Still here and still feel the pull

[Lucia]

Hi All,

This is my first post in around 8 or 9 years. The last time I posted, I said we'd made the decision to return to the UK. I see my 'sticky' at the bottom says we'd return to the UK in 'Easter 2014' - I can't believe I'm still in Perth, in the same house and it's 8 years later.

Life has peddled on by. My daughter is now 10 and my son is 8. We've obviously since been through the process of primary school, sports, clubs etc. We made a few more friends through school etc, my husband was hugely promoted and I began at a new school last year. Life has been pretty good on the whole. We started going to Bali and on caravan holidays down to Busselton. My husband's parents moved out here 4 years ago too. I'm still not sure how I feel about that one as in all my previous bouts of severe homesickness, it was my MIL talking us into staying - telling us how bad the UK was etc. I feel now there was an ulterior motive. It was inevitable really as my husband's only sibling lives here with his wife and kids too.

We were only ever supposed to be in Aus a year and I think my issues stem from this. If my husband had said back in 2008 that we should move for good, I would have refused. I obsessed over this site, watched all episodes of Wanted Down Under and couldnt bear to watch the family messages part. I only agreed to come to Aus on the basis that it was for one year. That one year has just rolled on the the next and the next as life has chugged on by. I realise I occupy my mind with obsessing over things...first it was wedding forums, then getting pregnant forums, new baby forums, this forum when down, buying and decorating a house, getting fit, cake decorating, quitting alcohol. Don't get me wrong - I still have a life. I have friends, go for weekends away etc, but I can see a pattern in my behaviours and I think it's all a coping mechanism. I've been 'coping' for almost 14 years and now I feel too much time has passed. Great jobs, excellent salaries, good school for kids, a lovely house on which we are way ahead on the mortgage and a whole lot of other things. Is it all materialistic or is it realistic? I still can't shake the fear of growing old or even dying here. I cannot handle that my parents don't really know my kids. I've stolen that part of their lives from them. I cannot handle my mum becoming too old to fly here. I cannot handle that I've missed weddings, births, funerals. As always, I bury it.

Anyway, I've just recently been back after 4 years of being trapped here. I desperately wanted to return to see my Dad whose health was deteriorating, but I was too late. Unfortunately, he passed away suddenly at the end of Feb. Because of Covid, I hadn't seen him in such a long time.

As always, I didn't want to get back on the plane to return to Perth. Of course, I wanted to get back to my husband and kids, but I felt I could have happily stayed and built a new life back in the place I still call home. It's so strange that after 13.5 years, UK is 'home' and Perth is 'back' or 'over there' or 'Australia.'

My homesickness is constantly buried deep down and rears its head every time I go home, or every time my Mum visits. It was so bad back in 2019 that I started seeing a psychologist and I only stopped my sessions because of Covid. I started seeing someone else just this week and I made it very clear in the first session that I would have been sitting in front of her whether my dad had recently passed away or not.

I've spoken to my husband about it, and although he will discuss it, deep down I don't think he wants to leave what we have here. Why would he? His parents are now here. His brother and family are now here. He has an excellent job and salary.

I suppose what I'm hoping for is to either make the decision to move back before the kids are too old, or to be able to put the homesickness to bed. Is it actually possible? I've seen many posts on here advising psychological help, but has it ever worked for anyone? Can a psychologist help me to bury the homesickness even deeper? It would be easier for everyone else if I could.

I feel I'm rambling now and things aren't making sense.

Thank you for reading if you have managed to get this far. I'd better go and change my 'sticky' in the footnote  

[Marisawright]

If you have genuine homesickness, which you obviously do, then it's like alcoholism.  A psychologist can help you survive it, but they can't cure or "put it to bed".  

I am so sorry you're in such a no-win situation.  I'm one of those lucky people who never felt homesickness, and for a long time, I couldn't understand people like you, who get so homesick they feel like part of them is missing.  So I have a strong suspicion that your MIL, and even your husband, can't get their head around what you're going through.  Let's face it, if your oh had half an idea, he'd have moved back long ago. 

