Would you still emigrate?

[Jessica Berry]

Tourists flock here as locals leave Australia in droves

 

Shane Wright March 8, 2016, 12:20 am

 

 

Tourists are flocking to Australia but locals are rushing out the door, new figures show, with a record number of people departing the country permanently.

 

Australian Bureau of Statistics figures show better economic conditions in countries such as New Zealand and Britain and a slowdown in areas such as WA are adding to the exodus.

 

Through December and January, the two months when people usually make a move into or out of the country, almost 100,000 people left Australia for good.

 

Including long-term residents and citizens, it was the biggest December-January departure on record. In January alone a record 13,610 Australians, or almost 440 people a day, permanently waved goodbye.

 

And the number of people looking to move to Australia is falling. Total net permanent and long-term arrivals fell to 267,730 in the past 12 months.

 

In January alone a record 13,610 Australians, or almost 440 people a day, left permanently.It was the lowest annual result since early 2007 after which many Australians returned when the global financial crisis hit and many people from other nations sought out the strength of the Australian economy.

 

However, record numbers of people are visiting Australia in part because of the lower Australian dollar.

 

A record 1.3 million tourists from mainland China and Hong Kong spent time in Australia through the year, a 24 per cent rise over the previous year.

 

CommSec chief equities economist Craig James said it was now likely that visitors from China and Hong Kong would surpass New Zealanders — traditionally Australia’s biggest source of tourists — very soon.

 

Many of those tourists are headed for Tasmania. The number of overseas tourists spending time in the Apple Isle grew 14 per cent over the past year.

 

Overseas tourist numbers to WA over the same period rose just 1.5 per cent.

[Jessica Berry]

So the question in relation to the above news article is....Would you still emigrate?

 

Our answer is a definite YES. We have been here 9 years and still appreciate the fact that we were able to emigrate to Australia and happy that we chose to come to Adelaide. For us, overall we have a higher standard of living than in the UK.

[antlet]

Yes beyond a doubt

[Blossom]

It's a hard question. Hard as I now have an Aussie partner who I wouldn't be with if I hadn't emigrated.

I actually don't think I would have done if I could go back, other than meeting him. It's not the land of milk and honey and my career was pretty much destroyed (along with a decent wage) moving here. I had a better standard of living in the UK.

The thing I would have done was move from Manchester where I was living back to Cambridge. Cambridge had all I needed and is no more expensive than Adelaide.

[keldaz]

A very good question JB, despite both our occupations being on the Sol list at the time, like blossum above it's been a career and finance killer. Our standard of living is the same, although we only have one car here instead of one each. The best we could come up with between us was, Ooo arrh um, well, don't know, well yes, probably maybe. Thanks for stumping us and giving us a good laugh.

[snifter]

If it were not for being married to an Aussie I'd not have migrated here. It never appealed to me to live here long term otherwise but there, life takes you in directions you didn't expect and all that

 

There are other countries I'd love to live in far more than here in Aus and the UK. The Netherlands and one or two other places spring to mind.

 

However, I'm very happy in Adelaide, we have a similar standard of living as we had in the UK, perhaps slightly better here. The things we value like family time and activities, we tend to find better here than the UK. That could also be that our son is a bit older now so we can go places, do things that were more limited when he was younger. Either way, happy with things as they are here

 

Australia is so vast, its hard to know if I'd be as happy in Perth, Melbourne, Gold Coast or somewhere else. Thankfully, happy here so not an issue. But if we'd not liked it here for us as a family we'd have gone elsewhere in Aus I am certain. Neither of us want to be in the UK right now and have no desire to live there again anytime soon. If Aus really wasn't for us we'd look at NZ or perhaps somewhere back in Europe.

 

Had we not moved here, we'd have moved somewhere else in the world I am sure. Staying put in England for the long term wasn't what we wanted.

[Barry1986]

Yes. Me and my wife plan to move next year. We feel the uk and Europe is on a downward spiral. It's not all down to the economy we wish to move for a better life style. We feel Adelaide is the place we can find that.

[PatP]

Yes. Me and my wife plan to move next year. We feel the uk and Europe is on a downward spiral. It's not all down to the economy we wish to move for a better life style. We feel Adelaide is the place we can find that.

