Lambethlad

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-03-13/australia-canada-nz-support-eu-style-free-movement-poll-says/7242634 The survey was carried out by The Royal Commonwealth Society. Seventy per cent of Australians were in favour Canadians (75 per cent), New Zealanders (82 per cent) In the UK it was least popular with only 58 per cent thinking it was a good thing. The proposal was that Australians, New Zealanders, Canadians and Britons have the right to live and work in each other's nations without the need for a visa. Sounds familiar - wasn't that what we had 40 years ago before Britain joined the European Community.

I remember when Britain dumped its Commonwealth and jumped into bed with the Euro rabble. Many Australian primary producers were driven to bankruptcy, poverty and worse. There was much ill-feeling of betrayal and disloyalty towards the British at the time. It was considered a huge insult to the memory of tens of thousands of Australian men who had fought and died fighting Britain's wars. Of course they should get out - but they should never had joined in the first place.

South Brisbane is not far from the theme parks your kids will love but personally I would choose Cairns.

This article appeared today: There have always been booms. But in the past two decades, housing prices have increased faster, for longer, than at any time since at least 1880, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. For Australians under 35, the numbers are ugly. The size of the average loan taken out by a first-time buyer in New South Wales has swelled by more than 43% in the past four years (and 20% in the past year alone) to about A$424,000 (£218,000). Wages in the same period increased 10%. In Sydney, where the surge is strongest, it took about four times the median household income to buy a home in 1975. Today, with a median house price surpassing A$1m, that figure is 12 times. Property in the harbour city is pricier than in New York and even in the US’s least affordable city, San Francisco. It’s a predicament UK millennials might recognise: only London can match Sydney’s price-to-income gap. In north-east England, the cheapest region in England and Wales, the proportion of income spent on property has nearly doubled in two decades, according to Guardian analysis. Nationally, since 2010, in terms of house prices outstripping incomes, the UK and Australia have been neck and neck. Australian millennials risk becoming the first generation in the country’s recent history to be poorer than their parents at the same age, the Grattan Institute has warned. Buying in 2016 means heading to the outskirts. The most popular suburbs for first-home buyers in NSW last year were Liverpool (20 miles from Sydney), Werrington (30 miles) and Spring Farm (37 miles). Kaitlyn Offer’s house-hunting took her 2,200 miles across Australia, from Perth in Western Australia to Geelong, a port city one hour’s drive from Melbourne. “When my husband Chris knew he was going to start studying, we decided we needed stability, and renting wouldn’t provide that,” she says. “We needed a house we could afford, that had a bus or train line, job opportunities, access to universities. Geelong ticks all those boxes – and prices are half what they are in Perth.” The house needed lots of renovating and the hour-long commute “not necessarily ideal”. But the 28-year-olds had to make a choice: carve out a new life somewhere regional, or buy in a city “and never go to the pub on a Friday night or a movie”. Alexander Allen, 25, took the other road. Three years ago he bought an apartment in Neutral Bay, a harbourside suburb on Sydney’s lower north shore. “I grew up with parents telling me property is the best thing you can do, the earlier you can invest and get a foothold in the market, the better off you’ll be,” he says. He had every advantage: “I was living at home, rent free. I was pretty much working full time as a childcare assistant. I didn’t have many expenses, wasn’t going out drinking a lot.” Another hurdle, the deposit, Allen cleared with a A$50,000 loan from his parents. “Without that, it wouldn’t have been possible,” he says. He delayed study and took on three jobs, include his own online business, to keep up with the repayments. “I had a job as a motorcycle postie, which I never saw as a career or anything. But suddenly I couldn’t leave it,” he says. “I was basically a poor person. Even though I had this apartment, I was constantly living with the frustration of earning my fortnightly income and seeing the greater majority of it disappear a day or two later.” Holidays, nights out, festivals – they mostly passed him by. “It’s something I get bitter about. Especially in your days on Facebook when you see every second mate on some amazing holiday and you’re at home counting every cent,” he says. “After a few months you do notice your social life shrinks. It sucked.” Allen says he probably made the right choice “in the long term”. He just didn’t realise how much he was sacrificing. “I wasn’t unhappy living my life. But I do regret not being out crafting experiences with my friends. Looking back on it now, the opportunities aren’t boundless. Taking them while they’re there is something I would have wanted.” What’s galling is, it doesn’t have to be this way. “This isn’t about the invisible hand of the market,” says Eamon Waterford, head of advocacy at the Committee for Sydney, an urban affairs thinktank. “The government is consciously and actively taking the decision to support investors over first-home buyers.” Negative gearing – which allows investors to claim losses on a property, including interest or maintenance costs, against their taxable income – is one villain. Another is a capital-gains tax exemption for investors selling property. Both encourage buyers to stick their capital in a second or third home, pitting them at auctions against first-time buyers. Millennial anxiety over housing, simmering for years, boiled over last year when the then treasurer, Joe Hockey, seemed to dismiss the issue, suggesting homes were readily affordable – “if you’ve got a good job and it pays good money”. The backlash put housing affordability on the agenda, but little action has followed. The federal Labor opposition is cautiously considering limits on negative gearing. Efforts to make renting more stable and secure are being pushed in Victoria and New South Wales. The search for solutions also saw property dovetail with another Australian passion: blaming Asians, with suggestions Chinese investment was driving up prices. “We don’t really have enough detailed data to support this,” housing analyst Eliza Owen says. “You hear lots of anecdotes about Chinese people showing up to auctions, but there’s nothing to say they’re not Australian citizens.” Like any issue affecting poorer or younger Australians, inaction comes down to a lack of political sway. “Low-income people have low access to decision makers,” Waterford says. “And this is of very little direct benefit to anybody but low-income people – except it benefits us all in the intangible, ephemeral way of improving the society we live in.” Tinkering with policies is only half the work. Millennials also need to get dreaming, imagining a new Australian ideal in line with economic reality. “The idea of house prices being cheap again, we probably need to kill,” Waterford says. So too “the idea of home-owning as the path to security and stability”. And last, the mother of them all: “The idea of owning a free-standing home on a quarter-acre block. It’s just not feasible. The houses of the future will be about small homes, shared spaces, bigger lifestyles.”

