If you had a choice between Western Australia and North East England, which would you choose and why?

[Glitteryrosette]

NC for this as could be outing.

I have potentially got the opportunity to emigrate to Western Australia with DH and my two primary age DC. I have close family out there who would be relatively nearby (in Australian terms- a sibling less than an hour away and a parent 4 hours away).

I currently live in a lovely house (mortgaged but at least we are on property ladder) in a place I love, with lots of close family on the doorstep (including my other parent and in-laws). My two DC enjoy their school and are settled and happy.

I am finally in a position where I am progressing my career, making good connections with other professionals (crucial for my role), have paid off my student debt (it cost me £50k to qualify!), and all being well I will be promoted in the next year or two. I love my job and the people I work with. My commute is manageable.

About 12 years ago DH and I considered a move down under, but at the time I had only just qualified, had a lot of debt, and I would have had to do it all again to do the same role in Australia, which put me off and we decided to stay put. Then we had our first DC.

Following Brexit, the pandemic, the cost of living and the state of the UK generally, we are now considering whether we should make the move to Australia before it is too late in terms of both our ages (im late 30's, DH is early 40's) and before eldest DC starts high school. Whilst I would probably have to do some form of studying, I no longer would have to re qualify, but I would need to have my qualifications assessed by the equivalent Australian governing body, and would inevitably be in a slightly junior role and have to prove myself before any chance of promotion. So career wise, a move would set me back a good 3 years or so.

However, my family in Australia, who have just spent a month in the UK, cannot believe the state of things over here, and reiterated all the opportunities available in Australia, and how much better life would be for us and our DC.

I have visited Australia, and loved WA. Perth in particular. It is beautiful and a great city. So is the surrounding area. My DH lived in Australia for a year before we met and is desperate to make the move. He LOVED it.

But I love this little pocket of the UK. I am feeling torn. Would life really be better for my DC in Australia both now and in their future? I am happy to make sacrifices for my children but only if I am fairly confident they will pay off.

DH and I have both put feelers out with potential employers in WA, and (to our surprise!) there has been interest in both of us and we are waiting for an emigration consultant to get in touch.

I would be interested in hearing the opinions and thoughts of others, especially those with primary age DC who have made the move (either way)!

The posters from Australian residents (presumably) telling me to stay where I am in a snarky tone are misplaced and to be honest, does nothing to dispel the notion that Aussies slag off the poms constantly. Australia has culture and in some parts, proper seasons, I get it. Can you all get off your soap box now please?

Australian's residents on MN are sick and tired of seeing our country bashed every time there is a thread "Should I move to Australia" or "Pros and cons to moving to Australia"from posters in the UK

The amount of stereotyping and sheer "we are better than you because we have European culture and you don't", "Australia has too many creepy crawlies", "Australia is too hot and environmentally unsafe" or "too racist" to mention a few of the stereotypes always posted has become beyond ridiculous, it's insulting.

The fact you are telling us Australians to get off our soap box in your own thread tells its own story. Stay where you are. We don't want you here.

As I said earlier - it's really not that deep. Some people don't like some things about Australia 🤷🏼‍♀️

That's fine if they've lived in Australia and can comment in an informed way. So many posts are hearsay and stereotyping from people who have never lived in Australia though, which is not helpful to OP.

Op you can ask and decide it’s not up to other posters to tell you can’t move there.

But as someone who’s done a big move and found both great, I would think about family. Are you close to your parents and your dc close too? As I’ve found that the only tough part re living so far away.

What about if they've travelled there? Not allowed an opinion? If not, how does anyone make an informed opinion about whether to emigrate or not?

Stay in your country, no one is forcing you to move. Considering what your post reveal, stay in the UK.

Oh come on . I was taking the piss. I'm Australian. That's what we do.

The posters abusing others if Australia bashing are getting very tedious indeed. OP asked a very eloquent and well articulated question, asking for opinions on a life changing decision.

I was raised inland and had a burning desire to raise my own children near beaches. I asked many people about the realities of living in Wales, and was given opinions lots of food to think about, both positive and negative. I was grateful for every single one because we could make a clear eyed decision. We've been living in Wales for 20 years now and all the negative points that were raised were all accurate, and moving to Wales still remains the best decision I made because it gave me the specific things that I personally was looking for from life. None of the negative opinions were Wales-bashing.

The parochial attitude of "if you don't like Perth, stay where you are, we don't want you" is really off-putting and like you have quite a chip on your shoulder

*accusing. Not abusing
Changed the whole tone of the sentence with that typo!

Well said @Alondra I don't even live in Australia and it pisses me off too. Some of the posters on these threads seem to live the most sheltered and boring lives - surely they realise that people have been leaving the UK (and not returning) for many, many decades, it's hardly something new.

