fensaddler

And in one sense that is fine - it is after all a memorial to Australian war dead, and it is a profoundly moving place (as well as an excellent museum). I was gratified to see that in the Gallipoli hall there is a small plaque which details the numbers of dead of every nationality from the Gallipoli battle. The Turks are at the top, with huge casualties, followed by the British. In the end arguments about who lost most, or suffered most, are immaterial when confronted with those figures - it was an appalling and largely pointless bloodbath, in which lots of young men's lives were thrown away. And that makes it a microcosm of the whole first world war - the outcome of an imperial carve up and power struggle, in which claims of good guys and bad guys are a bit hollow.

Alistair - two comments. With those climate requirements, you'll be happiest in Melbourne rather than Perth. We have something approximating to a winter (though generally no snow or ice), and into the bargain good skiing country nearby if that's your thing and/or you need some snow/big mountains. If you really want weather, then Tassie is your location, but there is not too much of an economy there compared with Perth or Melbourne. As far as whether you fit to a SOL/CSOL category, have a chat with a good migration agent. My category isn't one I would have easily identified from my own understanding of my job, but it is a good fit and got me here. You need someone who really knows SOL/CSOL to work through your skills with you and see where you might fit.

The answer is half of bugger all. They are liable to pay for your ticket home, and that of your dependents. Your dog walks home. That's the legal minimum. Anything else is the goodwill of your employer...

What is it with this site and flogging tripe from the Daily Mail? Dave is never right. Does no one on here read the Guardian?

As a rough rule of thumb, your Aus income (in A$) needs to be about 2 - 2.2 times your UK income in GBP to maintain a similar lifestyle to that you lived in the UK. That is probably a better starting point. There are so many variables if you start with 'how much does x cost?' since people's expectations vary so much. Some things in Aus will cost you more (food, used cars, clothes), some less (public transport is certainly relatively cheap in Melbourne, entry to sporting events, petrol, new cars, and the VAT equivalent is only 10%) - some things in Aus that you have to pay for in the UK you don't pay for here (rates if you are renting, for example), and some things you don't pay for in the UK you have to pay for here (health insurance, school fees and books).

...but you will need to slow down in Australia, otherwise you will lose your licence! Whilst in the UK the authorities generally operate to the ACPO guidance of 10% + 2mph (ie. in a 40 limit you won't get done until you are over 46mph), the tolerance in Aus is generally much tighter, reputedly no more than 3kph. Thus in a 60 limit (about equivalent to 40) you will get nicked at 63. You'll notice as a result in Aus that much more of the traffic sticks to the limit - rigidly. And on big, multi-lane, straight roads, that can feel, perceptually, awfully dull and very slow (it isn't, as you'll realise as a pedestrian standing next to a multi-lane highway with a 70 or 80 k limit, and the traffic is whipping past).

I guess there are always exceptions...! :wink: If I'm ever needing an agent in Adelaide I'll head in your direction.

The landlord will be paying 10% of the their rent straight to the managing agent. They will also be paying additional fees for finding new tenants (so the process of finding tenants is an earner on both ends). Wherever you are, real estate is a money for old rope business...

If you are looking for a secondhand motor, and you are in the eastern suburbs, one useful site may be the one on the Maroondah Highway in Ringwood. Here there is a site which has lots of dealers together - so in effect providing something similar to the big car supermarket sites in the UK. Even if you don't buy there, it will give you a better idea of what is on the market. The other tip from our experience is that if you haven't got a satnav, get one, and if you have, load some Aussie maps. It will make your first few weeks that much easier when you are trying to drive around. The good news is that for a big city, outside the CBD, Melbourne is a pretty straightforward place to drive in for an ex-pat pom. Stick to the speed limits (they are enforced rigidly with only a 3kmh margin of error allowed), learn to cope with speed and distance in kms, remember the drink drive limit is lower than the UK (0.05 rather than 0.08) so even less sense to drink and drive, get into doing u-turns (a common manouvre you will make on many journeys because so many roads are divided, but have no roundabouts), get your head around the fact that people can and will overtake you on both sides, accept that half the cars on the road think tailgating is acceptable, and learn the rules about trams. Otherwise, frankly, you should have no great dramas.

Very true, although many dealers photograph their cars in such a way that it is very clear which dealer they are - by strategic placement of a hoarding, shop front or dealer sticker... I've worked out a number of these just from the photos or from clues in the descriptions. I think the dealers know it is a pain in the backside having to go through the carsales system to make contact.