I always worry when people say they are moving for a better life style because at the end of the day you still need to get up on a morning and go to work and do the mundane things like shopping etc

I think Australia is a different life style if it's better or not is down to what the individual thinks of that life style

I am not by the way knocking Adelaide I love it even though at the moment I am living in the uk but plan to return soon

[Barry1986]

We know we have to work and do the boring things. I think the rewards are greater in Australia.yes your right maybe it is just a different life but I can't be any worst than staying in the uk. So people think we are mad for doing it but we think we are mad not to try.

[Sylvian]

It's a hard question. Hard as I now have an Aussie partner who I wouldn't be with if I hadn't emigrated.

I actually don't think I would have done if I could go back, other than meeting him. It's not the land of milk and honey and my career was pretty much destroyed (along with a decent wage) moving here. I had a better standard of living in the UK.

The thing I would have done was move from Manchester where I was living back to Cambridge. Cambridge had all I needed and is no more expensive than Adelaide.

 

Yes and no Blossom - depends where you want to live in Cambridge and whether or not you ever want to go out!

 

A three bed semi in a decent central Cambridge road could easily cost you AU$1.4m. In our village, which is several miles outside the centre, a three bed detached without garden is around AU$1.6m. It often takes an hour to drive from one side of the city to the other (less than 10 miles) and a normal train ticket to London might set you back AU$200 if you're not careful. A meal out for two at a local pub is AU$80 and a pint of beer AU$9.

 

If you want a decent 3-bed house in a decent area with a decent school and an outgoing lifestyle, you are looking at a minimum of AU$1m for your house and an income of AU$100,000 p.a.

 

Trust me, cheap it is not!

 

S

[Sylvian]

Here you go Blossom - some info from the 'Numbeo' comparison site, which is not exactly scientific but gives a fairly good idea of the state of play. Aside from basic groceries, Cambridge is more expensive. And if you include the cost of city centre housing then things go off the scale.

 

Hopefully the formatting doesn't go too weird when I copy and paste their findings...

 

[TABLE=class: table_indices_diff]

[TR]

[TH]Indices Difference[/TH]

[TH][/TH]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD=colspan: 2, align: right]Consumer Prices in Cambridge are 2.32% higher than in Adelaide[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD=colspan: 2, align: right]Consumer Prices Including Rent in Cambridge are 10.95% higher than in Adelaide[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD=colspan: 2, align: right]Rent Prices in Cambridge are 31.28% higher than in Adelaide[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD=colspan: 2, align: right]Restaurant Prices in Cambridge are 17.79% higher than in Adelaide[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD=colspan: 2, align: right]Groceries Prices in Cambridge are 8.25% lower than in Adelaide[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD=colspan: 2, align: right]Local Purchasing Power in Cambridge is 21.30% lower than in Adelaide[/TD]

[/TR]

[/TABLE]

[PatP]

We know we have to work and do the boring things. I think the rewards are greater in Australia.yes your right maybe it is just a different life but I can't be any worst than staying in the uk. So people think we are mad for doing it but we think we are mad not to try.

You will always get the knockers they are the ones who have never tried and just don't understand why anyone else would !

Again I think it's best not to compare the two counties as to me they are nothing alike

You can try it and decide if it's for you no one else can make up,your mind for you so good luck with your quest I hope it all works out for you

[Tamara (Homes Down Under)]

OMG certainly a yes.

Life has taken a few twists and turns in the 9 years that I have been here but it was the right move.

 

My children can achieve anything that they set their minds on here. They are safe, happy, have work and young families of their own now. I don't worry about them if they are a few minutes late.

 

Career wise the move was a killer. The houses here are rubbish compared to what we had and the pace of life is much slower. That's pace of life possibly a good thing as stress was taking it's tole.

 

I applied for New Zealand before Australia. Perth was always our first choice city but things have a way of happening and they happen for the right reason at times. Very happy with the move and would never consider returning.

There may be an interstate move on the cards in the future. Just for the winter period that that's due to medical reasons and not because I don't like living in SA. Having said that I think that there are some wonderful places to live in Australia and if Adelaide doesn't tick all your boxes it's always possible to move.

 

Every day I give thanks for being one of the fortunate few who were allowed to move here. For our family and for the reasons that we moved that will always be true.

[Misplaced]

Just a thought on those figures. The world has become a lot smaller and companies employ people from other countries more readily. What the figures don't show is who chose to go from those who moved for work.

