# Has the Australian dream lost its sparkle................anyone???



## changoo (Nov 25, 2010)

Hello
Just wondered if the Australian dream that most of us have been clinging to over the years has somewhat lost its sparkle due to a number of factors (e.g. exchange rates, cost of living, house prices, harder to get jobs, etc,etc,etc.....)
I will point out that I am not trying to be negative here but looking at the realistic picture how many of us might be a lot worse off than when we first started on this migration journey.
Yes we are still in Scotland at the moment (and yes I have cold feet as its was blinking frosty here again last night.....lol)
If there are any people who have migrated within the last year or so then I would really like to know how you feel first hand?
Let it rip...
Cheers


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## rackspace (Dec 13, 2009)

after the initial rush of deciding to migrate to Australia fades, you start to see this immigration for what it is ... a tough decision for the a promise of better life ...


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## Gaurav (Oct 29, 2009)

Immigrations are always tougher and one has to be fit and strong enough to survive the initial challenges. It's all about believing in oneself, if u think u can survive, u will do well.



rackspace said:


> after the initial rush of deciding to migrate to Australia fades, you start to see this immigration for what it is ... a tough decision for the a promise of better life ...


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## harshal (Mar 3, 2010)

Gaurav said:


> Immigrations are always tougher and one has to be fit and strong enough to survive the initial challenges. It's all about believing in oneself, if u think u can survive, u will do well.



Gaurav,

where r u on Visa application front?
I applied to Vic SS on 10th Nov.
Yet no reply.


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## John34000 (Oct 25, 2010)

changoo said:


> Hello
> Just wondered if the Australian dream that most of us have been clinging to over the years has somewhat lost its sparkle due to a number of factors (e.g. exchange rates, cost of living, house prices, harder to get jobs, etc,etc,etc.....)
> I will point out that I am not trying to be negative here but looking at the realistic picture how many of us might be a lot worse off than when we first started on this migration journey.
> Yes we are still in Scotland at the moment (and yes I have cold feet as its was blinking frosty here again last night.....lol)
> ...


Hi,

Our son lives in Qld and we visit him every winter. I think he would like us to stay there eventually. However, after the first visit, 9 weeks, we decided that we would hate to be there much longer than 3 months at a time.
Why? Well, we currently live in France and therefore found that in Australia, the food was awful, the folks seemed a tad "backward", the outlook on life "victorian" and so on. It's ok for a long winter break, but that's it. I think the biggest problem is that the folks there have lived on an island too long.
About a visa, that's a joke, they don't really want anyone to go there at all do they? Just an island pot bound with immigration officials and dodgy spiders. Oh yes and some really nice beaches, just to add some balance!
Him and his wife seem happy though, they've had so many stupid restrictions due to visas, it's a wonder they have managed financially. Doesn't immigration understand that to be able to work a full week will be a tax advantage to the country. Do they know what GST is? and that someone with a wage will spend more?? Seemingly not.

John.


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## rackspace (Dec 13, 2009)

John34000 said:


> Hi,
> 
> Our son lives in Qld and we visit him every winter. I think he would like us to stay there eventually. However, after the first visit, 9 weeks, we decided that we would hate to be there much longer than 3 months at a time.
> Why? Well, we currently live in France and therefore found that in Australia, the food was awful, the folks seemed a tad "backward", the outlook on life "victorian" and so on. It's ok for a long winter break, but that's it. I think the biggest problem is that the folks there have lived on an island too long.
> ...


you are right, but you have to know that migration to Australia originally became popular as an alternative to immigration to UK, America. Given immigration policies are same in all 3 countries stated above, Australian immigration will drop about 50%.
and about why people dont move to France or other european countries, first of all, these countries have different languages than English and once again their immigration policies are non existent at best.


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## Gaurav (Oct 29, 2009)

I had applied for 176(relative sponsored) on 9th Aug2010. The status is ABPF and don't expect to more further until few months.




harshal said:


> Gaurav,
> 
> where r u on Visa application front?
> I applied to Vic SS on 10th Nov.
> Yet no reply.


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## Gaurav (Oct 29, 2009)

Very well said.
We don't need to learn french/Spanish/danish/German etc to survive in AUS.


rackspace said:


> you are right, but you have to know that migration to Australia originally became popular as an alternative to immigration to UK, America. Given immigration policies are same in all 3 countries stated above, Australian immigration will drop about 50%.
> and about why people dont move to France or other european countries, first of all, these countries have different languages than English and once again their immigration policies are non existent at best.