Berwick is okay but a long way to the nearest beach. Frankston South is getting expensive but you can still get something in your price range. It's close to rail, beaches and great shopping facilities. Frankston High School is one of the top performing government schools in the state. It's at the gateway to the Mornington Peninsula and all its attractions including many brilliant wineries.

Winters are mild but you will have the heaters on for 6 months especially at night. Summers are mild too with about a dozen very hot days so you will need an air conditioner especially to get a good nights sleep.

Sorry to hear about your situation. From my experience I know that even as an adult, the divorce of ones parents can be devastating. With the Oz dollar being so low, now is a good time to come. I presume you have Australian citizenship. Perth is in a slump at the moment with growing unemployment and falling property prices. Melbourne is doing well but I guess you have to go where the work is. Good luck.

Got a water bill the other day for $660! Turns out we had a leaking pipe - we didn't know about it because it was down the paddock 200 metres from our house.

Don't worry about it, you're doing a great job.

People turn up their noses when Frankston is mentioned but it is really a great place to live. Rents are cheap, it has the best beaches in Melbourne and a new $50 million aquatic centre. I have a house in Frankston which I rent out occasionally. It's an ugly old house but it's clean and comfortable. It's in a prime position being just a few steps away from all the shops and food outlets you need and just a couple of minutes to the beach by car. I may be able to set you up with some very cheap temporary accommodation.

How cheap are you? On Melbourne radio yesterday a painter called in complaining about his labour costs being undercut by foreign workers. He said a team of Chinese workers had taken a job from him by offering to paint a 3 bedroom house for $700 which was several thousand dollars below what he quoted.

We have low inflation, low interest rates, low unemployment, our banks are the most stable and profitable in the world so I don't see any similarity to what happened in the US and UK during the global financial crises of 10 years ago. Prices in the inner suburbs of Sydney and Melbourne are out of control but there is still plenty of good affordable housing in the outer suburbs. In the long term real estate is the safest investment.

Are you having a bad day?

Some people should not be allowed out of the UK for their own good.

Diamond Creek and Eltham are nice and not too far from Campbellfield but beaches are not close. Beaches near Point Cook are a bit ordinary. All the nice beaches are on the east side of the bay. Best to come down for the weekend and have a look around.

Regarding the weather it doesn't matter what time you arrive - it depends on where in Oz you are going.

I can recommend "Coconuts" Holiday Park in Cairns for families. http://www.coconut.com.au/ There is plenty to keep the kids amused. I would spend a few days in beautiful Port Douglas which is an hours lovely scenic drive north of Cairns. We were in Cairns/Port Douglas last August and the weather was just perfect. Have fun.

I came here as a child with my parents so I never had to make that choice. In the UK we lived with grandparents, uncle and aunt who spoilt me rotten. I think the loss of those people did affect me. There was a sense of loss and insecurity and I became rather withdrawn. I never got to see granddad again. However I do love Oz and on return to the UK found that it really didn't suit me. So I think my parents made the right decision overall.

Good luck to him if at the age of 38 he has found a chance of happiness. What has he got to lose? I can't see any downside for him except a broken heart if things don't workout.

You're so right. I've spent a lot of time in Port Douglas over the last 3 years which is FNQ in the tropics. I've never seen a mosquito or a fly. While down here in Melbourne which has a more European climate we are plagued with the bastards.

Going that far on a bus would be my idea of hell.

You really need a car here just for the freedom and independence of being able to go where you want when you want. Don't bother learning in a manual car just get an automatic licence (most cars in Oz are autos). My mum didn't learn to drive until she was 45 - she's now 84 and still driving.

Do it! Sunshine Coast is lovely. Being a doctor you will always be in demand and never short of a quid so you can afford a bit of adventure while you're still young. Good luck.

A couple of days ago I was talking to a Chinese lady about her sons year 12 results. They had sent him to the best school in Melbourne which cost a small fortune. She was upset because he only achieved 94.5. Of course I disagreed and said it was a brilliant result but she was adamant that it just wasn't good enough. I feel sorry for Asian kids and the pressure they are under from parents. I have also known Jewish parents that have pushed their kids so hard it has resulted in mental illness.

Sorry mate it's not going to end well. You will have to choose between her or Oz.