 

In answer to the question is yes I would have moved back here years before we did.

[Lazy Cow]

Would I have come if I knew how our life would be before I'd moved here...maybe not. I love my life here, and I'm a very proud Aussie, but do I love it more than where we came from...not sure.

 

Would I leave now? I doubt it. As I said, I love my life here, my kids have grown up and don't consider the UK has anything to do with them, so I can't imagine moving state, let alone going to live in the UK.

 

LC

[keldaz]

Yes and no Blossom - depends where you want to live in Cambridge and whether or not you ever want to go out!

 

A three bed semi in a decent central Cambridge road could easily cost you AU$1.4m. In our village, which is several miles outside the centre, a three bed detached without garden is around AU$1.6m. It often takes an hour to drive from one side of the city to the other (less than 10 miles) and a normal train ticket to London might set you back AU$200 if you're not careful. A meal out for two at a local pub is AU$80 and a pint of beer AU$9.

 

If you want a decent 3-bed house in a decent area with a decent school and an outgoing lifestyle, you are looking at a minimum of AU$1m for your house and an income of AU$100,000 p.a.

 

Trust me, cheap it is not!

 

S

 

Yeah, but it's a great place to nick a bike hey.

[NicF]

Yes, I would. Our reason for moving was to be near my OH's family and we moved knowing that we would be worse off and unlikely to find jobs that were as good as we had in the UK. I've actually been really fortunate to get a job that pays nearly as well as the one I had in UK (at an exchange rate of 2 AUD to the pound) with good conditions and great colleagues and a fab boss. It's not as interesting but you can't have everything. My OH is probably going to be stuck on short term contracts as he works in IT development and there are few places here that are big enough to have that many development staff around permemantly, but he is doing okay so far.

 

We have bought a block of land in a lovely area and built a house to suit our needs (as far as we can given the restriction of the block). The kids have settled and are doing well at school and have become involved in various sports and activities outside of school. Things have generally work out pretty well and I'm pretty happy with our lives here.

[Jessica Berry]

Thank you to everyone so far for your replies. As with most things we all have different experiences and view points, which makes for interesting reading.

[Jessica Berry]

I think the rewards are greater in Australia.yes your right maybe it is just a different life but I can't be any worst than staying in the uk.

 

The rewards can be greater in Australia for some, but not for everyone in my opinion. For us, we have an overall higher standard of living than what we had in the UK, but I don't think that applies to everyone and I sometimes think that can be the mistake that people make. People get carried away with 'living the dream' and I am sure on a dreary grey rainy day (why do you think they show Wanted Down Under in January!) in the UK a life in Australia/Adelaide can seem like the perfect escape.

 

In my capacity as Career Adviser I have met several potential migrants, from different parts of the world over here on reccies, who wanted an unbiased honest opinion of mainly their chances of securing work in their particular field and the realities of the life they could have in Adelaide. We all have different needs and wants and ultimately moving to Australia isn't the answer for everyone.

[John Browning]

So the question in relation to the above news article is....Would you still emigrate?

 

.

 

 

After 38 years: definitely, I certainly would still emigrate, here.

 

 

Notwithstanding I came with the intention of moving on to Vancouver, I've stayed and reckon it was the best thing I could have done

 

 

A couple of things I'd do differently, however:

 

Before leaving -Instead of spending Saturday mornings in the sauna, preparing myself for the heat (-complete waste of time):

 

I'd have spent it in The Language Lab doing a crash course in "Australian as a Second Language" :

 

-you know the sort of thing: you're absolutely positive you are both speaking English

 

but then, it turns out, ..............well " - it is English ...but not as we know it"

 

(-Similarly I'd look for evening classes in Australian Rules Cricket)

 

 

On arrival : I would have also lined-up extra medication and / or beer for enduring the initial official welcomes ( -they are a kind of bizarre White Fellah parody of Welcome to Country). Traditionally these take the form of a series of Monologues:

 

- like the "free speech" monologue: (- this one tends to trail off into "..... so that's why we have so many thriving top- quality newspapers here, you know")

 

- or the "Mateship" monologue ( " well yeh, but saying hello to the neighbors ... I mean that's going a bit poofy, don't you reckon"

 