Your equivalent of road tax is called your 'rego' (registration) and is administered by Vic Roads. It is pricier than in the UK, partly because it includes an element of compulsory third party insurance. Previously you have had to display a rego sticker in the windscreen, but from the beginning of 2014 stickers are being phased out, as enforcement can be undertaken by reference to a database using ANPR. If buying from a dealer they will sort this, if buying privately the car should come with some remaining rego, as in the UK. The usual change of ownership paperwork applies. If buying secondhand the seller needs to arrange a roadworthy test, called an RWC - you should make sure this is in place and current. Insurance you arrange very much as in the UK - online, by phone or through a broker - and that effectively tops up the compulsory third party through your rego. Note that there is no equivalent of the annual MOT in Victoria - roadworthiness checks only need to take place when a car changes ownership or registration. The advice about getting a car checked by RACV (the local AA/RAC equivalent) is good advice. Carsales.com.au is the largest of its type over here. It appears to be very legit, but take the same precautions and ask the same questions as you would buying through a similar site in the UK. It's a useful resource anyway and you'll already have sussed that the relative prices of some makes and models is very different here than in the UK. New cars (except luxury models which are heavily taxed) are cheaper relative to earnings, and will seem cheaper in many cases than the UK (that's both about exchange rates and taxation, as well as the fact that the Aus new car market is very competitive), but used cars are pricier. People seem to keep cars longer, and look after them better as a result, because cars depreciate in value far slower here. Most cars are autos here, but you will find manuals if you want one, and they should be cheaper.

IKEA in Springvale, surely? :-)

This is fraud and abuse of the system. Those involved should be prosecuted and DIBP should be taking enforcement action, if they are not already. I doubt any government of whatever stripe is going to sanction or turn a blind eye to this sort of abuse of the law. Neither does it do any favours to everyone who migrates legitimately, by whatever route.

We have more in common than you think right now FoC. You're not the only person here thinking about the big picture, and just because people disagree with you doesn't mean they are acting any more our of personal self-interest than you are. I share your dislike of much that this government is intent on doing, though I don't make the 'a priori' assumption that everything they do will be wrong. I'm not sure whether you do either, to be fair. And I think I'm on your side of politics, by and large. In my world, not all companies are bad, and many understand the need to look after their staff. Maybe I'm lucky in my experience, or even naive, if you want, but not everybody with manager on their business card is an evil grasping bastard. Just some of them. My big concern is one I know you share, and is at the heart of my worries on the way that 457s are being bagged. I know you have genuine concerns about the labour market impact of some 457 migration, and whilst I think you overstate that, and understate the potential advantages, I sense your concern is genuine. However, my concern about this is that for many in the community, bagging 457s is a coded form of racism, and is thus a very dangerous game to join in with. Like you I fear the rise of the One Nation right in Australia, and I worry that some 457 is going to be on the wrong end of a beating, or worse. I've seen the looks on people's faces when I tell them I'm on a 457 - it says 'you're not the picture I had in my head', because the picture they had in their head is some form of malevolent bogeyman. If such bogeymen exist, it's my experience that most 457s don't fit the stereotype. Have a good weekend.

There are a number of things in your post I’d take issue with: - It’s curious that a site moderator should say that what people post on the site is irrelevant. In a wider sense we are all as dust, but in this little universe, what we say to each other does matter. - I don’t believe you when you say that people on here put forward views that they don’t believe in. I know that trolls infest forums, but even so, I sense that most of the time, people on here say what they mean, and mean what they say, even if they are wildly misinformed and a little too blunt and sweeping in their statements. - You seem to suggest that there is a lot of misinformation or superficial reporting on this issue, but I almost get the impression you don’t think that matters. I do, and I think misinformation needs to be tackled with facts and arguments, otherwise the bullies and bigots rule. Platitudes seems an oddly dismissive word to use about what I said, however. - You seem to suggest that your longer time in Australia and your wider circle of contacts gives you a better perspective on this issue. I’d say it would be difficult to prove either way, and is probably a dubious philosophical standpoint. - I’m well aware of community opinion on this issue. I don’t agree with it, and know that a lot of community opinion is based on false information and rabble rousing. But again, I’m not about to let this go unchallenged. I didn’t move here to stop having opinions, even if they are opinions that the community doesn’t always like. I do care, very much, about some things, but I also have a good enough support network that it’s not going to get me down. You need not worry about me, though it’s nice that you do. - There are undoubtedly problems with the 457 visa, not least that some migrants arrive on them and then find they run all sorts of risks of exploitation or job loss. There are no risk free migration options, and again, I'd suggest that the view that PRs are somehow safer than 457s is I think a little misleading. Only today on the forum we have stories of the big risk for PRs through various routes, that they arrive with apparently skill shortage occupations, and then can't find work for love nor money. That's a risk 457s don't face. I think it's a bit more swings and roundabouts than it is sometimes painted - often by PRs who want to maintain their self-perception that they are the better sort of migrant. I think that's a bubble that needs popping or at least reducing a little in size. I'll bell that cat however much hissing and spitting comes my way. Have a lovely weekend on the Peninsula.

