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Tommy Robinson- Journalist at The Rebel Media, has been arrested for filming muslim rape gangs outside court.

Hi All At the meeting with David Wilden at Australia House today, we were told as follows: All the applications in hand from people in Categories 1 - 4 as listed in the FAQ of 23rd September 2009 are now under control. DIAC estimate that there are about 3,500 applications in Category 5 - that is, State sponsored but the main applicant's occupation is not on the CSL. Mr Wilden has been told that DIAC are now in a position to make a start on processing the Cat 5 applications. Mr Wilden said as follows: Roughly 3,500 is the number of actual visa applications, not the number of people involved. (I checked this with him specifically and he was definite about it.) They will start to process the Cat 5s according to the dates when the visa applications were lodged and they will deal with the oldest applications first. They will make no distinctions between the different visa subclasses - first come, first served means what it implies in a situation where the occupation is not on the CSL but the applicant does have State sponsorship. There is no foundation to the rumour that tradies may be excluded from Cat 5 processing - the tradies are to be treated identically to people whose occupations are in ASCO Groups 1-3. Mr Wilden said that we have had him up late at night and out of bed before the birds in order to phone his colleagues in Australia to discover exactly what the plans are for the Category 5s because he had seen from Poms in Oz that everyone is particularly worried about this question in particular. Mr WIlden stressed that he cannot say how long it will take to clear the backlog of about 3,500 Cat 5 applications. As & when they receive further applications from people with greater claim to priority, the applications with greater priority will be dealt with first. The Famous Five were all PiO members (DanB1, Floater, Gollywobbler, RonnieRocket and Watneyni to put us in alphabetical order.) We were all sitting round the same table with Mr Wilden and we all heard him say exactly the same things. (Needless to say we repaired to a London hostelry afterwards to compare notes - thanks very much indeed to Watneyni for very kindly buying a round of drinks for us all.) We were joined unexpectedly by a very helpful young man called Andrew. He has worked at the ASPC for a while but he is now in the UK, working with John Adams RMA at Immigration2Oz.com Andrew is not a PiO member [yet] but I am trying to encourage him/twist his arm! Andrew was involved with this part of the discussion so he heard Mr Wilden as well. That they can't say how long it will take to clear the 3,500 or so Cat 5 applications is reasonable enough. Mr Wilden promised to find out how many of the 108,100 skilled PR & Provisional visas for 2009/10 have been granted as at 30th November 2009 and he said he will let us know as soon as he knows. Once we have that figure it will probably be possible to start making reasonably sensible guesses. After the meeting the Famous Five agreed that this information is probably the most significant piece of info from today and that we would get it onto the forum with all possible speed, in its own thread to make it stand out. Cheers Gill

The Expat Explorer Survey focuses on expats’ experiences when bringing up children abroad. The report looks at which focuses on six key global locations the best opportunities and experiences for their children. Expats rated childcare, education, ease of integration, costs of raising children, time spent outside, and time spent taking part in outdoor activities. In addition, they also rated the relative ease in which they were able to do the following in their new country of residence. Read The Full Report Here Expat Survey Full Report Key findings One in three of the expats surveyed (31%) have dependent children (children under the age of 18) living with them abroad in a total of 26 different countries around the world. Of the top six countries (UAE, US, UK, Singapore, Hong Kong and Australia), expats in Singapore are the most likely to have children who currently live with them (46%), while just a quarter (24%) of expats in the UK have dependent children. Generally, 37% of expats have experienced an increase in the quality of family life since moving abroad. Of the top six countries, Australia had the largest proportion of expat parents (55%) who reported an improvement in the quality of family life compared with where they used to live. Some expats reported that moving to the UK can have a negative effect on their family life – 45% reported a decline in quality compared with only 16% who reported an improvement. Australia Takes Best Overall for Children Of those countries surveyed as part of the Offshore Offspring report, expats living in Australia feel the country provides the best environment for healthy and active children. For example, parents report that these children are the most likely to spend more time outdoors than in their previous country. Children in Australia are more likely to have increased the amount of time spent playing sports (68% vs. 44% globally) and are also the most likely to spend less time watching TV and to eat healthily when compared with their home country; making Australia the best place for children to adopt a healthy way of living. Read The Full Report Here Expat Survey Full Report

