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Then you're in for a serious shock if you ever do make it to Australia. I'd suggest not going to St Ives, you can't move for arrogant Sarrfies all cheering for a country they elected to escape from. Muppets. Oh dear oh dear. Do you just sit at the keyboard spouting crap that you hope to be true rather than actually based on any type of first hand experience at all? Come out here and see how 'right' you are. You will find that there are more nations living in one city here than you have ever even heard of, let alone been to. many many communities have 3rd gen offspring that do not speak English as a first choice. They don't need to, such is the concentration of those communities. In some areas that's a good thing, it's vibrant and colourful and diverse. In others it's just downright scary and many (anglo) Australians wouldn't walk down some of the streets in the daytime, let alone at night. If you don't like foreign languages being spoken or overt dispays of 'home' country support, Oz is definitely not the place for you. I'd stick to reading the Daily Fail and being miserable. One finds it's usually best to stick at what one is good at

The outskirts of Victoria? that makes no sense at all? You have rather a lot to learn about life here, do you honestly think we have no corrupt politicians or stupid wars? I doubt very much whether you'd be allowed in Australia anyway with a disability, and when you get here, you may find you don't like it, lots do: If you hink it's so fantastic here, why didn't you come here from SA? [admin note: some content removed. Please avoid direct personal attacks. Newt] http://britishexpats.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=61

Not sure. Said what I had to say about Yogi's moronic 'foreigner' comment then went to bed. It's 8am here so obviously something happened overnight.

We don't get any of those calls as our number is registered with ADMA (which ironically stands for the Australian Direct Marketing Association) they have a privacy option. Plus we never ever give out our home number, even my employer doesn't have it, they have our mobile. Plus I pay extra for an unlisted # and also pay for caller ID. Generally though in Oz you don't get many calls, unless you enter lots of competitions or have your number in the book. having said that there is nothing like TPS here (although I believe there will be a Gov 'don't call' registry next year) And I'm still on dial up so my phone is plugged in to the pooter at night anyway. The only calls we get are from my family in the UK and Yoosun's Dad in Korea and they're always on weekends.

Apologies if this has been posted before. Pretty funny. Dead funny

Well if Wembley is anything to go by, you'll be waiting about 6yrs for a pint and it'll cost about $25k

Well I know I don't post much, but I think, therefore I am (here)

Even my Korean wife thought that was funny,

To a certain degree yes, but there are many ways for trailing family members of original applicants to get in. I pretty much agree with most of the rational sentiment on here. My issue, which seems to be lost in the white noise is that as representation of the political landscape here, that original article is totally misleading, and Snopes backs this up. It is selective editing. I could pretty much select sound bites from Bush saying he sleeps with Bin Laden, the words may have been said at different times but stringing them together to give a false picture wouldn't be very honest would it. Everyone has jumped on this statement with their chest thumping 'bravos' without having a clue (save for Clifftop and Bob, and they don't live in Sydney, where the real issue is) what it's actually like to live here. There is one other thing to consider. In Britain there is a problem with the divide between radical Muslims, Islamists or whatever the label is nowadays, and to some degree that exists here, but not to the large degree it does there. But we have other issues as well, like the mass amounts of heroin being imported by 'untouchable' Vietnamese, whole suburbs where you do not enter at night unless you are, Chinese, Lebanese, Vietnamese (take your pick, we've got a few). Now I like the multi-culturalism, because I'm a migrant as well and I'm married to a Korean (they have two suburbs to themselves, but are very peaceful and contributors to the community, plus I get discounts ). It's not a bad place to live here, but we have many smaller problems, rather than (what seems like) the one one major problem Britain has. If you are of the type of person that dislikes anything non Anglo this is definitely not the place for you. You will see more nationalities one city than you even knew existed, and you have to fit in, because it's not 'your' country, its 'our' (meaning everyone) country, and its pretty colourful. My other question is, in Australia (except for NSW) it's illegal to put carp back in the water, but many English fisherman do, so what should we do with them, as they are obviously ignoring the laws of their adopted country? So don't get all wet because of the original message, its simply not accurate, out of date and despite what you hope, does not represent the (public) attitudes of the politicians.

As I pointed out on MD, it never went to air like that Do you honestly think Australia (and in particular Sydney) is some kind of PC free utopia? Seems to me people only see what they want to see. here's what I wrote on MD. Turns out I was right, as this is on the Snopes page Sydney has quite a few problems in this regard (can't speak too much for other cities as I've never lived in any of them). But jumping over an inaccurately and selectively edited email then proclaiming Oz as some kind political heaven is the stuff of pure fantasy. I would hasten to add, although cautiously that perhaps Britain has a larger and more singular issue with this, and the flood of new arrivals than Australia does. But we do have our own problems ( Britain does not have a monopoly on lying politicians btw ), and we're running out of water, so if you do come, bring a bucket over

Cilit Bang is called 'Easy Off Bam' here in Oz, and the Guru is a guy named Martin Callas, so I'm pretty sure various incarnations of the same product around the globe, same crap ads. Perhaps it's a **** off Amway rep

Not sure if IR really has anything to do with that or not Bob. It may be due to increased confidence by companies that know they will no longer be constricted by having to give concessions to workers with kids, or paying sick, or just that the fact that it's easier to sack someone now (as an person that hires and fires I used to have many hoops to jump through, just to discipline someone let alone get rid of them), which is great from one side bad if it gets abused by management/companies. On paper the story looks good, trade away your sick entitlement, holiday etc, which in itself is not a bad thing. But when the workforce is forced to sign the agreements, which is happening then I think that's bad ( my company does not do that). My point is that people who already have their jobs are to a large degree unnaffected, but prospective new employees (which of course would be new immigrants like Elton is referring to) seem to be the ones that are being told, 'sign this or no start'. But all in all, as stated don't let it put you off, just make sure you know what you're signing if you are of the type of worker that is reffered to above.