As for all these people who would be so bored in WA - are we supposed to feel sorry for all those who already live there, seemingly quite happily? I have a couple of friends who live in Perth and they are extremely happy - one actually moved there as a stepping stone to the UK many decades ago and never went any further.

Wow, the latest posts are something else. Not a chance will I consider moving to Australia now, even if my job profile meant Australia had any work to offer me.

The ‘We don’t want you’ is silly.

So what if they post that, it’s not their call. Op take no notice.

Of course they can, but travel is a snapshot, not an experience of what it's like to live there. For proper advice about living there, you'd surely have to experience at least a calendar year.

a bit manipulative of the family members to come over and tell how shit it is here. They clearly have an end game in mind of you being closer to them (for their own benefit).

Perth gets very hot in Summer. I have lived there most of my life. The rest of the year it is lovely but Summer is stinking…don’t move there if you’re not going to be near beach or have a pool. The nice riverside and Oceanside suburbs are more expensive but given the Aussie dollar and Uk prices you’ll probably get something good.

The other thing is that there’s a big difference between suburbs in Perth and this will dictate how ‘Aussie’ your life is. Huge difference between beachside & outter suburbs as we don’t have the trains & connected transport that you do.

whether you can afford a nice western suburbs or coastal suburb will also dictate how nice the schools are as they usually follow how wealthy the area is as to whether they’re good.

South west WA it’s a lot cooler in Summer, quiet stretches of beach and big country blocks and properties & wineries - amazing ! You have to give up the shopping & night life & go country though.

I would trial it and then make a decision.

You search and post in Australia's ex pat/immigration UK forums in Australia asking for the issues you need to know if you are serious about moving.

But MOSTLY, you talk a lot with your family, do a lot of serious research on the net, no forums, no MN and come to a decision as a family.

Moving to another country is always difficult. As a family you need to discuss if it's in the best interest of you all or not. And then, you take a leap of adventure or you don't.

But yes the best thing about WA isn’t my youth here but raising a child here.

Ultimately though you have to consider living costs and how you’ll be living here.

Even if you live in a beautiful place, there are still expenses and so forth & that will dictate how nice your life is more than geography.

Perth can be an expensive place to live in some ways - food is going up.

having said that my son and I are spending most of our summer at the pool & beach and bike riding. The heat can be just as stifling as the cold and I am
glad I at least live outside of Perth - the 35 degree temperatures and heat waves with kids can be difficult.

I don't understand some of the vitriol on here it's very strange. Both U.K. and Australia have advantages/disadvantages. Saying Australia is hot and isolated is true. Saying U.K. is expensive, has an ailing NHS and politically a mess as the moment is true. As the saying goes it's horses for courses. I think a big thing that would put me off Australia is having family Inc ageing parents in U.K. who I would miss. We have family abroad in Europe but it's so easy and relatively cheap to see each other plus times difference is just one hour. Also in an emergency we can reach each other quickly.

Do you have a lot of washing? Right now in Australia you can get the duvets and quilts dried in an hour on the line, no matter how heavy. 😁Huge bonus.

No silly at all when the OP says the following when she's "supposedly" serious about moving to Australia.....The posters from Australian residents (presumably) telling me to stay where I am in a snarky tone are misplaced and to be honest, does nothing to dispel the notion that Aussies slag off the poms constantly

If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck and quacks like a duck, it's probably a duck.

I don't understand some of the vitriol on here it's very strange. Both U.K. and Australia have advantages/disadvantages. Saying Australia is hot and isolated is true. Saying U.K. is expensive, has an ailing NHS and politically a mess as the moment is true.

But apparently we're racists, uncultured, and have shit trees, also.

And no proper seasons! It's as if the whole enormous country is whatever tiny (racist, shit tree, uncultured) patch the poster(s) have visited. Or seen on TV.

It's like the story of the Blind Men and the Elephant...

Perth is lively, I have family there as well. They live it and the lifestyle it offers. But it is the most isolated city on Earth (I think)!
Ask yourself - would you regret it more to go and find it doesn't work out and come back or would you regret it more to have never tried at all?

Your country is not being bashed in these threads. People are discussing the pros and cons of each country. Because that's what OP is asking for.

I'm sure you know perfectly well, that if an Australian posted about whether they should move/return to the UK, lots of posters would point out the downsides of living in the UK. It's not bashing, it's being realistic.

Elsewhere on the board there's someone asking whether they should move to the US. So of course people are pointing out both the pros and CONS of that.

Nearly all of my in-law relatives live in West Australia. They have wonderful lives out there, and think they are the luckiest people in the world. I love them all and they visit frequently. But yes, I do get a bit irritated when they diss the UK. But it's natural, and so do I of course. But I'm allowed to because it's my country! 😄

Exactly! Some people have obviously never even seen Australia on a map - or if they have they must be pretty thick to think the weather is the same throughout the whole country. As for it being so dry, they obviously don't bother much with the news either.