flybyknight

the scariest thing I've noticed about this government is the integration and control of the mainstream media. a couple of hundred people protested the last government and it made the press. In march 2014 around 50,000 people marched through Melbourne, with numerous other peaceful protests around Australia. however they were not covered in the mainstream press. coincidence? how can there be true democratic process when the public have no unifying voice? nipped in the bud!

i've seen a fair few articles in the paper and every one of them always has factual inaccuracies. i wonder if they do it deliberately, so's to make it easier to shrug off criticism. those who know, check. as far as the pictures go, i'm a little more concerned at the hole at the back of the cowling, looks like the turbine has crapped itself. i guess it'll all come out in the report.

i'm not totally sure about it, but is this a good thing for people wanting to come out to Australia? i was reading a pretty one sided account of the boy Abbott's shenanigans http://sallymcmanus.net/abbotts-wreckage/ and noticed a line about relaxation of 457 rules... a bit of googling found me this.... http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/policy/business-coalition-reject-fears-over-457-visas/story-fn59noo3-1226852975017# it seems (if i have it right) if you have a job for a migrant, you can bring in a boat load (if you're willing to pay) of migrants to do that one job. odd?

as far as the ghost job thing is concerned, its huge with agencies etc. they put out a generic well paid basic qualified job ad (seek's full of them!). farm for cv's, so they can reverse market the good ones. it means they have a good pool to choose from to put the best 'in their view' candidate into a company. it makes them look good. the thing to take from this; don't ever wait for a phone call or email. the amount of times i was told we'll call/mail, before i learnt wasted nearly a month. to get a job here pepper the market with a good resume (ideally done by a pro), it's better to walk from one job to the next than to spend time out of work. dont ever wait, just go mad! the job i'm in atm was offered by a different member of staff at the same agency i got the previous job. they asked me not to tell the previous employer (who had taken the time and effort to train me) that it was indeed the same agency who had taken a commission off them; who was offering me a stronger position. i guess everyone's in it for the cash, agencies even rip off the businesses they support!

same situation here tbh, i was sponsored into victoria by the government to fix some planes. the maintenance that hasn't gone overseas has gone to Brisbane (temporarily it seems) which has left me soul searching for the career i would like to be in so i can retrain. so far not looking good, the career i'd love would be renewable energy engineering (hydro/wind etc) but the boy Abbott has decided that these technologies are evil and against Australian interests, so is slashing funding. I'm in 2 minds, do i retrain in the hope that a new; more worldly government will be in power when i qualify, or do i look at a different goal. all in all not the start i pictured when i boarded the plane 18 months ago, but other than this Australia is just gorgeous, we will make it work. it's so worth it!

bit of a point to note.... arriving by boat unannounced without any papers isn't actually illegal. kind of an important point tbh lol, the government would love you to think it is though, don't believe everything you hear on the telly. from https://www.refugeecouncil.org.au/f/as-boat.php "Asylum seekers who arrive in Australia by boat are not acting illegally. The UN Refugee Convention (to which Australia is a signatory) recognises that refugees have a lawful right to enter a country for the purposes of seeking asylum, regardless of how they arrive or whether they hold valid travel or identity documents. The Convention stipulates that what would usually be considered as illegal actions (e.g. entering a country without a visa) should not be treated as illegal if a person is seeking asylum. In line with our obligations under the Convention, Australian law also permits unauthorised entry into Australia for the purposes of seeking asylum. Asylum seekers do not break any Australian laws simply by arriving on boats or without authorisation. This means that it is incorrect to refer to asylum seekers who arrive without authorisation as “illegal” entrants, as they in fact have a lawful right to enter Australia to seek asylum. Permitting asylum seekers to entry a country without travel documents is similar to allowing ambulance drivers to exceed the speed limit in an emergency – the action would be ordinarily be considered illegal, but the under the circumstances it's reasonable to make an exception." the truth of it is, Australia are the only country who treat their migrants to life in jail, and as such is contravening many international conventions and laws. they don't tell you that on the news though eh! I apologise if this has already been covered in this thread, 96 pages seems a lot to catch up on!

at least the scientists are getting a little more forthright, but the problem is the fact they are scientists. hell, there is still debate on general relativity, and that's been bouncing around for years. the big issue with this one is its getting really real; really fast. personally I'd rather spend a few quid and live in a liveable world, than risk the predicted hellishness. we're already starting to see it! however i think it'll take a revolution to dislodge the governments who will always play the status quo.

funny you mention that, i saw this a couple of days back....... [video=youtube;-7VGu6fveX4]

as far as complaints are concerned there are only really 2 main airlines... Airbus and Boeing. everything else is customer service. if it sucks, game over. we flew qantas and ba to london a month or so back, qantas was wonderful but i was quietly looking forward to flying ba for the first time. i expected it to be a great service. The stewardesses spent more time being obtrusive and looking down their noses at the customers, than actually trying to help. i heard one of them audibly sigh when asked for something by one of the kids behind us (who were very well behaved). i dont think given the choice i'd give them my money again, even through a codeshare. which brings me to the point of this. cash. everyone, bar the hardcore aussie with far more patriotism than cash, will always go with price & quality of experience. you can fly qantas now for a good price, but before you would always find yourself on a foreign carrier for the AU LHR route. its just a shame the currency and unions are so strong it's taken mass redundancies to achieve this.

I'm surprised how expensive beer is... in the uk! the average aussie has to work about 20 mins to earn a pint. the average brit would have to work more like a half hour.