There are a number of misconceptions and prejudices which need to be challenged here. Firstly, there are some people posting on this thread, and elsewhere on the site, who appear to work on the presumption that there are (morally) superior and inferior routes for economic migration to Australia, and that in some way those who arrived by direct entry are somehow ‘better’ than people who arrived on 457s. Let’s be frank, no one migrated to Australia for Australia’s benefit - we all came for our own benefit, because we wanted to live and work here, permanently or temporarily. So all the arguments about how useful anyone is, or is not, to Australia, and how that justifies the superiority of direct entrants, is specious nonsense. Australia decides it will allow certain people with particular skills into the country through different visa routes. If you fit, great, you can come here to live and work. But because your skill is on one list or another does not make you morally or in any other way intrinsically superior. So let’s get over the ‘holier than thou’ routine. Secondly, that somehow 457 visas are a second rate way of coming into the country, because you weren’t wonderful enough to get direct entry (or as one charming entry put it, 457s are ‘too lazy’ to bother with direct entry). Even if you are fortunate enough to be on the direct entry list of skills, there are many reasons why you might initially enter the country as a 457. If you already have a job, then the 457 route is a quicker way for the employer to get you here – it also means that if you turn out to be useless, they aren’t stuck with you, and they haven’t thrown even more money on a bad hire. It may also benefit the migrant to get here sooner, and to come temporarily, since if they don’t like it, it has been less of a commitment. And of course, some migrants only want to come for a few years, or their employers only want them for a few years. Some of all of these groups of people later transfer to PR, through entirely legitimate and legal routes. They pay the same taxes, and are just as likely to work hard or slack off as any direct entrant. Thirdly, that 457s nick jobs from fair dinkum Aussies. I’ve already dealt with a lot of this above, but look at it this way. A 457 who is flipping burgers, or working for less than the market rate, is in breach of their visa – they are being exploited, or they are engaging in a rort. There are enforcement routes to deal with this, and the only argument is whether they are being properly used. On the other hand, a direct entrant is entitled to flip burgers or work for less than a local if they so choose – they are not (always) required to work in the occupation which gained them entry into the country, and they may not do so either out of choice, or because they cannot find work in their specialist field. So which is better for young or unqualified locals? You could equally argue that 457s are the better bet, since they are far less likely to be working in low skilled or low paid jobs. As someone else put it above, 457s have to do the job they came over to do (nearly always highly skilled and highly paid), whereas direct entrants can do what they like. There also appears to be a complete lack of understanding amongst some posters about how international labour markets work. There are very many skills which are transferable between countries, and in many occupations, foreign experience is a great advantage both in career progression and skills development, and to the employer. That’s why highly skilled people in many fields work in other countries – whether they are Aussies working in the UK, poms working here, or Germans working in Canada. For many skilled occupations, it isn’t a case of skill shortages, but simply a case that it benefits all parties (the employed person, the employer, and the economy of the country they work in) to have the flexibility to choose to employ someone who happens to have citizenship somewhere else. As for the people who toss around blanket accusations or insinuations that 457s are forging qualifications, using fraudulent references, not being checked properly, or just too lazy to do it the ‘proper’ way, you are clearly so full of your own moral superiority that no logic is going to get through to you. And again, why are we not concerned about forgery and fraud on other routes of entry? Why are 457s uniquely suspect? Fraud is a crime, whatever the entry route, and can be dealt with as such. And what makes so many migrants think they have the moral right to pull up the ladder after they have arrived? Generally, that is called hypocrisy.

