The Price Of Emigrating To Oz.

[j.sabourn]

Jim I did one trip on the Nordic Explorer before falling foul of the English camp boss who thought he was going to run the ship before he met me. However this was a Norwegian Ship with different nationalities on board. One of the Surveyors was another Englishman with about 3 degrees behind his name who did various voyages on ship but commuted from the UK. He thought he could just walk in. Decided to live permanently in Perth so put his papers in and was immediately knocked back as not required. The Gun Mechanic also an Englishman ( the gun mechanics looked after the compressors used for firing a blast of air/noise every minute to make seismic recordings from) put his papers in and was grabbed. So a fitter was considered more desirable than a learned degree man. The surveyor was very upset about it. The English Camp boss thought he could run free reign over an Australian crew he managed to get me moved, but didn't make any gains as lost hundreds of thousands of dollars of seismic gear on a reef the following trip as the next skipper listened to the twot, he of course blamed the skipper, the worm. Have been very good this Christmas still have 2 bottles of whiskey left. Cheers JS

[Charlie Hannah]

I have a mate lives in Canada been there for 50 some years,in the sixties he tried to migrate to both New Zealand and Oz,he was knocked back because he had two kids in them days it was my understanding that both these countries wanted married couples with children so i just couldn't understand his being knocked back he finished up going to Canada and has never looked back.Johnny McLaughlin his name is and we are still in touch,just talking to him on Christmas day on Skype he has been my best mate since we were kids of 11 years old.His family has now got kids of their own and they are all thriving every year he sends pics he is always shown digging his way out of the snowfalls they have over there he thrives on it.Just shows how things go at times.Try for sunny climes your knocked back.It all worked out very well for both Him and myself.

[j.sabourn]

Charlie I also had aspirations of going to Canada in the sixties and was on the short list for a shore job but the wife wouldn't go. However finished up working for a Canadian Shipping Company. Have friends living in London Ontario and we were over there a couple of summers ago, it was hotter than what I have ever seen here, and I used to work up in the Northern parts of Australia. Canada is a country of two extremes Summer and Winter, I know this also from the year that I worked out there, had to have chains on cars wheels in winter but the summers usually red hot. Cheers JS

[Des Taff Jenkins]

Hi Charlie.
I remember years back the Govt here knocked back a family because the little girl was deaf, they didn't want her as a burden on society. the boat people had all sorts deaf ,blind and crippled but the people who like to be seen wanted them all to stay burden or not. despite that Australia has a good record of helping kids from other countries, whether with blindness or other ailments.
Cheers Des

[j.sabourn]

Des, we had to go for Aids tests, Tests for venereal disease, and lung X-rays and general condition of health. These were not on the NHI and had to pay private specialists. This was the same in 1966 before working in Canada, although don't think there was a test for AIDS then as had not hit the headlines. I often wonder about the influx of boat people you cant tell me they are all A1 health wise. Every penny was forked out by myself in emigrating to Australia, but has been worth every penny as far as I am concerned. However the tests for Canada was paid by my employer. Britain with its teeming millions of mobile transients must at some time become a hot bed of virus"s most have never heard of. In our time we have had AIDS, this Embola, the return of various lung complaints, should imagine the VD rate is unestimatable as a lot will not report and just carry on spreading. As regards VD, I would say seamen were probably the most clear in the world, the ones I sailed with had no hesitation in going to see a doctor if they had even run a risk, which I doubt the general population would do. Jolly Jack got blamed for a lot but spreading communable diseases was not one of them. I don't think they will ever publish the figures for such diseases carried by illegal immigrants, that would be getting too honest with the general public, and not considered by the media to be newsworthy enough. Cheers JS

[Peter F Chard]

John, I do not know John Briand personally, only of his reputation. He lives on the Whangaparoa Peninsula, north of Auckland near to Orewa. He is in his early seventies and came to NZ about 1993. He is connected with the National Maritime Museum and the scow " Ted Ashby ". He was also involved with the " Rena " as skipper of the coastal oil tanker which removed much of the heavy fuel from the stricken ship. I live in the south east suburbs of Auckland, about an hour and a half to drive from here to where John lives. Best wishes for the New Year, regards Peter in NZ.

[Peter F Chard]

# 22, Charlie, When I settled in NZ in 1966 all you had to do for residency was to pay your own way and you were in, as simple as that. And I think Australia was the same. Now the only way seems to either be very rich or a refugee, even Afghan ones and you are in. My home is in a sub-division of 57 houses and a very nice area it is too, However more than 40 of these house are owned by absentee owners from China, Hong Kong, Korea. They are occupied by either very young or very elderly family members, the real owners are still in Asia running the family businesses. Regards Peter in NZ.

[Charlie Hannah]

John my mate lives in Hamilton Ontario i have four mates live around the same area.All got grown up families now and happy as Larry!

[Charlie Hannah]

Des ordinary Australians can't in get in to hospitals now the beds are all taken by boat people and refuges from all the eastern world.

- - - Updated - - -

So right Peter that's the way things were then couple of my mates did delivery jobs there when they payed off they just stayed and took shore jobs till they managed to get on the coast.You never needed a passport them days between N.Z. and Aus.Lots of houses being sold to Asians over here their buying so many that it's sending the prices soaring ordinary workers can no longer afford to buy.

[Dennis McGuckin]

Charlie I also had aspirations of going to Canada in the sixties and was on the short list for a shore job but the wife wouldn't go. However finished up working for a Canadian Shipping Company. Have friends living in London Ontario and we were over there a couple of summers ago, it was hotter than what I have ever seen here, and I used to work up in the Northern parts of Australia. Canada is a country of two extremes Summer and Winter, I know this also from the year that I worked out there, had to have chains on cars wheels in winter but the summers usually red hot. Cheers JS

Not as extream on our west coast