One thing that may help is for your husband to come to a few psychologist sessions with you, once you feel the psych understands how you feel.   It's funny how our partners sometimes don't hear us properly, but they will hear when someone else says the same thing.  He needs to understand just how great your sacrifice has been, and how much of a struggle you have gone through for such a long time. Right now he either doesn't understand or is trying to pretend he doesn't understand, because you're letting him.  Making him sit down with someone who will facilitate your discussion, will ensure he faces up to what's going on.

If you don't do something now, you will grow old and die in Australia because in a few years, your kids will be too old to move back because "it will disrupt their exams', and then you won't be able to move back because they won't be eligible for domestic fees at British universities, so they'll have to do their uni in Oz.  Then they'll have girlfriends or boyfriends and won't want to move to the UK.  Then they'll be married and there will be grandkids and what will you do then?   Even if you do want to move by then, it won't be practical because your pensions will be in Australia. We have had quite a few members who thought "at least I can go home when I retire", only to find they either couldn't afford it or couldn't bear to leave the grandkids.

You have a window of a few years to sort this out, so don't let your husband fob you off.  Best of luck.

[Quoll]

I am so sorry to hear about your dad, that's one of the really hard things about being a migrant and all the logic in the world can't prepare you for dealing with it. 

What Marisa said. In spades!!!! 

The best a psychologist might be able to do for you is to give you coping strategies but if what ails you is exogenous depression then nothing they do is going to remove you from the stimulus which is causing that depression - leaving the country is the only cure. Medication isn't going to help you. Personally, CBT strategies worked the best for me but everyone is different.

As one who has learned over more than 4 decades (I went well past the point of no return) that life is often about reframing and accepting the least worst option rather than getting all the bells and whistles - I still get immense "downs" where all I want to do is cry (I let myself do that in the shower and my DH is now in tune with my up and down-Ness according to shower length - it was a bit of a bugger during the drought but it was a coping mechanism and the alternative would be worse!) 

So I guess it comes down to whether you are prepared to fight for what you want (I wish I had, about 10 years after being here) or whether you are prepared to live with the least worst option.  Only you will know how difficult it might be for your family to find work/home/school that you'd be happy with in UK but in the plus side, now is a VERY good time to be moving back - the $ has never been so strong.  You might be able to do what I suggest for those questioning a move in the opposite direction - take a career break, rent out your home and suck it and see.  We had 9 years in UK until Covid hastened our return and without a doubt they were the best 9 years of my life in a long while even though we were 24/7 caring for a demented mum, an increasingly frail dad and lending a hand with a frail aunt and uncle. But now, even though both my parents are dead I still need to get back for my sanity hits (and see my son and his family) - I had thought their passing would make it easier for me to be here but it hasn't. 

I do sympathise with the "changing of the goal posts" - that sort of happened to me but I was a bit slow off the mark realising it. At least you have that sussed and can confront it! 

You need to seriously discuss it with your DH and getting him to engage in counselling - whether it be with your counsellor or with relationships counselling - is a good move and the aim needs to be for you both to come to a compromise situation. With him being happy where he is, surrounded by his family that could be difficult but he needs to understand that you want what he is taking for granted and you've got diddly squat. Your compromise might be that the family budgets for at least you to take the kids home for 4-6 weeks every year (if you work in schools that will be for Christmas which isn't probably that ideal). Or, if you return to UK that he gets to visit his folks or pay for them to visit every year. 

At the end of the day, though, you may need to come to terms with what is your least worst option - here with him or there without him.  Good luck, it's a sh!tty situation to find yourself in and it's made even harder because so many people don't understand what exogenous depression does to your mental health - with all the pragmatism in the world it isn't a matter of "suck it up, you live in paradise".