Nine in 10 expats think they made the right choice in moving from the UK, which may be in part because of the austerity measures - backed this week by the International Monetary Fund - which are causing financial pain to many in Britain. The mood around the world is mixed, and the perception of future economic growth varies dramatically. For example, expats in China, Australia and the UAE are very confident about their financial future, according to the NatWest International Personal Banking fourth annual Quality of Life Index, with 96 per cent of expats in China expecting strong economic growth. In contrast, those in European countries fear a much slower economic recovery. Europe is still subject to far greater economic concerns than countries elsewhere, with the bail-outs of Greece, Ireland and Portugal all combining to cause concern. Spain has not asked for help to shore up its economy, but there are still fears that this could happen. Dave Isley, head of NatWest International Personal Banking, said: “It is encouraging to see that expats express self-assurance about their ability to triumph over the recessionary pressures which are causing uncertainty and cutbacks in many multi-national businesses. There is a marked difference in optimism between those expats based in Europe and those based elsewhere. “However, it is encouraging to see that despite these variations, the majority of expats present a reasonably confident view of their situation and future prospects.” Related Articles British expats say quality of life higher than at home 21 Apr 2010 New Zealand is 'best destination for expats' 17 Jun 2009 Expats say Canada is best place to live 20 Apr 2011 Retired expats ‘happy with their life abroad’ 29 Aug 2010 Moving abroad can 'give you better perspective' 04 Aug 2010 Eight out of 10 expats happy with their move, says survey 20 Dec 2007 <!-- / message --><!-- sig -->

Hi folks, Hubby and I have started the process of moving to Oz (NSW SS) and since we've sent off the docs to ACS and OH has his Ielts in a couple of weeks I figure I'd better get round to telling my parents what we're planning! I've lived in Scotland for the last 8 years and my family are down near Liverpool. As far as my mum is concerned even this is too far away and I know she misses me badly (dad's not the greatest conversationalist to keep her company!) I started broaching the subject before Christmas but she started to cry :cry: and said she didn't know what she'd do if we moved abroad (I hadn't even mentioned Australia or permanent move at this point)!! I'm driving down this weekend to break the news. :eek: Am stressed out thinking about it coz I know she's going to be devastated and I was wondering if any of you clever people had any uplifting tales of the "it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be" type to give me courage, either that or some ideas on how best to go about it! :biggrin: Cat

below is a list of News papers in Australia http://www.newspapers.com.au/

:biggrin: My local Coles is doing bananas for 99cents kilo! :jiggy: For you sour faced buggers..............Lemons haven't come down in price yet :biggrin:

Evening all, Right thats it for me no more news, i tuned into the 6 oclock news this evening and after 5 minutes of it was ready to top myself :shocked:, i have never heard or seen so much doom and gloom and i for one have had enough so i am going to do my level best to ignore the news on the radio and the tv and buy a newspaper that does not print proper news, so in other words i will carry on buying the one i nearly always do :laugh:, no but seriously the news can do one :mad:

Came across this from another site http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/business/a/-/wa/10886070/collier-sticks-to-irish-jobs-plan/ Wonder how someone could find more info on this?

Melbourne’s residential vacancy rate has hit 3%, the highest of all the capital cities, following an increase of 0.2% during the month of September, according to figures compiled by SQM Research. There are now 10,926 properties available to rent in Melbourne, compared with 10,197 in August and just 7,986 a year ago, equating to an annual increase of 0.8%. Hobart was the other capital city to register a 0.2% monthly increase, while Brisbane, Adelaide and Canberra recorded monthly increases of 0.1% in line with the national increase in vacancy rates, which now stands at 48,179 properties available to rent, a vacancy rate of 1.9%. According to SQM Research, the national vacancy rate has “hovered around 1.8% to 1.9% for the last few months, which may be an indirect result of the continuous lack of buyer interest in the housing sales market of late”. Managing director of SQM research Louis Christopher says Melbourne is the one exception to the expectation that national vacancy will remain in a fixed range for the foreseeable future. “It is very possible we will see Melbourne vacancies continue to rise from here as there is, even at this point in time, new stock still just being completed now,” Christopher says. The Sydney vacancy rate remained unchanged at 1.4% in September, equating to 7,769 properties listed for rent an increase of just 0.2% over the year. Of the major capital cities, Perth has the fewest available properties to rent at just 1,559 after the city’ vacancy rate fell by 0.1% over September to stand at just 0.9%. SQM’s calculations of vacancies are based on online rental listings that have been advertised for three weeks or more compared to the total number of established rental properties.