A creative CV is it? And false references to get here? Thanks for the blanket condemnation. And the sly reference to the uncle is just dog whistle racism, because in your world the bad 457s are suspiciously 'foreign' unlike us honest to goodness poms... Of course you didn't mean me?

You purport to describe me FoC, but I don't recognise myself. Passive? Dependent? Willing to put up with crap? Not at work and not on here either.

I'd be intrigued how many of you on here rubbishing 457s actually got here on one? Sure, police the system properly so that it isn't rorted, and people aren't exploited, but bear in mind that most 457s are highly skilled people working in international labour markets, are in well paid jobs, have to be paid the going rate for those jobs, and aren't likely to be undercutting new graduates or unskilled workers. And if the job ceases to exist, they go home. Unions want to scaremonger about this in exactly the same way that Gina wants to drive down wages. It is also important to remember that the labour market isn't a zero sum game - otherwise there would be no jobs here at all because there weren't any when the first fleet arrived. People in well paid jobs pay tax and buy goods and services, which in turn creates jobs for other people. Giving a 457 a job does not automatically mean that someone else loses out - in fact the opposite may be true. Properly used, the 457 creates wealth and jobs, brings new ideas and skills (or perhaps provides a much needed skill in a public service) and trains young Australians so that their companies are more competitive and profitable.

I think what I'd very much want to say to the original poster is that your life is yours to live, not your parents to live for you. When we have children, we accept that we raise them, and give them all the skills and love that we can to make the best of their lives, and then we must let them go and live those lives. I am very close to my parents, and I miss them and think about them often now I'm in Melbourne, but they always brought me up not to think I had to live my life around them, and I am bringing my own daughter up to live her own life too, when the time comes. We've already said to her that her life might be in Australia, or it might be back in Europe, or it might be somewhere else, and part of the reason for coming here is to give her the life experience, the education, the confidence and the passports to do just that. Now whilst you will want to understand that your parents are just human, like the rest of us, and their reaction is one borne of pain and fear, they are out of order, and their response is petulant. They do not own you, or your life. You will be able to keep in touch, and it is much easier to do so now than it was for previous generations of migrants. You will see them again, and both their lives and yours will go on. They may well come out to see you, and if they do, like my parents and those of almost everyone else here they will say two things - 'I love it here', and 'I know why you moved'. Yes, you do need to be strong to migrate - because when things go pear shaped, you are far more on your own. Having said that, if you are as lucky as we have been in Melbourne, you will make good, strong friends, who will recognise that you need from them some of the support you would otherwise get from family. Our best friends here have said to us, and we to them, that they view us as an extension to their family, and in many ways our relationship with them is akin to that which many people have with with the partners of their siblings - not blood relations, but close family bonds nevertheless. I will say that we feel hugely lucky. We have good families who have let us go, with tears and good wishes, and we have made wonderful friends here. It will work out for you, and hopefully for your family too. Good luck.

I was potentially liable for CGT when I sold my first flat, because I had been renting it out for several years after we moved out and bought a house. Given my experience, my advice to everyone would be to find yourself an accountant who understands CGT, because having found such an accountant, I ended up, legitimately, paying no CGT. Had I tired to submit my return on my own, it is likely I would have copped a bill for several thousand quid. Convinced me that accountants are lovable after all!

Indeed, but the problem may be records of amounts spent. The extension was done in 2006 (I think...?) and I'm not at all sure how much of a record we have kept of all the bills, not just from the builders themselves, but also of all the other bills (architect, planning and building regs fees, buying the kitchen units for example...). In this, I doubt we are much different from many people. How many of us have complete records of major purchases from seven or eight years ago, especially when we have moved across the world in the meantime? I notice that this is one of the points made below the line on the original Telegraph article - that in effect getting this properly calculated depends on people having records from many years ago, which they never thought they would need for tax purposes. There is a degree of retrospective and punitive malice about the whole thing - but nothing less then I would expect from Gidiot.

Two governments after my money at the same time? Priceless.

That's been Britain's problem for years - making national policy on the basis that the rest of the country is anything like London. Outside the south-east prices have flatlined for years.

Imagine the English cricket team is eleven blokes who look like Gidiot the Chancellor. I think I'd soon feel the need to switch my allegiance to the baggy green. If that git ever gets within widdling distance I'm going to make sure he gets wet shoes. I left the UK to escape the prat and still he hounds me.