Edited April 7, 2022 by Quoll

[Loopylu]

I know exactly how you feel. My Dad died in February too but fortunately I got back in time to spend a few days with him before he passed. I have managed to be able to stay in the UK for 3 months to spend time with Mum as I can do my work remotely and I work for a great company that allows this. I see you work in a school so don’t have that flexibility and your kids are probably too young to leave for more than 2-3 weeks (my youngest is 17). 
Quoll and Marissa are right that you must act now while the kids are not at high school otherwise you could end up stuck indefinitely where you only exist and go through the motions and you never feel truly at home or peace (this is how I feel after 14 years languishing in SEQ). I am truly stuck now due to the age of my kids and my Aussie husband’s health (he is on dialysis). Moving country is just not an option right now. 
If you work in a school could you spend all of the long holidays in the UK and take the kids with you? Your husband could come for the couple of weeks over Christmas and New Year and then go back to work. A bit of time on his own rattling around the house and seeing the transformation in you from spending a long time in the UK may make him realise how you are affected by living down under. 
All the best - you are not alone. 

[Marisawright]

@Lucia, I honestly think it's high time you got righteously angry with your OH at the way he and his mother have manipulated you for the last how many years.   He's seen you get teary and upset about this and clearly, that's not getting through to him.  I wonder how he'd feel if you got furious instead?  After all, the situation you're in is entirely his fault and TBH I don't think you're going to get anywhere until you (or your counsellor) can make him own it.

First, he lied to get you to move to Australia.  To be generous, he may not have seen it as deceit.  It's not uncommon for a partner who's in love with the Aussie dream to make promises they don't mean. They're thinking, "Once she gets there and sees how fabulous it is, she'll forget all about going home".  They're sure they'll never be called upon to honour their promise. They think they're doing it for the best, unfortunately. 

I feel less generous about what has happened since.  I can understand him fobbing you off desperately for the first few years, telling himself "she just needs time to adjust, it'll be fine".   But for him to continue doing that, once it became clear you were still miserable, makes me less sympathetic.  I'm guessing there's been a few times where he's said "yes we'll go home but let's give it a few more years".  He maybe even agreed to a future leaving date (2014 being an example).  Looking back, do you think he meant any of them, or were they just delaying tactics? Why didn't those dates ever happen?  What was the excuse?

What's really galling is that someone like Quoll really is stuck between a rock and a hard place, because she's married to an Aussie. Wherever they live, one of them will feel homesick.   That's not the case with you.  Sure, his family is here, but he's had the luxury of being close to family for the last x years, so now it's your turn.You're entitled to a turn.  

Edited April 8, 2022 by Marisawright

[Lucia]

Thank you for your replies.

I must say, my husband can't be entirely to blame in all of this. He's not a monster. It was me that decided we should stay after all and buy the house so we could truly say we'd tried. I think if we left after renting, I wouldn't have felt we'd truly lived our lives in the way we wanted. I just don't think I was in the best frame of mind to make the decisions.

I've been counting down the days to my next psych session and did suggest that my husband and I should go together at some point. She agreed but said I need to sort my own stuff out first.

I definitely feel like it's a now or never with the kids being 8 and 10, but I'm really trying to weigh it all up. I read all the positive stories of being in Australia as well as the 'going home' ones. For me, I'm getting to the point of thinking 'enough is enough' - I've done my time here, I've tried my very best to settle, I've had a great materialistic life, I've made some wonderful memories, but I'll always wonder 'what if?' if I don't go now. I've joined a couple of facebook groups and have seen that there are a few others moving back with an 8 and 10 year old so I'd be interested to hear their stories. My kids only know Australia really.

What doesn't help my husband is all the doom and gloom stories of VAT increases, energy bills, crap wages, expensive houses, struggling NHS. I just wish the UK could sort its shit out and it'd be a much easier decision.

I fear that whatever decision is made, it'll split us up at some point. I'd like to think we're strong enough for that not to happen, but resent is an awful thing. I think I'd begin to resent my husband and his family for encouraging me to stay here, or resent my kids purely because they're Australian and have no real tie to the UK. If I upheave the family purely for my own feelings, I'm sure they'd resent me.

