CosmicGorilla

UPDATE: ​ - Dog half way to the UK now - Cases etc - all packed and weighed - Furniture & car - all sold (I got an OK price considering) - Boxes - almost completely packed and weighed (one or two may be over weight) - Ex-pat and Australian mates - helping out a lot - Said good bye to old friends, neighbors and church - I smell like a horse RETRACTION: - Obviously Australia is not 'horrible' - it's just not my cup of tea - Australians are generally not my cup of tea but when you meet a good one (and there are many) they can not be beaten (what we call salt of the earth) - Politics are still childish - I've nothing to change there - except I think that someone who commented on my original post helped me understand 'they may be just more open than in the UK' - My comment about right-wing churches was stupid too, in fact I'd say that the whole country is more right wing than I'm used to, and whilst I do not agree with many of my Australian Christian friend's politics I see them giving selflessly, taking an active role in community affairs and politics and driving change for the good across Australia. In fact, on balance, I have learnt a lot from my 'right-wing' God-bothering-friends over here. REBUTTAL: - the comments people have made about my visa status, applying for PR etc are not deserved but I understand why people made them when my post was so full of emotion. - I came here to work, earn money, contribute socially (I volunteered with the Red Cross teaching young people to drive / do their 100 hours) and to see if we wanted to stay - I came here for my kids to grow and learn about foreign cultures and they did BITTERNESS: I have been accused of sounding bitter. I'm not bitter but anyone thinking of coming to Australia on an employer sponsored Visa should read my previous post and think very hard before they do because my general impression of Australian business is that it is cut-throat, uncaring and treats people like me as units of labor rather than people with a lot to offer. I'm thinking of starting a thread entitled 'Wanted Down Under - An Alternative Approach' - what do you think?

I have good health insurance and Medicare through the RHA, my daughter has a broken bone in her foot and it needs removing. Medicare does not cover that type of surgery!? and because of that nor does my health cover. The NHS will sort it out for her though, as it would for an Australian child on a RHA.

I'm really pleased that it is working for you mate.

​But this is meant to be the best country in the world, how come it has a suicide rate higher than the UK? In an case I regret posting that, it was a cheap shot and not at all in character. I am sorry.

I'm going to think about that, if there is bitterness I will get rid of it, but I am not aware of it. I stayed for two years because I committed to the man who hired me that I would and I always keep my commitments, irrespective of circumstances. Thank you for your good wishes. :-)

I know! The sunshine, how am I going to get by without all that sunshine we get to see on the way to work in the morning and through the office window?

Gosh angry!? Perhaps I am a little cross, but I'm not angry - honestly I'm not - I guess that tone never comes through in these things, does it? In any case I really hope that you and your partner continue to enjoy yourselves here, honestly I do.

I'll make sure that it is an immigrant opening the door then, if it was an Australian he would be out back on a fag break ;-) To be honest that door could slam shut as fast as it likes but it wouldn't hit may arse, I'll be on that plane quick snap ;-)

No I loved the country before I had to sell my a**e to feed my wife and kids. ;-) Seriously though LAFA was removed too quickly any other country would have said existing agreements should stand but no future agreements should be made. If politics were not so childish here that's what would have happened. Also seeing as non-457 people get to live in a thriving country and pay a lot less tax because of us 457-black-leg-pommy-ba****ds were you happier when I had LAFA?

You are right, if I had excluded the (by no means all) I would have lost credibility. But it was you who edited my words to fit your judgement, you're not Australian are you? ;-)

Read the post again, do I sound unhappy? I don't think so - emotion doesn't have anything to do with it - I'm always happy. Look :-) see, I'm smiling. I think that what I wrote is a fair and balanced expression of my experience. Some people love Australia and some people don't. It is the Marmite country :-) BTW your company has to repatriate you if you are on a 457 and you do not have to leave Australia until they do. It's the law... ​

No, I loved the place when I didn't have to sell my a**e (not literally) to feed my wife and kids.

So after two years in Australia where LAFA was arbitrarily taken away from me, Julia made it clear that people on a 457 were scumbag black-legs and where I worked so hard for two years that my blood pressure was the highest both my GP and the silly-Canadian-pot-head-Dr from Medibank had seen. I have been all along the east coast, worked as far north as Cairns & the Torres Straits Islands, as far South as the great ocean road, I've spent months away from home in Tasmania, and been almost everywhere there, as well as a long time working for my Australian employer in the North Island of New Zealand. I have caught up with many friends in Australia and New Zealand and made a few new ones as I've gone along. We are leaving on the 13 May 2013, almost exactly 2 years after we came, we are packing up the things that matter, selling the car and all the furniture, the dog goes on the 6th, I'm taking my daughter to see Tenacious-D on the 10th, she is at a School prom on the 11th then we are going to the beach for the last time. So this is my final analysis. Up Side: - we did it and we know how lucky we are to be able to live in England the kids now know what it's like if they want to emigrate - earned and saved loads of money despite the stupidly high prices in this country - gained international experience and delivered some very high profile projects / product improvements - our family relationships were brilliant before we came and now they are even better - I have learnt a lot about myself, my purpose and my physical limitations, I have also learned a lot about those I love Down Side: - this country is horrible - most (but by no means all) Australians are horrible and lazy - Australian politics are childish and reactionary - Australian churches are far more right-wing than UK churches I will never come to this country again - never, I have truly come to despise the way it works, how people are just units of production, how everyone goes on about the life style but work all the hours God sends to pay for the boat, the UTE, the Le-Corbusier-esk House, and half a shopping basket in Coles or Woolworths. I can understand why the suicide rate is so high. By the way I was relocated at my employer's expense and I'me being repatriated at their expense too, they did not tell me the full truth before I brought my family here. I had been here 4-weeks when I found out in a business meeting that the product group that I was working with was loosing something like $2m a year! Imagine guys, I've been working my guts out for this company minimizing losses that I am not responsible for, fixing lazily designed and built products whilst fielding the flack generated by other people. I got on top of it, achieved all my objectives (exceeded them actually) then my relationship with the Chief Exec suddenly changed from cordial, supportive and interactive to just being shouted at all the time. I am not a weak person nor do I respond to bullies by being cowed and it did not surprise me that they made my role redundant after two weeks of this childish idiotic behavior. If you are thinking about Employer Sponsored Migration just think about this: after I nearly died working for my employer and managed to stop their product hemorrhaging money, they made me redundant knowing that my PR application would be cancelled, I would be kicked out of the country in 28 days because I was still on a 457 visa, that my daughter would be kicked out of school and my entire life would be turned up-side-down. They did this, knowingly, on the day I had a ECG to check out if I had a heart condition, in fact they insisted on the meeting half an hour after that consultation. THIS IS AUSTRALIA! Only come on your own terms - Australia is red in tooth a claw. BTW: I am not bitter, why would I be, I made these choices knowing and accepting the risks, I take responsibility for it all and all of my decisions, financial, the type of education (IB) my daughter received here, etc, etc were made by me and have minimized the impact on us all.