Originally Posted by kath n kim

louise4, provided that you are in Australia as a P.R, Medicare is subsidised for you, this includes- Doctors appointments, hospital care, hospital treatment, x-rays etc, etc.. If you have children, unless you are earning extremely high wages you will also recieve the equivalent of the U.K Child benefit. There are also other benefits which you can claim, even though you may never have contributed towards the country's economy, so yes, many people are entitled to quite a lot...... Yes, you will probably have to work "bloody hard" when you get here, as we have to, again this is something that Australia and the U.K have in common.

Originally Posted by renth

Kind of ironic, but at least in Australia the immigrants are "filtered"

Originally Posted by kath n kim

Is Wales then?

Originally Posted by renth

Of course it is. Sure they don't have a "welsh" passport but if a people see themselves as distinct, particularly with their own language, as most Welsh do then yes, it's a country.

Ceri, where are you?

Originally Posted by kath n kim

Just thought I would post this for all of you who are leaving the U.K because of all it's "problems".
A lot of people seem to be talking about the "spongers" who are now there....Sponging off the benefit system, having never worked a day in their lives, never having contributed to National Insurance contributions, expecting child benefit, free dental treatment, free prescriptions, free hospital treatment and numerous other handouts.......The huge influx of foreign immigrants flowing into the country, immediately expecting these same handouts, again having never contributed to the country's econonomy, often ignorant to the country's culture, morals, values, laws, way of life and even sometimes the language.... A lot of people are complaining about the rising crime rates, cost of houses, rising taxes, ridiculous laws, the governments' lax stand on allowing all these foreign immigrants to just walk into the country and almost "take over".....The lack of control that teachers now seem to have over children, in often overcrowded classrooms, with no discipline or morals being taught at the homes of these children, and your children having to be taught alongside them............The decline in the standard of public health care, aged care, mental health care and every other (overstreched and free) national system, probably due to the "spongers"......The widening gap between the wealthy and the poor... The list of the failings of the country is endless.
I know, because a few years ago I was saying exactly the same, then I moved to Australia.

I now realise that you could be saying exactly the same about this country. The only difference is that, I am now that "foreign immigrant"...As you will be in the near future. Expecting free Healthcare, Child benefit etc, etc........Trying desperately to fit-in, make a new/better life and trying to recreate a little bit of what was familiar to you, here in this new adopted country where often everything seems strange and almost unwelcoming. Where the system sometimes seems so unfamiliar, and where a friendly, helpful face is so gratefully appreciated...(even if it is in Centrelink!)

And who can blame many of the Australian people born here for often feeling slightly resentful of the fact that "Pommies" move over here and expect everything for nothing? That they move over here and push their property prices up to unaffordable levels for the average Aussie, because they can afford to pay more, after selling their house in the U.K for an astronomical price......Then, they come over here and expect handouts for free, without ever having contributed to the country's economy............Bringing with them their own thoughts and ideas on how things should be done.......
Sound familiar?
There are still the same injustices, unfairness, crimes and everything else over here, just as they are in the U.K. The only difference is that you see it from a different angle when you are on the outside, looking in.

Living in Australia has taught me many things. One of them is to have a little pride in your own country. Most Australians are very patriotic, and why shouldn't they be - Australia is a wonderful country......But then,
so is Great Britain. It is still one of the most sought after countries in the world, to live - That's why so many foreigners want to live there! So please don't knock it, or the "foreign immigrants" most of whom have moved there trying desperately to forge a better lives for themselves and their families, just as you will be doing in Australia.
People are human, no matter where they were born, and there are good and bad everywhere. I for one, now appreciate all that the U.K does have, rather than what it doesn't.

These are my thoughts and views. You may agree or disagree, that is your prerogative.

Originally Posted by ABCDiamond

I think the point they are making is that Wales does not have the same Government rules and regulations that the Australian States each have.

Wales does not have its own annual Budget
Wales does not have its own Driving licence rules and road rules etc., etc
Does Wales have its own Government ? (This I do not know )

So even though it is a separate country, it has so much less power than each individual Australian State

Originally Posted by optus

As they are in the UK. Hence the trouble over Blunkett and the Nanny's Visa. If you are going to bash immigrants please do it from a well informed stance rather than simply having a go at Johnny foreigner. Just think where the NHS would be without immigrant workers!
Optus

Originally Posted by renth

Easy tiger, I'd never bash immigrants, being one myself. I'm bashing the way it has happened in the UK.

As for the NHS, true, it runs on immigrant workers, just like the Aussie health system. Unfortunately the Aussie health system takes from the UK and the UK takes from Africa, where they can least afford to lose healthcare professionals.

Originally Posted by renth

Sure, but I would argue a much stronger sense of national identity

Originally Posted by sam&molly

I am first and for-most British. When asked where I am from I always reply Britain. I always have done, as do the majority of my friends. I look to the union flag as my national flag, not the St George's flag.

Sam