If I had my time again, I wouldn't have moved to Aus in the first place.

I'm properly messed up.  

[Quoll]

1 hour ago, Lucia said:

Thank you for your replies.

I must say, my husband can't be entirely to blame in all of this. He's not a monster. It was me that decided we should stay after all and buy the house so we could truly say we'd tried. I think if we left after renting, I wouldn't have felt we'd truly lived our lives in the way we wanted. I just don't think I was in the best frame of mind to make the decisions.

I've been counting down the days to my next psych session and did suggest that my husband and I should go together at some point. She agreed but said I need to sort my own stuff out first.

I definitely feel like it's a now or never with the kids being 8 and 10, but I'm really trying to weigh it all up. I read all the positive stories of being in Australia as well as the 'going home' ones. For me, I'm getting to the point of thinking 'enough is enough' - I've done my time here, I've tried my very best to settle, I've had a great materialistic life, I've made some wonderful memories, but I'll always wonder 'what if?' if I don't go now. I've joined a couple of facebook groups and have seen that there are a few others moving back with an 8 and 10 year old so I'd be interested to hear their stories. My kids only know Australia really.

What doesn't help my husband is all the doom and gloom stories of VAT increases, energy bills, crap wages, expensive houses, struggling NHS. I just wish the UK could sort its shit out and it'd be a much easier decision.

I fear that whatever decision is made, it'll split us up at some point. I'd like to think we're strong enough for that not to happen, but resent is an awful thing. I think I'd begin to resent my husband and his family for encouraging me to stay here, or resent my kids purely because they're Australian and have no real tie to the UK. If I upheave the family purely for my own feelings, I'm sure they'd resent me.

If I had my time again, I wouldn't have moved to Aus in the first place.

I'm properly messed up.  

Hang in there, it'll all be good in the end and if it is not all good then it is not the end! (Got to love the Marigold Hotel!)

[Cup Final 1973]

I’m so sorry you feel you shouldn’t have moved to Australia in the first place but if you want to leave don’t believe all the horror stories you hear about life in the UK.  I’ve already queried one comment about electricity bills going up from £100 to £400 a month.  As for the NHS, we can’t fault the treatment we’ve received in the 11 months since we’ve been back.  House prices vary enormously depending on the area.

[Loopylu]

17 minutes ago, Cup Final 1973 said:

I’m so sorry you feel you shouldn’t have moved to Australia in the first place but if you want to leave don’t believe all the horror stories you hear about life in the UK.  I’ve already queried one comment about electricity bills going up from £100 to £400 a month.  As for the NHS, we can’t fault the treatment we’ve received in the 11 months since we’ve been back.  House prices vary enormously depending on the area.

I totally agree - I am in the UK for 3 months and can’t see mass panic on the streets. Yes - there has been a steep increase in fuel costs recently and filling up my Mum’s oil tank for heating was pretty pricey compared to last time but this can be blamed largely on the Ukraine situation. Prices are already starting to come down as the global oil markets adjust.
A similar fuel increase has already occurred at the petrol pump in Australia and I read recently that electricity  prices are due to rise steeply in Australia too. 
The problem is that the UK media and opposition parties appear to be more vocal about issues here whereas the Murdoch media in Australia cover up the difficulties faced by the average person in terms of accessing decent public healthcare and education and the cost of living.  The Australian media also seems to delight in showing the negatives about the UK (huge chip on shoulder in my view) but similar issues arising in Australia get little media coverage in the UK. The main coverage about Australian politics here has been the woeful climate change response and the flood issues. 
People here you meet in shops etc generally are friendlier, more helpful and more cheerful than my experience of people in SEQ but that could be the effect of Spring! 