The reef already faced pressures from climate change, land-based pollution and crown of thorns starfish outbreaks, she added. well there you go, an acceptance that it's already boned. it's kinda ironic that they mention global warming as a threat, how can it be a threat if it doesn't exist mr abbott? not all bad though eh! sell the coal quick before the demand dries up. makes you wonder how they sleep at night.

large events seem to disadvantage the poor for the most part. my brother was involved in a documentary highlighting the displacement of many of the local poor during the 2010 world cup in south africa. from what i hear it's still dire there now. http://vimeo.com/39571160 it's wrong, but if the organisers keep the media coverage to a minimum; we'll all forget and get on with our little lives. hey Justin Bieber has been skateboarding at a leather and laces party..... (now doesn't that feel better :biggrin: )

Thanks Ozmaniac

hi all we've been thinking about maybe going back to the UK for a holiday at some point. Is it a paperwork nightmare or can we just travel on our UK passports? I worry we might have trouble getting into the UK, or back into Australia. We are here on 176 visa's. Many thanks

article printed on the 4th January. u know why? it's already been scratched on, christmas.... do i pay the rent; or buy that iPad for the kids....... we have been renting places for a while, and initially we wanted to help those less fortunate, we weren't born with silver spoons so wanted to give something back. the first welfare tenant, ripped us off just over a grand, the second one £400 and painted the whole house, like windows back of doors, door handles etc. we were lucky that place was compulsory purchased so the renovation was done with a wrecking ball. job done. it stopped then. it makes sense to empower the tenants so they have to pay their rent. however the tenants have too much power. when they can squat for months while you get the legal into place to remove them, it's just too much for any landlord to bare. you end up looking at it from a standpoint of risk, and it's just too risky to have these kind of people in a position of power with your investment.

i think the biggest problem with it has been covered here, giving it a name that suggests something good is just crazy. the media again (anyone would think i had a grudge against these bastards) almost bloody advertising it. if they portrayed it for what it is, an unprovoked 'stab in the back' kind of assault. then maybe it wouldn't be admired and followed so much. bastards have blood on their hands again...

if white kids get state help it would prove the positive discrimination has ended. from what i hear that's not the case. if you cannot prove you are a 'minority' you have little chance of state help in the uk. every child should have an equal crack at life, sadly try as we might some are more equal than others.

a latitude thing lol, ours gets some use.

We used a firm called Insulation Extract and they put in Earthwool Batts. They also took away the rubbish which was up there (some sort of polywool which did not insulate at all). We were really impressed with how quickly and efficiently they did the work. They were cost effective as well. I would recommend them. Ah ok so just roof insulation, we will already have that in the new house, would like something in the walls ideally though. Not sure cavity fill is a great idea as the electrics run in the cavity too which is also a crazy practice I reckon! I think we will eventually build again using SIPs to achieve high insulation values and low air permeability plus double glazing, passive cooling and maybe gas/solar underfloor heating for the winter.........just need a builder willing to take it on ! have a chat with these guys http://passivehouseaustralia.org/ this is the only standard i'll trust out here in Australia, the shite ive seen called 6* over the last year has left me with little trust in both australian building standards or builders. so my build will fit into australian standards, but will be built to the passive house standard. we went to a meeting in melbourne and there are builders who they know of with experience of factory built, and on site SIP construction. we will go for factory built in our project, you just can't get the quality and airtightness building on site. you wouldn't build your car on the drive, why build your house there?

changed plugs on toasters etc, but most still on uk power boards that way you only need to change one plug. go to a supermarket and buy loads of em! they're only a couple of quid. buy plugs for em when you get here. bring dysons, lots of dysons lol they're pretty expensive. other stuff is much the same. bring washing machine/tumble dryer if it is a good make that's repairable, miele bosch are good. hotpoint etc isn't worth bringing.

they are so similar they are virtually identical, but no, the software is incompatible and i'm pretty sure there is no way to reinstall the software. if you can't find a good home for your old box, pull the lid off and remove the hard drive. for about £10 you can get a caddy and you have an external hard drive for your pc/mac.

the uk have laws in place to protect these individuals. they will work, illegally obviously as is the system, but they do pay taxes, so enjoy it tbh, successive governments have talked dealing with it, but have enhanced the migrants protection, so pretty much you have no choice. enjoy or migrate.

solar.... the knowing call it eco bling. and for the most part it is. it's fact that most of the average energy usage (bill) goes on heating and cooling. spend 3000 on a system that will reduce your energy bills by 300 a year. good but..... what if you spend that 3000 on insulating and draughtproofing your house, slashing your energy bills not even using the 300 in energy you would have saved with the solar, and having a more comfortable house to live in to boot. draughtproofing doesnt show on the outside of the house though, so you dont get the warm fuzzy and show off feeling. the experts agree on one thing, fabric first. get the building envelope correct, then add the bling. its better not to need it, than to generate it. with a well insulated house, an 8 panel system (2KWh) with batteries will run the average household! here in Australia 8 panels reduces the bill but doesn't break even.

it may seem i only chime in on this subject when i feel like a whinge, but in all honesty, flies and housing are my only 2 gripes. Australia on the whole is wonderful! i will build a proper house, then it's only the flies, and the solution to them is to chill out. they don't annoy you anywhere near as much if you just allow them to do what they do. then... relative paradise

dont buy ant sand, we use the ants to find the gaps in the house, it works pretty well. they make a nice line right to the hole. fill it then wait for the next invasion all good