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## Weebie (Sep 16, 2009)

Its a great country Australia. I think a lot of people have high expectations on the country though. It's also not cheap anymore. YOu only mov here if you realy like the place.


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## Nignoy (Jun 4, 2010)

We emigrated in 96 as a 53/51 year old couple , didnt have a job to goto and only had 5000 pounds to get started , we arrived in the country queensland town of Dalby on a friday, we rented a room in the local pub, on the monday, I started looking for work,got a job on acotton farm 15kms out of town on the wednesday , when I said I would hitch hike to work the farmer lent me a pickup to use as long as we wanted till we got settled. After four weeks we were looking for a house to rent, my boss said dont be daft the bank will give you a mortgage, I couldnt beleive our luck we found a nice little bungalow, and for the princely sum of 38000dollars we bought our first home.We stayed in Dalby for !) months then I got a job in my trade in Brisbane so we rented our house out and moved into a cheap rental in brissie and everything was rosy, Then 15th of jan 2001 the company I worked for went Bankrupt, so 12months looking for work and jobs as a Zoo Curator or headkeeper dont come round very often, so I took the offered early retirement, sold our house and bought a house near bribie island , left us with a small mortgage but life was fine, my health started to go, heart problems also many joint problems so I have steel knees, hips and a titanium steel cage in my cerebral spine all this is powered by a combined pacemaker valve implant,all courteousy of queensland medical services, if I had stayed in UK I would have been financially better off but definitely Dead, in 2009 we sold our sea side home and moved back out to the peace and quiet near Dalby, queenslanders are warm hearted friendly people who will always help anyone no matter what race or creed, but we tend to find that many newer british immigrants tend to find it difficult to adapt to the queensland way of life and many have a negative outlook on their aussie workmates, of course there are financial difficulties regarding exchange rates my military and uk pensions are up and down like a yo yo , but thats life I would never have dreamt that we would own our own home, a newcar and 100,s of friends our motto is Strangers are friends we havent met yet


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## devibon (Nov 24, 2008)

Nignoy said:


> We emigrated in 96 as a 53/51 year old couple , didnt have a job to goto and only had 5000 pounds to get started , we arrived in the country queensland town of Dalby on a friday, we rented a room in the local pub, on the monday, I started looking for work,got a job on acotton farm 15kms out of town on the wednesday , when I said I would hitch hike to work the farmer lent me a pickup to use as long as we wanted till we got settled. After four weeks we were looking for a house to rent, my boss said dont be daft the bank will give you a mortgage, I couldnt beleive our luck we found a nice little bungalow, and for the princely sum of 38000dollars we bought our first home.We stayed in Dalby for !) months then I got a job in my trade in Brisbane so we rented our house out and moved into a cheap rental in brissie and everything was rosy, Then 15th of jan 2001 the company I worked for went Bankrupt, so 12months looking for work and jobs as a Zoo Curator or headkeeper dont come round very often, so I took the offered early retirement, sold our house and bought a house near bribie island , left us with a small mortgage but life was fine, my health started to go, heart problems also many joint problems so I have steel knees, hips and a titanium steel cage in my cerebral spine all this is powered by a combined pacemaker valve implant,all courteousy of queensland medical services, if I had stayed in UK I would have been financially better off but definitely Dead, in 2009 we sold our sea side home and moved back out to the peace and quiet near Dalby, queenslanders are warm hearted friendly people who will always help anyone no matter what race or creed, but we tend to find that many newer british immigrants tend to find it difficult to adapt to the queensland way of life and many have a negative outlook on their aussie workmates, of course there are financial difficulties regarding exchange rates my military and uk pensions are up and down like a yo yo , but thats life I would never have dreamt that we would own our own home, a newcar and 100,s of friends our motto is Strangers are friends we havent met yet


Wow! Yours a real touching experience. Thanks for sharing and may God bless you


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## John34000 (Oct 25, 2010)

Gaurav said:


> Very well said.
> We don't need to learn french/Spanish/danish/German etc to survive in AUS.


Well, I'd rather learn another language, (and have), rather than suffer with cholesterol and obesity as a result of eating the rubbish served up in general in Qld!

John


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## Busyte (May 19, 2009)

Funny thing life is... That is the same Motto of Barbie in her film "Fairytopia". I kid you not.
I watched it today with my 4 year old twins.