[beketamun]

11 hours ago, Cup Final 1973 said:

I’m so sorry you feel you shouldn’t have moved to Australia in the first place but if you want to leave don’t believe all the horror stories you hear about life in the UK.  I’ve already queried one comment about electricity bills going up from £100 to £400 a month.  

Agree.  I checked my dad's energy bills and he won't go up at all as he's locked in to a deal with a big supplier for the next 18 months.  The price hikes will catch people one day, but initially only those who don't have a deal locked in, or are coming up to expiry. 

It is true that some smaller companies cannot maintain the deals that customers have already signed, so have gone bust.  They've had a ludicrous situation in the UK where some very small energy suppliers have been allowed to form and act as suppliers, such as local councils with a few thousand customers.  All done in good faith and by not chasing profits for shareholders, they could offer undercutting deals to beat the big companies when wholesale was cheap, but had no financial strength to protect customers against large wholesale rises.

 

[Loopylu]

3 minutes ago, beketamun said:

Agree.  I checked my dad's energy bills and he won't go up at all as he's locked in to a deal with a big supplier for the next 18 months.  The price hikes will catch people one day, but initially only those who don't have a deal locked in, or are coming up to expiry. 

It is true that some smaller companies cannot maintain the deals that customers have already signed, so have gone bust.  They've had a ludicrous situation in the UK where some very small energy suppliers have been allowed to form and act as suppliers, such as local councils with a few thousand customers.  All done in good faith and by not chasing profits for shareholders, they could offer undercutting deals to beat the big companies when wholesale was cheap, but had no financial strength to protect customers against large wholesale rises.

 

I have worked in the electricity industry in Qld for 14 years and did the same in the UK for 15 years. Believe me - there have been as many small electricity companies go to the wall in Australia - it just isn’t considered newsworthy in the same way as it is in the UK. In both markets, the big players manoeuvre to put them out of business and reduce competition, pushing up prices for consumers. 
My Mum also had fixed electricity charged for a couple of years but is reliant on oil for heating. She is lucky to also have solar so her bills aren’t too high in any event. 

[beketamun]

4 minutes ago, Loopylu said:

I have worked in the electricity industry in Qld for 14 years and did the same in the UK for 15 years. Believe me - there have been as many small electricity companies go to the wall in Australia - it just isn’t considered newsworthy in the same way as it is in the UK. In both markets, the big players manoeuvre to put them out of business and reduce competition, pushing up prices for consumers. 
My Mum also had fixed electricity charged for a couple of years but is reliant on oil for heating. She is lucky to also have solar so her bills aren’t too high in any event. 

With your industry experience, can you say why the price rises have been so much higher in the UK than they have in Europe or Australiia?

[Loopylu]

10 minutes ago, beketamun said:

With your industry experience, can you say why the price rises have been so much higher in the UK than they have in Europe or Australiia?

I’ve no idea about European prices but I understand that Australia has not yet experienced the full flow through of increased energy prices. As you’ll know, the Fed Govt has reduced fuel excise to ensure petrol prices go down ahead of the election. My husband said petrol was as high as $2.52/litre recently but is now back down to $1.55 following a reduction in global oil price and the excise cut. 
Australia also produces its own coal and has an abundance of CSG to generate electricity and this explains in part the reluctance to transition more quickly to renewables which will require greater investment which a free market is not delivering and the LNP has done nothing policy wise to encourage private investment. 
Europe has also some way to go before it stops taking Russian gas whereas the UK stopped taking any last week which will have contributed to higher gas prices in the UK.  I am guessing that Brexit has also played a large part in pushing up imported fuel costs as it seems to have done for all other imports. UK is now looking to build several nuclear power stations. No doubt favourable terms for trading uranium featured in the recent Aus/UK trade agreement. 