Hi All, I love reading good news on here, as it fills me with positivity for our application, so I thought we'd share ours! We're newbies to the process and are applying for a 176 VIC SS visa. We put our application into the ACS for skills assessment on 7/10 and have had a positive today! This means we had it back in just under 3 weeks! This is just great news for us as we want to get our visa application in before his 40th in January! Tomorrow will now be spent uploading our VIC SS application.... Let's hope this follows the same pattern...... Liz, Mark and 3 little boys! x

In case anyone isn't as mad as hell as me regarding blatant lies and misrepresentation in the media and from our politicians in the UK, this is a very good site that researches those half truths and mistruths, so you don't have to... http://www.fullfact.org (hope you don't mind admins!!)

We submitted our application for an ENS 121 (Offshore) visa on 29/06/2011. We have front loaded everything but are sitting waiting now. The nomination was submitted at the same time as our application. No case officer yet assigned. Does anyone have any good news to share as to the grant of their visas from application submitted this year and how long it took? Need something positive to keep me going. When sending nomination and application together, is there a timeline for the nomination to be looked at?

Dear Folks Got the Golden ticket today....... So happy :v_SPIN: Thanks for all your support :jiggy:

First let me apologise as I have been a bit of a lurker on PIO recently and mainly just reading Posts in the background whilst posting the odd snippett. Some members, Scissor Sister , Ali & Paul an Majorie C noticed this so PM'd me to let me know that Hairdressers had rightly be placed back on WA SMp. The reason I hadnt posted for a while is due to the fact that we decided not to wait any longer and try to do something else to fulfill our dream. I am VERY VERY pleased to announce that today ..... WE RECEIVED OUR VISA'S !!!!! The story of recent months is as follows.... Back in April I sent a letter to WA requesting if they would consider Sophie for an offlist nomination as Hairdressing was taken off the SMP in December and she had received State Sponsorship previously. We looked into the ENS route as she has a Job lined up already but this was declined. So in May to our surprise WA confirmed they would nominate Soph for an offlist place. We were officially Cat 2 !!!!. We were allocated a Case officer on the 1st of July. More information was requested and sent off as quick as humanly possible as we didn't want anything to hold us up. On August the 24th our Medicals and Police checks were requested . Our Meds were done at Spire Cardiff on the 8th September . It took about and hour for the three of us and it was like clockwork. We had a little wait as our Doctor only works Thursday and she had a Holiday booked. On the 22nd September ( My Daughter Kitty's 18th Birthday ) Spire called me to say we had passed our medicals.... Relief !!! And then finally today the news that we have waited Since June 2009 for was received from our agent GET GOING of Ivybridge that we had our visa. Phew !!!!!!!!!!! We have seen hundreds of people post their excitement of receiving their Visa grant and sharing it with PIO, I cannot tell you how happy it makes me feel to be able to do the same. Thanks to everybody that has offered support, Pablo ,Scissor Sister , Jools, Rach Barlow Taniaholmes cartertucker, JK2510 and our old friend Goolywobbler. So without it sounding like an Oscar acceptance i will stop but the list is indeed endless. Thanks all :biglaugh::jiggy::jiggy::jiggy::notworthy::Randy-git::twitcy::twitcy::twitcy:

Jaguar / Land Rover announce new £335 million engine plant in Staffordshire ........750 new jobs minimum

19 with a stiff breeze is almost chill but 25 without one feels hot. I assume it's the same in the other Cities? The 'Freemantle Doctor' for e.g. in Perth but does that cool down the outer 'burbs there? On the MEGA-hot days here, a 'Southerly Buster' comes through - eventually - and drops the temperature by 15 degrees in a few minutes. Going to be the same tomorrow in Sydney BUT 'showers' for the weekend which will irritate the weather forecasters no end. 'Showers' can mean anything from Pommie-type drizzle to The Flood!

Not sure who or why, will let you know when I hear something else

Temperatures in the 20's 'Flowers blooming everywhere The scent of Jasmine in the air' HEY! I'm a poet and I didn't know it! God! It's the same thing every year - putting up with this for the next eight months!

