I cannot recall speaking to anyone who regrets moving to Oz from UK, nor have I spoken to anyone from Oz or anyone who has ever been there, who puts it down (other than a few posters here).

Is it really such a great place to live? I would like to know if there is anyone out there who does regret making the move. Please let me know.

paulspell,

Here's a thread and a poll from earlier in the month:

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showt...hlight=regrets

Yes it IS, no it NOT!

never could decide.....but I am like that, I had a crappy time here the first 6/9 months...I am now on one on my ups about AUS and loving it.

But then again you should hear my diatribes about living in England....nastiest place on earth on my bad days and ok on my good, but then I married an English guy (nicest on this earth...apart from he wanted to go to Aus).

Life is what you make it..........?

No seriously...make of it what you want, your move that is, your effort is very very important - the emotional one, and then enjoy every moment, even the crappy ones cause we learn from them.

daft irish immigrant in aus

PS I just found out my english kids can get Irish Nationality from me!!!!! :scared:

Cheers

hi ya Sandra
hows it going?havent been able to email you lately have you changed your address?
still waiting
donna

Often, people who move to Oz get trapped in a cycle of poor job prospects, not able to face a move back which is scary and expensive and stressful, and so talk Oz up partly to comfort themselves. No-one wants to look like they have made a mistake.
Things on here are anonymous and impersonal, and so people speak their mind more. I regret coming here, and so do a lot of the immigrants from the Uk that I know, when you push them for an honest answer (once the booze has come out).

So, no, Oz is not really such a great place to live. It is a bloody ordinary place to live - in my opinion, it has much less to offer overall than the UK - and its future is poor.

You'll find that most of the people encouraging you on the forum do not live in Oz. Get into the habit of wondering why people are talking it up if they do not know what they are talking about - perhaps they want your company to make them feel that they are doing the right thing. You all encourage eachother into it and people fear looking like they are being "negative".

Fair enough - it sounds like you made a mistake. So, is it all bad? Do you hate it? Will you be going back to the UK?
I am sure you are right, there must be plenty of people who get it wrong and find it hard to admit it or to afford to go back, but on the other hand, there are those of us here who have no regrets. I am lucky enough that I came over here for all the right reasons - I came here to marry my wife and I wanted to be here - I was not trying to escape from the UK.
I do not view the place through rose tinted glasses - there are plenty of things here that are far from perfect, but on the whole I think the overall quality of life is better here - at least it is for me.


Cheers,
DagBoy

Wilf - Reading your posts I'm assuming you've been in Australia a good number of years.

Did you find that the first few years in Australia were fine then you realised later that 'long term' you may have had a better future in the UK?

I can relate to your comments. We've been in Perth for 1 year and are enjoying life here at the moment but I know in a few years I want to return to the UK for many reasons. Because I know I'll be returning I'm enjoying my time here. Emigration today doesn't have to be so 'final' you can go back 'home' or move on. I don't regret moving here, we've had such great experiences, good and bad, we've learnt so much and met some lovely people.

Hear no evil see evil speak no evil be an Australian they are gods own people , makes me wonder why so many go to the UK to live and why Mr Pickford is flat out sending refugees stuff back to the UK so we had to wait 4 weeks before they could fit us in.

My father is 78. He has lived 75 years in Australia, 3 years in New Zealand. My mother is 70. She has lived 63 years in Australia, 3 years in NewZealand. These are their words not mine:

"They [the government] have stuffed this country up"

A good friend of mine telephoned me this morning. He has over 40 years experience in electronics, communications and IT. He owns his own consulting company that once had 20 employees with an office on the Gold Coast. He has been unable to secure contract work for close to a year now and has no employees. These are his words not mine:

"I have never seen it this bad"

I am leaving for the USA.