[Loopylu]

47 minutes ago, beketamun said:

With your industry experience, can you say why the price rises have been so much higher in the UK than they have in Europe or Australiia?

https://www.afr.com/companies/energy/households-set-for-higher-power-bills-as-wholesale-prices-double-20220404-p5aaqa
 

[beketamun]

6 minutes ago, Loopylu said:

I’ve no idea about European prices but I understand that Australia has not yet experienced the full flow through of increased energy prices. As you’ll know, the Fed Govt has reduced fuel excise to ensure petrol prices go down ahead of the election. My husband said petrol was as high as $2.52/litre recently but is now back down to $1.55 following a reduction in global oil price and the excise cut. 
Australia also produces its own coal and has an abundance of CSG to generate electricity and this explains in part the reluctance to transition more quickly to renewables which will require greater investment which a free market is not delivering and the LNP has done nothing policy wise to encourage private investment. 
Europe has also some way to go before it stops taking Russian gas whereas the UK stopped taking any last week which will have contributed to higher gas prices in the UK.  I am guessing that Brexit has also played a large part in pushing up imported fuel costs as it seems to have done for all other imports. UK is now looking to build several nuclear power stations. No doubt favourable terms for trading uranium featured in the recent Aus/UK trade agreement. 

Yes, it's hard to fathom why the shock has hit the UK harder than anywhere.  One theory is that the UK's energy sector is all privatised and many large UK pension funds, including the state pension, are invested heavily in funds that have energy company shares.  Any state intervention to lower prices will damage the share value, thus damaging the pension fund values.  Basically the people will pay the price one way or the other.

The UK needs to be energy secure and the pussyfooting around over the last 10 years cannot be repeated, there is basically no viable national energy policy and it should have been a national security issue instead of trying to use Chinese loans to pay French state-owned enterprises to build our power stations.  It seems unthinkable that we would privatise UK energy companies because they're seen as inefficient, but then choose a French state-owned company as the most efficient partner at a massive cost which has stalled the UK into indecision and kicking the can down the road?

Australia is terrible at Federal level...they have a difficult job to transition a huge industry out of fossil fuels but have been basically kept in power by that industry support with a wafer-thin majority.  It's not progressive politics, though the majority of workers seem to have already accepted their industry will shrink and reckon they have 5 years to get out and retrain or retire.  It begs the question, how many Aussie politicians are being paid off to sustain a dying industry, the level of corruption in politics here is almost seen as expected.   

The gas companies have done well recently with the war, they can basically name their own price for a ship of fuel and are getting back a lot of lost profit caused by covid.  I expect Australia to become an energy exporter only to places like India and China, well after they've minimised using fossil fuels here.  

The interesting thing about solar is that the whole economic market structure is being skewed by the vast take-up across the nation, to the point where instead of selling your excess energy back to the grid, you may have to pay them an administration charge for the right to do so.  I think ACT and some parts of SA (?) are 100% renewable already but the future is unclear.   The theory is that if the people are supplying the energy to the grid, the less profit is available for energy companies to invest in maintaining the network and systems that manage the grid and delivery systems.  It makes economic sense to ask for a service charge, but isn't intuitive when people thought they could clean up by making their own energy and selling.  You only have to fly over Sydney and see the amount of solar on roofs to see the change that is happening.

 

 

 

[Loopylu]

23 minutes ago, beketamun said:

Yes, it's hard to fathom why the shock has hit the UK harder than anywhere.  One theory is that the UK's energy sector is all privatised and many large UK pension funds, including the state pension, are invested heavily in funds that have energy company shares.  Any state intervention to lower prices will damage the share value, thus damaging the pension fund values.  Basically the people will pay the price one way or the other.

The UK needs to be energy secure and the pussyfooting around over the last 10 years cannot be repeated, there is basically no viable national energy policy and it should have been a national security issue instead of trying to use Chinese loans to pay French state-owned enterprises to build our power stations.  It seems unthinkable that we would privatise UK energy companies because they're seen as inefficient, but then choose a French state-owned company as the most efficient partner at a massive cost which has stalled the UK into indecision and kicking the can down the road?