Loved your life story. Very inspiring.

Good luck!


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## Nignoy (Jun 4, 2010)

John34000 said:


> Well, I'd rather learn another language, (and have), rather than suffer with cholesterol and obesity as a result of eating the rubbish served up in general in Qld!
> 
> John


nobody forces you to eat rubbish:confused2: with all the fruits and vegies grown in QLD and all its cheap lean meats and oceans of fresh seafood there is no need to eat rubbish,if you go to work in a foreign country always try to gain a working knowledge of the language, I worked in northeast thailand on the borders with laos, and cambodia, so a working knowledge of thai, khmer and laos was required, in germany, german, in switzerland german and rheto romanic was required and I speak english as well too learning languages is not difficult, even in france the smallest children speak French:clap2:


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## foha2012 (Sep 19, 2009)

devibon said:


> Wow! Yours a real touching experience. Thanks for sharing and may God bless you


Thanks for sharing such wonderful info...

God Bless,

Cheers,

TAA​


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## hari999999 (Mar 17, 2009)

changoo said:


> Hello
> Just wondered if the Australian dream that most of us have been clinging to over the years has somewhat lost its sparkle due to a number of factors (e.g. exchange rates, cost of living, house prices, harder to get jobs, etc,etc,etc.....)
> I will point out that I am not trying to be negative here but looking at the realistic picture how many of us might be a lot worse off than when we first started on this migration journey.
> Yes we are still in Scotland at the moment (and yes I have cold feet as its was blinking frosty here again last night.....lol)
> ...


Due to recession Australian dreams have lost its sparkle a little but not like Europe and usa 
But the most negative thing is, Australian houses most expensive in the world for 24 years (said by Bureau of Economic Analysis)
You have cold feet and too frosty in Scotland but the climate here is good not that much frosty.
But compared to other countries less effected to recession especially the banking sector eventhough the intrest rates are higher for loans
.................................................................................................................................
Applied Visa 175 April 2008 (Paper visa MODL, CSL ,)
Got CO and Medicals 30th July 2009
Job Verification November 10th 2009
175 VISA GRANDED 22nd December 2009
Arrived on May 26th 2010


..................................................................................................................................


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## rameshrk (Oct 31, 2010)

Great !!!!



Nignoy said:


> We emigrated in 96 as a 53/51 year old couple , didnt have a job to goto and only had 5000 pounds to get started , we arrived in the country queensland town of Dalby on a friday, we rented a room in the local pub, on the monday, I started looking for work,got a job on acotton farm 15kms out of town on the wednesday , when I said I would hitch hike to work the farmer lent me a pickup to use as long as we wanted till we got settled. After four weeks we were looking for a house to rent, my boss said dont be daft the bank will give you a mortgage, I couldnt beleive our luck we found a nice little bungalow, and for the princely sum of 38000dollars we bought our first home.We stayed in Dalby for !) months then I got a job in my trade in Brisbane so we rented our house out and moved into a cheap rental in brissie and everything was rosy, Then 15th of jan 2001 the company I worked for went Bankrupt, so 12months looking for work and jobs as a Zoo Curator or headkeeper dont come round very often, so I took the offered early retirement, sold our house and bought a house near bribie island , left us with a small mortgage but life was fine, my health started to go, heart problems also many joint problems so I have steel knees, hips and a titanium steel cage in my cerebral spine all this is powered by a combined pacemaker valve implant,all courteousy of queensland medical services, if I had stayed in UK I would have been financially better off but definitely Dead, in 2009 we sold our sea side home and moved back out to the peace and quiet near Dalby, queenslanders are warm hearted friendly people who will always help anyone no matter what race or creed, but we tend to find that many newer british immigrants tend to find it difficult to adapt to the queensland way of life and many have a negative outlook on their aussie workmates, of course there are financial difficulties regarding exchange rates my military and uk pensions are up and down like a yo yo , but thats life I would never have dreamt that we would own our own home, a newcar and 100,s of friends our motto is Strangers are friends we havent met yet


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## Dougy Stu (May 13, 2008)

I think you should stick with it.


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## FrancisJames (Dec 14, 2010)

changoo said:


> Hello
> Just wondered if the Australian dream that most of us have been clinging to over the years has somewhat lost its sparkle due to a number of factors (e.g. exchange rates, cost of living, house prices, harder to get jobs, etc,etc,etc.....)
> I will point out that I am not trying to be negative here but looking at the realistic picture how many of us might be a lot worse off than when we first started on this migration journey.
> Yes we are still in Scotland at the moment (and yes I have cold feet as its was blinking frosty here again last night.....lol)
> ...