If you are a nurse or any other type of manual worker, driver etc I would strongly urge you to do some reading and research on recent changes to Australia's Industrial Relation Laws. It's the biggest workplace reform in Australia's history and seriously affects the rights of these types of workers. The Govenment calls them Work Choices but there seems little choice involved for those affected. Before I get accused of being a screaming lefty union worker or whatever, let me assure you I'm not. In fact I'm a white collar professional corporate mgr and these laws don't affect me at all. But they are big news here and have a lot of people upset, and I feel it should be pointed out to those that may not be aware once they arrive. Cheers

Actually after thinking about it, I reckon you might have a point. It may not be that there are many 'monsters' (although I've certainly heard of a few) it's probably that there are so many mid to high 20's and they're so bloody easy to catch. I had a great day at the Regatta Ctr one day, pulling out lump after lumps, but would have swapped em all for 6 decent roach, a willow tree and some wood pigeons ccoing

I've seen what have been described as 'real monsters' in some South Australian waters and I doubt if they were much more than mid doubles. There are not that many really big carp in Australia.

Bob, You've got it a bit mixed up. Carp must be killed everywhere except NSW (its on page 42 of the NSW Fishing Handbook) where its just 'advised' that carp are not returned. As for no carp over30lb? surely you jest. I watched a guy pull a 27lber out of Manly Dam after an hour, and I've caught many high 20s from the Regatta Ctr, and that was after the cull of the big ones! Lake Burleigh Griffin holds some real monsters!

Clifftop maybe able to confirm (as I never watch Ch7) but apparently this went to air yesterday. http://www.spikedhumor.com/articles/30235/...On_Live_TV.html

Very rare that I post here, but Kleiny, honestly mate you sound like a broken friggin record. I'm sure you're a nice bloke an all, but you really sound like an accident waiting to happen. Banging on constantly about the police and gov, becomes boring. We all know where you stand. Live with the fact that you don't have to be constantly beating the drum. I could go on about the raw deal cyclists get from car drivers,(especially in Oz) but I'd receive little sympathy here, or on MD, or MP, and I accept that. Learn to live with the fact that people have different opinions. Sportsman made a nice gesture to Chesters and that should be it, done and dusted, move on. Now I'm going back to my triathlon and cycling sites, as whilst they know the world isn't perfect, they still manage a positive attitude to life, and yes, many many of them are disabled.

Not quite correct Kleiny. There are myriad ways for an applicant to get into Australia. You marry an Australian (no skills or money needed) this is called 'mail order marriage', you can apply on various family grounds depending how many of your family are there (again, nothing needed). The biggest scam though is a business migration. This has been going on for years. You need approx $300k to apply then you're 'supposed' to invest in a business, but what has been happening is that once the residency has been approved and the people moved, thy just send the money back to bring across more of the family. Funnily enough though, by a long long way the biggest amount of ilegals in Australia are the British and Irish. They over represent 'overstayers' on their visas by a long shot.

Yeah totally agree Kleiny. Bondi Beach is probably the most famous beach in the world, but alas the council voted not to fly the Aussie flag for fear of 'offending'. I think there comes a point where you just have to be positive about life, wherever you are. I for one am eternally grateful I have country like England to come back to, and am free to go back to Oz or NZ if I wish. Through my exploits as a triathlete I've learnt to be a much more 'glass is half full' guy than I used to be. I respect everyone's opinion, but I refuse to consign the UK to the scrapheap just yet. And if the ship is going down, I'm going down with it I've decided to overly worry only about the things in my direct control. Family, career, health and happiness

Hi Kleiny, I understand what you're saying. I've resigned to the philosohpy of 'If there are no 'really' good places left to live, then why not live at home (at least for a while )

This is my first post here and I'm loathe to get into this thread, but that's not a terribly accurate picture of what's happening. I have just returned to the UK after 17 years living in Sydney. Firstly, Australia cannot 'kick out' anyone who is an Australian citizen, as it contravines the Federal Constitution. So a lot of what is said is really empty rhetoric but good for headlines, and making attempts at 'appearing ' to be doing something. There are big problems in Sydney with not only this issue but also a big problem with Lenanese (mostly Muslim but some Christian) gangs, which has little to do with religion, but papers like The Australian (which is notoriously Right Wing) tend to stir things up. I could write for hours on what it's 'really' like to live and pay tax there etc. But I'd doubt anyone here would want to believe it, as most people seem to think the grass is greener someone else and also seem to take pride in running England down. I realise England isn't as good as it was, but neither is Oz, by a long long way. Anyway. Make your own minds up, apply to live there and see after 4 or 5 years. I think you'll be surprised at how many 'similar issues' there are. I'm not saying Australia is a very bad place to live, it's just that the UK isn't as crap as it's constantly made out to be.