Australia is terrible at Federal level...they have a difficult job to transition a huge industry out of fossil fuels but have been basically kept in power by that industry support with a wafer-thin majority.  It's not progressive politics, though the majority of workers seem to have already accepted their industry will shrink and reckon they have 5 years to get out and retrain or retire.  It begs the question, how many Aussie politicians are being paid off to sustain a dying industry, the level of corruption in politics here is almost seen as expected.   

The gas companies have done well recently with the war, they can basically name their own price for a ship of fuel and are getting back a lot of lost profit caused by covid.  I expect Australia to become an energy exporter only to places like India and China, well after they've minimised using fossil fuels here.  

The interesting thing about solar is that the whole economic market structure is being skewed by the vast take-up across the nation, to the point where instead of selling your excess energy back to the grid, you may have to pay them an administration charge for the right to do so.  I think ACT and some parts of SA (?) are 100% renewable already but the future is unclear.   The theory is that if the people are supplying the energy to the grid, the less profit is available for energy companies to invest in maintaining the network and systems that manage the grid and delivery systems.  It makes economic sense to ask for a service charge, but isn't intuitive when people thought they could clean up by making their own energy and selling.  You only have to fly over Sydney and see the amount of solar on roofs to see the change that is happening.

 

 

 

Your assessment of the situation is spot on. I went to talks by Paul Simshauser about 8 years ago where he raised the issue around solar penetration and insufficient revenue to distribution companies to fund the poles and wires needed when there is no sun. He also raised the issue of those who cannot afford solar subsidising the rich as those without solar would pay the lion’s share of the standing charge. He reckoned that those with solar would have to pay a fair share of the standing charge. The other issue is that in SÀ they now stop solar exports when the grid is oversupplied or charge to export. Dynamic operating envelopes will soon be with us but it will be a brave government who forces it through. 

[rammygirl]

We have solar in SA. pay a standing charge and are limited for feeding back to the grid to 5kw at any time, we don’t get much for that either.  Still worth having though, will be paid back in 3 to 3.5 years. We are retired and use a lot of the power during the day so get maximum benefit. House is well insulated so we heat /cool when sun is out then it stays that way after dark. Paying a standing charge is always going to be a thing unless completely off grid though.

[Loopylu]

14 minutes ago, rammygirl said:

We have solar in SA. pay a standing charge and are limited for feeding back to the grid to 5kw at any time, we don’t get much for that either.  Still worth having though, will be paid back in 3 to 3.5 years. We are retired and use a lot of the power during the day so get maximum benefit. House is well insulated so we heat /cool when sun is out then it stays that way after dark. Paying a standing charge is always going to be a thing unless completely off grid though.

The standing charge is quite low but where those without solar are subsidising those with solar is that about 35-40% of the electricity consumption charge is attributable to the transmission and distribution use of system charge. So those without solar pay more towards the poles and wires that everyone uses. It hits the poor most who cannot avoid solar. That’s why they are talking of introducing an extra levy on those with solar so they pay a fairer share of maintaining grid capacity at a level that everyone can use when the sun doesn’t shine. 

[Toots]

We haven't needed heating or cooling here on NW Tassie since last November.  We have solar (not a big set-up) so bills are minimal.  It's starting to get a bit nippy in the evenings now so the log heater will be in use soon.  90% of Tasmania's power generation comes from the  hydro-electric systems and the rest is from wind farms.  I think there is only one electricity supplier which we have been with since we came here.  So far we've not noticed much of a difference in price.  Good old Coles and Woolies on the other hand have put prices up on many products. 

[Loopylu]

8 minutes ago, Toots said:

We haven't needed heating or cooling here on NW Tassie since last November.  We have solar (not a big set-up) so bills are minimal.  It's starting to get a bit nippy in the evenings now so the log heater will be in use soon.  90% of Tasmania's power generation comes from the  hydro-electric systems and the rest is from wind farms.  I think there is only one electricity supplier which we have been with since we came here.  So far we've not noticed much of a difference in price.  Good old Coles and Woolies on the other hand have put prices up on many products. 