Its been confirmed on the news that bones found near Beerwah are those of little Daniel Morcombe. Although its good that his family can now finally lay him to rest its tragic what this family must have gone through this last few years. RIP Daniel. http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/bones-found-earlier-this-month-near-beerwah-belonged-to-daniel-morcombe-police-confirm/story-e6freoof-1226123790226 Cal x

My wife got the official info from her employer on PR sponsorship today. We are going on a 457 of course but we want PR. She was told that after 3 years of employment in Australia they will sponsor a 856 for us! YEA! It seemed so hard for us to get down under then suddenly we got a lucky break! We are very fortunate and absolutely do not take that for granted!

Theres alot of negativity around at present and i thought it would be good to start a - Feel good thread' something on the lines of good things that are happening to you, like going on holiday and where, getting married, a christening, going to your favourite resteraunt say, for an annivesary anything to lighten the mood and give us all that feel good factor. Today me the wife and kids went to a local 18 hole par 3, golf course and played a round of golf, the wife couldn't hit the ball for toffee and we just laughed all the way round, we had a great happy family time. Anyone else got something good about to happen?

Has anyone seen or heard anything regarding when (or if) Victoria State proposes to re-open their application process to ICT applicants and what skills might be listed? We were hoping they would do so after 1st July but nothing on their website as of now. Thanks, Gary

hello people im a scaffolder who lived in perth for two years, im looking at going back any way possible. i understand scaffolding is not on the list but ive had 2 calls from perth saying it is and for me two investigate but im having no luck at the minute. im wondering if any one could help. Oh and i need an immigration lawyer please! any suggestions??

I have just heard that a gentleman has thrown himself off a bridge in Yorkshire after struggling with the migration process. What's even more upsetting is that this man could be one of our members:sad: The article is copied below but can also be found here: http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/at-a-glance/main-section/homesick_man_in_motorway_death_plunge_1_3466431 A HOMESICK father has thrown himself to his death from a motorway bridge in South Yorkshire after his dream of a new life in Australia collapsed. Plasterer Shaun Cocking, 44, twice tried to settle into life in Queensland with his family, but the dream turned into a nightmare and he finally returned home alone to Britain. He died instantly when he plunged 30ft from a bridge over the M18 into traffic and was hit by both a truck and a van. Friends revealed that Mr Cocking had been depressed after flying back to Swinton, near Rotherham, leaving his wife Lisa and their daughters Victoria and Joanne at their home near Brisbane. The future looked bright when the family decided to emigrate in 1998 to the Gold Coast in Queensland for a new life in the sun. Together with his wife, a nurse, Mr Cocking moved his young family from South Yorkshire to Edmonton, near Cairns, after falling in love with the country while on holiday. Two years later the family then moved south to Brisbane, so Mr Cocking could earn more money plastering. But after the death of his mother he became homesick and brought his family home in June 2002. Back in Swinton, Mrs Cocking penned a book about the family’s journey, which explored the psychological effects of emigration. Using her own diary entries she took two-and-a-half years to write My Diary Our Lives. The book later went on sale in branches of Waterstones. In 2007 Mrs Cocking talked about her book, saying: “It details the highs and lows that we went through when we moved over there. “You often see on travel programmes how fantastic it is to move abroad, but they don’t really go into the psychological effects it has on you, moving away to another country. But I hope this book shows the rollercoasters that you can go on.” Upon returning home, Mr Cocking ran his own plastering business but, in 2008, it was in the hands of liquidators. Keen to return to Australia, he moved the family back to Queensland. But by October 2010 Mr Cocking revealed he could not settle into Australian life and decided to come home, leaving his family behind. After returning home last year, Mr Cocking stayed with his sister Tracy Windle. Writing on Facebook on October 14 last year he said: “I am returning back to Yorkshire tomorrow as I can’t settle here. “My wife and kids are staying here on the Gold Coast but I will be returning.” Friends and family tried to counsel Mr Cocking against leaving in haste, with one advising: “Don’t go making rash decisions.” However, he returned home and died shortly before 7am last Friday, June 3, after falling from the motorway bridge at Cockhill Lane, Old Edlington. Following his death, one friend said: “He had sounded very depressed. He missed his wife and daughters in Australia.” An inquest into Mr Cocking’s death is set to be opened in Doncaster. South Yorkshire Police are also appealing for anyone who saw him on the bridge to contact them.