Unemployed.

[j.sabourn]

#111... Cappy I have at the moment a 4 Bedroom detached house ( you would call a bungalow here is a house ,, single story. Double Garage. Stands on a 750 sq. metre block. ( previous house with pool etc. was on 1100 sq. meter block) built and downsized this for retirement. Thinking about moving into a retirement village but had a look and think too small. Our rates are about 800 dollars a year, would be more but as pensioners get rebate on. At present exchange rate about 500 pounds a year. Our services are probably if anything better than what I saw in UK last time over. Water rates a couple of hundred at most a year ( 100 pounds) have my own bore water for garden, and partial solar panels to ease on the electric. If had more panels would probably pay no electric, have a friend who gets money back as puts more onto the grid than what he uses. Food bill for week averages out at about 100 dollars a week, sometimes more depending how many parties have. divide dollars by about 1.6 to convert to pounds. Usually try and buy beer when on special is about 40 dollars for a case of 30 cans. In the pubs can cost anything between 8 and 12 dollars a pint. So drink mostly at home. Petrol at moment expensive about 1.40 a litre pushing up towards a pound. Get free local transport if want, never use as lazy and use car. A free ticket to anywhere in the State once a year, and is a big state as you know. However these are perks for pensioners. If you are a retired ex serviceman there are all sorts of perks free gardeners and any other assistance as required, the Australian servicemen get things the uk servicemen never did and still dont as far as I know. Clothes and shoes as such are more costly than the uk, but if like John in Oz just wears his hairy chest in the summer and probably either bare feet or flipflops if feels like it. I did away with a swimming pool for this house as was too much bother and expense with chemicals, ok if you have kids using all the time but when old fogies like us not necessary, anyhow a 5 mile beach is only 400 metres away. Just have a spar bath in the back garden. Never hardly use that either, takes me all my time to get a beer out of the fridge in the back. Bins collected once a week large wheelie and also a large re-cycling once a fortnight. Families are expected to pay for their kids books and anything else as needed and some have to contribute to the cost of their schooling, that is the public schools, the private schools can be very pricey. Back to original question Rates and water rates approx. about 630 pounds your money at present rate of exchange. Cheers Salaam Sahib, John S. PS I think for the full rates add about 30 per cent. Also a 2 bathroom house. Dont keep the coal in tub anymore JS

[cappy]

well john that is a really interesting summary .......the difference seems quite substantial.....you also have the benefit ofless heating bills and heavy winter bills...thanwe would expect in general .....plus the benefits of sunshine ......when ist married to pat really fancied coming to oz but pats family ties only daughter etc were preventativethink its agreat country also kiwi .....but understand people leaving kiwi now for various reasons andthe government is somewhat worried about that ......with ref to the queers the tele is filled with them vying for the first to be married ....and kissing each other all over the telly ....they are still classed as husband and husband ....but wonder how long beforethey demand husband and wife on there marriage lines .......perhaps bender and sender may be more applicable.......havnt heard yet what the lesbians are called on the marriage lines are they wife and wife..... regards cappy

[Keith Tindell]

Interesting figures there in OZ John, seems pensioners are better off there than here. The only caution i would give anyone from the UK going there to live is if you have a private pension here in UK, then you are at the mercy of the exchange rate, which has had a clobbering in recent years, at one point my brother-in-law was losing 40% of his private pension on exchange rate, but has recovered some ground recently. when i visited him recently in Caloundra he was telling me with glee, no central heating needed, but as i pointed out, his air conditioning was running 24 hrs in the heat, otherwise you could not sleep, but good luck to anyone who settles abroad, but not for me for two reasons, i still love this country for all its faults, and secondly i am too bloody old now. If i was younger i would love to give NZ a shot,absolutely love the place, regards KT

[robpage]

You are already on the South Island Keith

[Keith at Tregenna]

British children are going to school hungry 'every day' because their families are too poor to feed them, says leading Catholic Bishop:

Rt Rev Malcolm McMahon says redeveloped cities mask scale of problem

More than three million children in Britain are living below the bread line

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...ic-Bishop.html

[Les Woodard]

John regarding your post #110 about workers from abroad I just thought I would point out that there are many being imported on what I think is called a 475 (or something) visa where they bring workers from overseas on a much reduced hourly rate without the full skills of local workers. Where the son works his boss tried them out and has since regretted it as it was costing him more for the main workforce to correct all the mistakes that the cheap labour had done. Think that a majority of these workers are in your area of WA in the mining industry. It is no wonder that there is problems within the workforce. The other part is any tradesman wanting to come to Oz has to jump through so many hoops to be allowed if they come from Europe.

[j.sabourn]

#115 Rob, heard Keiths Island in the sun maybe getting annexed soon, same as the Crimea. Will be one of the only bits of Gt. Britain left after Scotland and probably Wales goes. JS

---------- Post added at 01:51 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:10 AM ----------

#117... Les I know this. I had to jump a few hurdles to get employment in Australia on first arrival. The Union then had a much tighter control then than they have now. After living here for 23 years however I can see their point of view, unfortuanetly sometimes it gets misplaced or misused. Some of us myself included call the Union at times as think their excessive threats are a bit over the top. However reading posts from the uk about foreign labour being employed in uk, that would be the exact position of this country also without the Unions. I have said in past Unions are necessary, unless you want the same situation as the UK. They are the only means of stopping cheap imported labour, most of this labour is only of use to the employer, not the country as most money they earn goes out to support family in third world countries, if politicians cant see this, once again they shouldnt be there. As said also in a previous post most of Oz population is a floating bloc of voters and will vote for those who are considered most capable. I considered the last shower that was in as incompetent, not because they were Labour. I will also not vote for a party with a Union man/woman at head which is ex union secretary or whatever. A unions place is at the fore front of any dispute fighting for its members rights as the member sees it not the union hierarchy. Loss of all union power in Australia will open the floodgates for foreign labour. The unions have my absolute support on this and I hope many others. If Tony Abbot thinks he can appease the big owners in Industry by doing this, he has a big shock coming to him. I also notice all these union bashers have no compunction in receiving the conditions the unions have fought for in the past.I am certainly not a strong union follower otherwise as spent most of my working life arguing with such over trivial things. However learnt there are a lot of genuine members of such as against those who use the same to advance their own ends.In other words I do not look upon them as the enemy, but needed to keep the status quo. This is my views in brief. Cheers John S.