Yeah - Tassie only really has Aurora as retailer for small customers. It’s similar in regional Qld where only Ergon Electricity supplies mums and dads customers and the cost to deliver is heavily subsidised by the State through the Community Service Obligation. Unfortunately electricity prices are set to soar in the next few months in Australia so wages are going to have to rise after nearly 13 years of stagnation. 

[Toots]

Germany apparently pays the most for electricity.  Report from February 2022.

https://www.energycouncil.com.au/analysis/international-electricity-prices-how-does-australia-compare/

[Toots]

2 hours ago, Loopylu said:

Yeah - Tassie only really has Aurora as retailer for small customers. It’s similar in regional Qld where only Ergon Electricity supplies mums and dads customers and the cost to deliver is heavily subsidised by the State through the Community Service Obligation. Unfortunately electricity prices are set to soar in the next few months in Australia so wages are going to have to rise after nearly 13 years of stagnation. 

Queensland – which is most dependent on coal for its electricity generation – experienced the biggest annual wholesale increases.

[Blue Flu]

16 hours ago, Loopylu said:

I totally agree - I am in the UK for 3 months and can’t see mass panic on the streets. Yes - there has been a steep increase in fuel costs recently and filling up my Mum’s oil tank for heating was pretty pricey compared to last time but this can be blamed largely on the Ukraine situation. Prices are already starting to come down as the global oil markets adjust.
A similar fuel increase has already occurred at the petrol pump in Australia and I read recently that electricity  prices are due to rise steeply in Australia too. 
The problem is that the UK media and opposition parties appear to be more vocal about issues here whereas the Murdoch media in Australia cover up the difficulties faced by the average person in terms of accessing decent public healthcare and education and the cost of living.  The Australian media also seems to delight in showing the negatives about the UK (huge chip on shoulder in my view) but similar issues arising in Australia get little media coverage in the UK. The main coverage about Australian politics here has been the woeful climate change response and the flood issues. 
People here you meet in shops etc generally are friendlier, more helpful and more cheerful than my experience of people in SEQ but that could be the effect of Spring! 

I quite agree. It's good to read that you are in general finding being back all that you hoped it would be. As for Australian media, I've been trying to get the local state newspaper interested in what's going on around me in the way of drugs to no avail what so ever. 

Friendliness would never be a word I'd likely use concerning people here. (in Perth, anyway) It could be the advent of spring bringing people out of their shells more and advancing a more positive mood. But don't notice a seasonal difference here. 

I suppose some will say that 3 months is still the honeymoon period. But so far, so good. 

 

[beketamun]

2 hours ago, Toots said:

Germany apparently pays the most for electricity.  Report from February 2022.

https://www.energycouncil.com.au/analysis/international-electricity-prices-how-does-australia-compare/

I saw a poll that says a majority of Germans want tougher sanctions on Russia even if it means much higher energy prices for themselves  I suppose being the wealthiest country in Europe helps a little if they can absorb a lot of that cost to protect the poorest in society..

[Loopylu]

4 hours ago, Blue Flu said:

I quite agree. It's good to read that you are in general finding being back all that you hoped it would be. As for Australian media, I've been trying to get the local state newspaper interested in what's going on around me in the way of drugs to no avail what so ever. 

Friendliness would never be a word I'd likely use concerning people here. (in Perth, anyway) It could be the advent of spring bringing people out of their shells more and advancing a more positive mood. But don't notice a seasonal difference here. 

I suppose some will say that 3 months is still the honeymoon period. But so far, so good. 

 

I’m not back in the UK permanently but on a 3 month stay as my Dad died in February. I am lucky in that I can work remotely from here. I return to Qld in early May. I am looking forward to seeing my husband and kids again. I will have had my UK fix for a while and so can cope with life on prison island again…. At least I’ve missed the worst of the incessant La Niña rain and it will be cooler. 

Edited April 12, 2022 by Loopylu