No, not all bad, and no, I don't exactly hate it. However, I never recommend it unless someone has a very particular reason to come here (like you, say, with your wife). In my opinion, the future prospects (and I am particularly concerned with the future, not what Oz has been in the past - I have been here many years and it has been a great place for a working man in the past) of Oz are poor and the most educated are forced to leave for lack of a career. Oz will not be an exception to the rules of the world, its economy is not lareg enough, and so it will regret losing its best qualified one day - one day when it is too late. I can afford to be honest to those planning to emigrate - my life is coming to an end and I have an OK retirement (nothing flash though), but the future of Oz is poor and my advice to anyone planning to leave the UK is to not emigrate but make the best of life in the UK. If the UK is imperfect, improve it, don't come somewhere whose future is worse.

Your friend's story is a sad indication of the future here. All these people who say "I do not care if there are no scientists, engineers, etc., I am a builder and I am fine in Oz" - who will they be building for? Me - no I do my own and cannot afford them. Other builders? No - they do their own. The unemployed ex-computer boys? Sorry, no money to hire builders.

It is true that there are problems everywhere now, so it is best to go for the largest economy you can and that you are doing. I was thinking yesterday what a great contribution the yanks make to world knowledge by playing host to educated from all around the world with their job opportunities in universities and research and so on, and my kids tell me that such opportunities are hard to find elsewhere.

Yes, many years here. I was like the frog in the cooking pot. By the time I realised it was better back in the UK it was too late. I was in a trade and enjoyed good days early on so I did not do too bad, but my kids are university educated and have had to leave for interesting careers, so that is also part of my regret. Now I am stuck here (I am 60 and retired). I am sort of OK, but I am on the forum to offer advice to those young people contemplating the move and my advice tends to be if you are in a trade you may be OK (though I find life here drab and empty and they will work longer hours than my friends back in the UK) but if you are in anything else and do not want to drive a cab then forget it.

You are wise to enjoy Oz for a bit but yes, you will do well to return - you will regret getting stuck here otherwise.

Thanks for your comments. I do find it worrying that so many talented people leave Australia due to the poor work prospects for them. My husband works in a trade and is doing OK here in Perth. Our children are bright and I wouldn't be surprised if our oldest makes it to University, if we stay in Australia no doubt he will qualify and then move overseas for the best opportunities because so many do!!

I've been shocked at the University fees charged in Australia, you would leave university after taking a law degree with approx. $40,000 debt or more ! It's an eye opener, it makes me laugh how students in the UK moan about the recent introduction of university fees, you can take a law degree at Southampton University as a EU citizen for only £1,200 per year, surely this is more affordable - I can't believe the difference.

A lot of people seem to believe that Oz and NZ can exist in a bubble where there is no need for knowledge industries (whilst the rest of the world moves more and more that way) and that agriculture and mining can support all into the future. Every year, highly educated ozzies and kiwis say goodbye to mum and dad (for 2-3 years in the past, for several years nowadays, for good in the future?) to get a career suited to their new education and higher expectations. This is not a problem to some on the forum because they believe that Oz, unlike every other country on the planet, does not need these people with good educations, and that it can be a land of bricklaying and farming even in 2050. I do not believe that and I am sure that Oz's future is bleak unless it changes many attitudes. Trouble is, to say so is to "whinge" as the ozzies love to say (Bruce Forsyth says "all right my love", ozzies say "you whinger") and so no-one will make things change. Do yourself a favour, plan to go back once the shine (2 years?) has worn off.

may I say for what it is worth: tell your kids to really check out the job prospects (not just the availability of courses, or what seems popular) in their subjects at university. If they are not good now in Oz, I would be very surprised if they improve, especially in something like the law. I have done work for solicitors in Oz and a number of them have plans to go to the UK for better careers. It is best for your kids to study where they are going to practise no? Can they not delay the uni stuff until you are either staying in Oz or definitely going back?

Our children are still young, 8 & 5, so we have time yet to consider our future. I mentioned a law degree as an example, it's a subject that I've been considering studying - I got to the A level stage then opted for a job, not university - something that was right to do at the time. I hope to get a degree one day, my friend has just gone to uni at age 45 so it's not too late for me I'm only 35 !