- not overlooking the " Land of the Fair Go" monologue ( usually trends towards " and we'll lock you up anyone turning up who can't produce the paperwork to prove they are not just mucking about ... AND We'll put them in the dodgiest rat hole on the face of the earth, then pay to have them to be not looked after....... at our own huge expense, - so........... we must be pretty bloody generous, don't you reckon? ")

 

- the " Us Aussies can't stand people overlording us" monologue: (- with the barely restrained subtext "and we'll deck anyone who might look like they're even considering it, so keep your gob shut ")

 

- the "Australia as proudly Anti- Imperialistic" monologue: ( this tends to get really odd when it gets on to " -and this is why we've sent generations of our finest to get themselves all properly hacked up to defend a British Empire that no longer exists, and an American Empire that everyone tells us never existed)

 

and the obligatory " so what do think of Australia?" monologue: ( generally proceeds, without discernible pause, to : "and let me tell you, if you were to ask me....well personally, I reckon it must be the best place in the history of the known Universe .....and then some")

 

- the "all for one and one for all" monologue ( avoiding spurious unpleasantness about the lengths every state has always gone to shaft all the other states)

 

- and finally the perennial "-we're just a bunch of larrikins at heart" monologue ( " -just as long as you don't say anything, look like you might think anything, wear anything, buy anything, vote for anything , worship anything or generally even dream of doing anything that could possibly embarrass me in front of any my mates........or my mum..... and definitely not in front of my imaginary friend, Brad"

 

 

....South Australians are pretty much the same as Poms when it comes to their prejudices (....but sadly they are even more hypocritical when it comes to denying them)

 

JB

 

PS oh yes, and another thing

 

.... don't think for a moment i'd sit with uncharacteristic politeness listening to the evils of British Bastardry from 7th Generation Ozzies

 

Today, I'd be more inclined to point out:

 

- it wasn't my forefathers who introduced the vermin, chopped down every last gum in The Piccadilly Valley, led Aborigines about with chains around their necks, ran Blackbirding out of the cane fields, engaged in massacres etc etc

 

It was their ancestors

 

 

For that matter, it wasn't British Imperialism that delivered the unfolding disasters in Papua New Guinea, Nauru and The Solomon Islands....these are the results of Post Australian Colonialism.

 

 

As for the convicts transported to Australia, (-of whom people are so proud....)

 

 

well, overlooking a lot of them weren't transported from England:

 

 

for every convict there was at least one Trooper, Jailer, Bounty Hunter willing to take the money for doing the dirty work of corrupt state governments.

 

 

-It wasn't just the convicts who stayed on. Most of the captors stayed as well.... curious no one seems to be proud of having those sadistic thugs in the family tree.

 

 

 

(-oh...but you mustn't let me go on)

[KennyKen]

Over Two years ago I had a choice between Aus and Canada (Edmonton). Take me back so I could make that decision again!

[KennyKen]

I might just ride it out till I get citizenship and then think of going Canada!

[zebedee]

Yes - never want to live in the UK again, but Australia - not so sure now. Love the country but find the sell out politics very worrying. Don't think Australia has a bright future.

[snifter]

Yes - never want to live in the UK again, but Australia - not so sure now. Love the country but find the sell out politics very worrying. Don't think Australia has a bright future.

 

Not to detract too much from the topic but the political scene in many countries is changing quite noticeably. I look at the US and Trump on the march and it scares me that that man may be elected President.

 

I can only hope that Australia with its habit of the party kicking out its current elected by the people PM may actually elect someone decent who is allowed to stick in the job for the term they were voted in for. Big picture wise and all that, I know the detail is far more complicated. And that some of the current stances and policies may change So want to be able to vote and have my say at the ballot box.

 

I know moving here the politics of Australia did concern me somewhat but elections can always change that and lo, they sure did. It didn't put me off moving here nor would it again in the current world political climate but it certainly does not improve my view (now living here) on the Aus political system seeing some of the policies brought in and so on. Having lived elsewhere and seeing how things were politically in those countries back when I lived in them to how they are today, they have changed greatly too so its not an isolated thing.

[Jessica Berry]

At one of the Fringe shows we attended the MC asked the audience who is British and who is Aussie. The MC (a pom) then said to this older pommie couple that it was much better living here than the UK, obviously expecting them to agree, when in fact the reply they got from the sullen man was 'not when you are unemployed'! Errhhh, time to move on with the show!