scuffythetugboat

You seem to know more than me about my contract with TPG.

I'm also with TPG, I pay $70 a month for unlimited ADSL2 and landline phone with some free calls and no contract which is good if you're renting. One bonus I've discovered is that with TPG I don't get any cold calls which seem to plague Telstra customers. No one telling you that your computer's playing up etc. And another plus is their customer service is excellent.

Hi Richard, if only it was that simple. Good luck.

Get some proper advice before you make any decisions. I am quite sure that if an account is inactive for a period it gets frozen and is then taken into the care of the government. Check it out.

When I think back to when we first came out to Australia, and we were obviously a lot younger, we didn't know what a recession was and we just got on with life. Come to think of it there wasn't a website that could either encourage or discourage our move either. Personally l would come out and give it a try especially as a job is on offer.

7000 empty rental properties in Perth and the number is expected to rise over winter (REIWA). Although some people have bought their own place in Baldivis etc a lot of people have left town for good. A job lost in any industry has a knock on effect in a lot of others if that job goes forever. Of course not all of us will see the effect of what is going on but they will in time, especially as there is a lot more to come.

Looking on the Pension website it doesn't say that you have to be British to be eligible and I can't see why he shouldn't get it as he has paid for it.

I certainly think that the standard of living in Australia is about to hit a wall then bounce off and fall over a cliff. The boom of the last decade is well and truely over and now it's pay back time for employers. With a surplus of workers and an ever diminishing jobs market added to a non stop influx of immigrants on 457 and permanent visas looking to "live the dream", it is now a recruiters dream. "Now is a good time for business" I read last week. Scarey. Across the country EBA's are being rewritten with both pay rates and conditions reduced which is a reduction of living standards for those directly involved and an indication of the direction that business in general will be taking aided and abetted buy our present government. Tighten your belts everyone.

Welcome to the dual passport society. Your Australian passport will be $250 thanks, and your UK passport will be £72.50 ($140) ta. We've got them and they may be worth their weight in gold at some time in your life (lives). Ours have been on more than one occasion in our lives for sure.

The last time we moved the "Professional" agent did the final inspection with us present. I said that we would like to get the bond back asap so did we have to take the paperwork from him there and then? "No' he said you'll be refunded through the post. We waited 4 weeks then contacted him only to be told that we had to go to his office to sign the paperwork! He was under the impression that we were returning to the UK not 500 metres down the road. He was quite surprised when I turned up at his office 15 minutes after our phone conversation. We got all our bond back. Never trust a real estate agent.

We always move out a couple of days earlier and have the phone etc cut off then as well then come back for the final inspection on the last day of the lease.. Do not tell the agent that you're moving either overseas or interstate as I've heard of people losing their bond because of so called damage to the property they have spotted after you've gone. Use a relative or friends address to have everything forwarded on. Some agents have been good but others have tried it on with us.

Stay where you are. Shipbuilding along with most manufacturing activities in Australia are being destroyed on a weekly basis.

10% unemployment in the Hunter Valley. It's called the Valley of death now.

They'll have to put on some extra planes soon.

None of the unemployed people I know have been surveyed, come to think of it, no one I know in work has ever been surveyed. Anyone out there been surveyed?

Official figures do not tell the true story. I know of 5 people who are out of work and, for various reasons, do not show up on the unemployment statistics. Positive thinking and hope that the employment situation will improve eventually will not pay the bills in the meantime.

Wouldn't you be liable for any capital gain in the UK when you sell up then have to declare any money you make out of it (if any) to the ATO as income for that year?

That was the problem. Without a job they couldn't do either. I'm simply saying hold on to what you've got until you're sure you can move here on a more permanent basis.

I wouldn't sell my house on the strength of a 457 visa being granted. What happens if it doesn't work out? I've seen the unfortunate results of 457 visas being terminated earlier than they thought.

The surcharge applies to joint incomes not just the main earner.

No one told us where the 50% loading goes either.

Perth has always been a boom and bust town and it ain't booming. The bust is yet to come. There will always be people arriving still believing that this is the lucky country and that you will always be wanted downunder.

Welcome to the rip off world of Australian private medical insurance. The reason why you were not aware of the 10 year loading (we pay a 50%) is because they don't tell you. We only pay for private insurance to avoid the surcharge, which works out the same for us anyway. You will have to work out what sort of cover you want then do the rounds with each of the insurance companies, each one will have variations on every limit, type of cover, excess amounts etc. When your head stops spinning you may decide which one to go with. You will have to disclose any pre existing ailments which will not stop you getting cover but you will have to wait a year or so before you can claim. Good luck.

The system is not the same everywhere. Each state has its own laws and different stamp duty rates, Be very careful. Do your homework.

Does this mean that you have to be Indian to apply?