Definitely not lost its sparkle for me. You see my route was a long one via New Zealand, which lost its sparkle* very* quickly, so I know how _bad_ bad can be. The two secrets to settling in Australia are to find a job you really enjoy doing and which pays well AND to chose your location with care.

The good thing about Australia is that it is so big and so diverse that if you don't get it right first time it is possible to move around until you do. Don't let the exchange rate put you off, it's easy to rent very good quality homes here so you don't need to exchange your money until the rates are in your favour. The only places I know of where rentals are in short supply are in Sydney and Melbourne. 

We're in Queensland by the way.


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## Alan3 (Dec 29, 2010)

*Australia*

In a nutshell, the UK is a hard life compared with Australia.
You are never locked away with the weather and you can choose any climate you like and live there. A much easier way of life and the best place in the world for kids. Jobs are easy to get and the cost of living is cheaper for better quality food. Petrol is cheaper and the best part is the country side and beaches which don't cost you a cent. Don't tell everyone though otherwise we will get swamped




changoo said:


> Hello
> Just wondered if the Australian dream that most of us have been clinging to over the years has somewhat lost its sparkle due to a number of factors (e.g. exchange rates, cost of living, house prices, harder to get jobs, etc,etc,etc.....)
> I will point out that I am not trying to be negative here but looking at the realistic picture how many of us might be a lot worse off than when we first started on this migration journey.
> Yes we are still in Scotland at the moment (and yes I have cold feet as its was blinking frosty here again last night.....lol)
> ...


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## ozziland (Oct 10, 2010)

changoo said:


> Hello
> Just wondered if the Australian dream that most of us have been clinging to over the years has somewhat lost its sparkle due to a number of factors (e.g. exchange rates, cost of living, house prices, harder to get jobs, etc,etc,etc.....)
> I will point out that I am not trying to be negative here but looking at the realistic picture how many of us might be a lot worse off than when we first started on this migration journey.
> Yes we are still in Scotland at the moment (and yes I have cold feet as its was blinking frosty here again last night.....lol)
> ...


moving to another country isnt easy for anyone who isnt a millionaire. there are battles n such. australia i think isnt cheap to live ( depends on where u live). the health system varies by state ( even with the govt health care system ( aussie poor equivalent to NHS). public transport is poor or non existant except in major cities. queenslands climate is usually pretty good but the education system is poor so is the govt health system.


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## The Brit in Aus (Apr 25, 2009)

hari999999 said:


> But the most negative thing is, Australian houses most expensive in the world for 24 years (said by Bureau of Economic Analysis)


We need to look at both sides of that though...

Australian houses are also just about the worlds largest, on average.

Averages House Sizes:

214 sqm USA
206 sqm Australia
137 sqm Denmark
113 sqm France
97 sqm Spain
88 sqm Ireland
76 sqm UK

The average floor area of new Australian residential buildings increased from 149.7 m2 to 205.7 m2, between 1984-95 and 2002-03.

One day, when Australia needs cheaper housing, they may build more smaller properties.


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## kaz101 (Nov 29, 2007)

The Brit in Aus said:


> One day, when Australia needs cheaper housing, they may build more smaller properties.


Well builders are already building on smaller land sizes. Where we live 1000m2 is the norm but when I look at other towns / cities they say 'large' land size of 600m2!


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## The Brit in Aus (Apr 25, 2009)

kaz101 said:


> Well builders are already building on smaller land sizes. Where we live 1000m2 is the norm but when I look at other towns / cities they say 'large' land size of 600m2!


I think that has happened in my area, with a lot of new builds on smaller land areas.

It has seemed to have brought down the medium price, in the area affected, even though existing house values haven't dropped.


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## Nignoy (Jun 4, 2010)

The Brit in Aus said:


> I think that has happened in my area, with a lot of new builds on smaller land areas.
> 
> It has seemed to have brought down the medium price, in the area affected, even though existing house values haven't dropped.


new european style estates in suburban qld tend to be built on 400 to 600sqmetre blocks, but in rural areas and towns 1000sq metre blocks are considered small, and new rural estates have 1 to 5 acre blocks, even in exclusive areas like Bribie island larger blocks are still very popular as investments


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