member of Nato. Estonia and Finland are both within spitting distance of St. Petersburg and are both NATO members. What he has achieved is to strengthen NATO because previous non members have now either applied to join (Sweden) or have sought to increase their defence links to NATO (Switzerland). Putin is patently the aggressor here. Ukraine's minding its own business and Putin's "special military opposition" invades a foreign sovereign country. That's aggression. Putin has made it clear that he deeply resents the break up of the old Soviet Union and has a messianic/megalomanic zeal to reconstitute it. He started with the Crimea in 2014 and was emboldened by the lack of push back from outside Ukraine at that time. In hindsight that was probably an error which could have averted the greater disaster now happening. The other post Soviet countries have no doubt he would try it on with them if he succeeds in Ukraine.

Tried to comprehensively destroy the democratic process in his own country. He didn't need to go outside his own borders to create mayhem.

There's something fundamentally flawed in the US. Why can't a population of 360 million produce someone younger and more competent who would appeal to the voters than these two fumbling geriatrics? Personally I'm suspicious of that canned "cheese" they have. Don't know what they put in it but I suspect it causes brain damage.

You've missed another category - those with long covid who haven't recovered from it. That's why there are clinics established specifically for patients suffering from long covid. As well as the personal and economic distress (affecting employment) for the individuals concerned, there is wider impact on the economy. At the last report I saw (earlier this year) it was estimated to be costing Australia at least $5.7 billion a year. Not necessarily. I haven't had it and blood tests reveal no exposure to it at all (so far - fingers crossed).

Weekly Covid figures for Australia are published each Friday. Australia's weekly reported deaths last Friday (1 September) were 74: S.A. - 25, Victoria - 20, NSW - 15, Queensland - 7, WA - 3, ACT - 3, NT - 1. I don't know how current or reliable the WHO figures are but the US Centre for Disease Control reports weekly Covid deaths in the US. There were 641 deaths in the week to 12 August so obviously 'a lot of people are still dying from covid'.

Not awkward at all for any female who (a) is shocked by an unexpected groping (b) ditto from a very senior public official who is also your employer (c) ditto ditto on a very public stage next to your royal family and in front of millions of TV viewers (d) has been conditioned as part of her gender from an early age to play "nice" and smile in public in front of males with power. "Grin and bear it" was probably the only reaction in the circumstances.

We're obviously more advanced - individual shower cubicles with modern things called doors in the Female change rooms of our local Aquatic Centre. Assume the same in the Male change rooms across the way - but have never wandered in to check.

The Australian Maritime College is the national centre for maritime training and research. It is based in Launceston and is administered by the University of Tasmania. Australian Maritime College | University of Tasmania (amc.edu.au)

Finally got it in 3! Already had 3 of the letters but in the wrong place. Couldn't for the life of me solve it this morning but just back from town, sat down with a cuppa and it jumped out at me.

That reminds me of an obituary which I've always remembered in the local Hobart paper: "There was never a problem which couldn't be solved by a trip to Bunnings".

It wasn't "a misjudged peck on the cheek" - it was a very deliberate assault on the mouth. Mixed changing rooms? I've never seen a mixed changing room. Are they a UK thing?