robfromdublin

I was quite factual with mine and did not go into any of the lovey dovey stuff. I addressed the emotional support by talking about how we helped each other through bereavement or times of stress, not so much love letters

I wouldn't bother, it isn't really a change of relationship status from their perspective. It's a little bit of a different story when you get married but really they put more focus on joint finances, living together, etc., etc. A joint bank account is much more important than an engagement ring in their eyes.

Just check the Ts&Cs if taking that approach. I just checked there and my CBA card does not cover the important things for those 80 or over (e.g. medical).

I think everything has been mentioned but to summarise the main differences in laws are: * if you are turning left on green, beware pedestrians who also have a green light and have right of way [big difference to UK] * you can't park against the flow of traffic * you can turn left on red only if the sign is there * you can do a U-turn only if the sign is there * undertaking is legal * big trucks can use the inside lane Other than that it's just behavioural/cultural differences

Peer to peer lending maybe? I'm not clear on how risk-free it is but basically you'll only get a higher return for increased risk.

Was it a permanent visa and do you have an option for a resident return visa? Have you spoken to a MARA agent?

I would have thought there's a double taxation arrangement so you wouldn't pay tax in UK? Also, if all the income remains domiciled in UK, would the ATO have any way of knowing it was there?

Scary stuff. Someone capable of that could go on to do even worse things. Hopefully he gets a very long sentence. That poor girl, I hope she can recover from such an ordeal.

He was a Junior Doctor. I'm sure the nurses just did his job for him!

Lifestyle is very subjective as I'm sure you've seen from reading around this site. Ultimately, friends and family are a very strong drawcard, especially for mothers of young children. Your relationships will have changed in the last 14 years, so don't expect it to be the same as when you left. I think you'll find the 4yo will be totally fine. He is certainly young enough for it not to be a drama. What does your husband think? What are your prospects for work and accommodation? Will your income support the lifestyle you want? Those are the big questions to ask.

I've done it twice and had no issues. Just as in the UK you need to make sure you're not buying a lemon, but the majority of people are trustworthy. Make sure the safety certificate is ok. Some people will wait until there's an offer agreed before going through with the safety cert. It just means they don't have to do it twice if they take 2 months to sell. I've done that and it's fine.

You should also be aware that QR expect it to take 2 years to clear the backlog and train up more drivers. Apparently someone forgot that a trainee driver needs a co-driver to sit with them for a period of time. The extra co-driver was not factored into the headcount when deciding how many extra drivers were needed to expand the service. Genius!

Not sure you can opt out? We pay the rego, then also take out comprehensive insurance. That is how it is done I believe. The insurance company price will assume that you already have compulsory third party (rego) in place so there is no need to opt-out of CTP. Maybe the opt-out is for cars that are not driveable? If buying privately, you can specify the price to be a little lower to reduce your stamp duty. Don't go crazy but everyone does it (e.g. declare $10k when you've actually paid $14k).

No idea what would give you that impression!

London

The Australian, The Australian Financial Review - national, right, broadsheet The Guardian - national, left, broadsheet The Age - local (Melbourne), left, tabloid (but higher brow) Sydney Morning Herald - local, historically right but has endorsed labor more recently, tabloid (high brow) Brisbane Times - local, online only, shares a lot of content with SMH Courier Mail - local, right, low brow tabloid The Guardian and ABC are good apps. I tend to get the others on desktop so couldn't tell you.

Yes I'm in a mixed marriage with kids. Just pointing out that she's written everything to invoke sympathy for her and painting him in a bad light. I'm not judging her, I just reworded the facts she gave us in a different way. Father's rights are often glossed over as being somehow dispensable, when I (naturally) feel like they should not be. Financial implications bedamned, a dad should be able to see his child.

I would imagine there is another version of this story out there, which paints this relationship breakdown in a very different light. Your husband supported his family while you were bedridden and he was struggling with employment instability. Eventually going to Australia for work and to improve your multiple health issues. You then failed to settle and demanded to return to the UK for a short period. This short period became a long period and he felt compelled to invoke the HC to see his child, because he had already shown that finding employment in Europe wasn't happening so he couldn't return. Eventually you were legally forced to allow the child see their father, but you continued to claim that he was about to abduct him/her until he/she was returned as expected. I'm sorry that your relationship broke down, and I hope your child manages to maintain a good relationship with their father. I also hope your multiple health issues improve

I think there's an update in the works for this month which will resolve things. In the meantime, this emoticon should do... :ssign12:

Also, to confuse things further, there is a Medicare levy surcharge for high income earners, which is additional to the Medicare levy of 2%. This is an extra 1-1.5% income tax which you can avoid if you have PHI. This is what makes the maths stack up for northshorepom but not me. The lifetime loading isn't much of a deal. If you avoid paying premiums for one year, you save more money than it costs you to pay an extra 2% for ten years. Obviously there are things like your rate of claims and inflation to consider, but for most people I would have thought it's not worth worrying about.

Yeah I'm fortunate in that my wife works as a financial advisor and therefore is across reducing risk to income and all that. I can rely on her to read the small print! I probably wouldn't have bothered otherwise, but I've got 2 young kids now so in a similar boat as yourself. Definitely pays to be careful, it seems to be a minefield to me. We also have PHI but I don't think it's worth it (my wife wants it for peace of mind). Most of our health interactions (pregnancies, emergencies) have been through the public system and I haven't a bad word to say about it. Having said that, we don't earn enough for the Medicare levy surcharge. If we did then it'd probably tip the scales in PHI's favour.

Sometimes. Usually it is 'any occupation', rather than 'own occupation', though. This means that as long as you are functionally able to work in any capacity, they won't pay out from the super version. If you have your own insurance outside of super and you have specified that it is to be 'own occupation', then you will get paid if you can't do YOUR job (not just ANY job). I am a scientist, for example, and I need my brain and memory to work. If i acquired a brain injury and couldn't do my current job, but I could do more menial work, then my super income protection would not pay out. Equally, if I were a carpenter and lost my arm then I couldn't be a carpenter, but I could be an office admin worker, so I might not get a payout.

Income protection insurance is much more important than health insurance in my opinion. At least with health you have the public system as a fall back. If you are off work for any length of time have you enough savings and/or sick leave to sustain you though?

we really need this like button back...

Preaching? It was a series of statements that you either agreed or disagreed with. How could that be preachy?