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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To want to move to Australia ? Need advice

225 replies

maxbradbury · 19/08/2012 19:02

Cannot find suitable forum so posting here because of high traffic.

DH is a qualified gas engineer and we are considering a move to Australia. I dont know anybody who has done this and would like to know if anybody has done this or knows someone who has so i can get a insite of life there such as cost of living, lifestyle, education and how easy it is to get a job. Any helpful comment appreciated. Smile

OP posts:
honeytea · 21/08/2012 09:20

I said that to her because she had told me herself that was her background. It wasn't ment as me judging her it was ment to show her that the origin of the word did have meaning and wasn't just a word that should in my opinion be used in a profesional situation.

The problem in my opinion is not the fault of the people living in Australia now, you are right it is very very complex, I am not proud about British history I think maybe that is why I felt uncomfortable living in Australia because it is living history. I wouldn't feel happy living in the UK because of the class system.

Jenny70 · 21/08/2012 09:29

Firstly, you need to check if your DH's qualifications are accepted in Oz, and whether he needs any formal acceptance of them... not much point moving if he can't get the right job.

Then you need to see where his skills are in demand - Karratha in northern WA might be a good starting point, or fly-in fly-out from Perth... or Brisbane might be good "mining based" bases.

It can be a great lifestyle, but the cost of it is high. It's like most places, with the right money you can afford a great lifestyle, but if you're struggling money wise, being away from support makes it doubly tough.

squoosh · 21/08/2012 10:40

tryingtoleave Wog is an affectionate word in Australia????? What is it, the land of Love Thy Neighbour

That's pretty shocking.

differentnameforthis · 21/08/2012 10:51

Honey, she is no more a pom than you are!

differentnameforthis · 21/08/2012 10:54

The only time I have heard the word 'wog' used is when MIL uses it, like this..

"I have a horrible wog" Wog = cold/virus. That is the only way I have heard it used here, in 6 years of living here.

honeytea · 21/08/2012 10:55

Exactly, so why is the word pom used? neither of us are prisoners so it is a pretty stupid word to use in my opinion.

tryingtoleave · 21/08/2012 12:05

That's my point squoosh, words have different connotations in different contexts. Wog in australia refers to someone of mediterranean background, and it doesn't have the same connotations as in england. You might want to be careful about the context you use it in, as it is a bit teasing, but it is in the public domain - tv shoes with wog in the title, etc. A greek friend of mine always used to whinge about her family being 'wogs'. I have been known to say to dh 'you are being such a wog', but I wouldn't say that to someone I didn't know well. He just nods and laughts. It sounds like Honey's colleague was using the word pom in a similar way.

I don't think 'prisoner' when I hear pom, I think Brit. Most people probably don't know that it is an acronym. I didn't know anyone would be offended by it, unless it was being used in an agressive tone. WOuld other posters be offended by being called a 'pom'? I would be more careful about saying in future, if that was the case.

saffronwblue · 21/08/2012 12:15

Words move around and change in different times and different places. I would not use the word Wog here in Australia but often hear it being used by someone to describe their own ethnic origin. It is not shocking or offensive in Australia. Pom is a somewhat dated term - not used very often.

Australia's indigenous people suffer many of the historic injustices and social dislocation of North American indigenous peoples. Deep issues which cannot be fixed only by financial handouts or artificial job creation. There are many people both indigenous and non-indigenous working to help "bridge the gap".

When I was in Adelaide last week the buses had advertisements all along their sides celebrating that the University of Adelaide had awarded its first Rhodes Scholarship to an Aboriginal woman. It is not all doom and gloom. It is certainly not all racism and negativity.

When our common British ancestors arrived in Australia they declared it to be Terra Nullius and gave the indigenous people the status of animals. It has been a long way back from there.

iMoniker · 21/08/2012 12:25

I love your posts Auschopper!!

Couldn't agree more about Brisbane - it's a FABULOUS place to live. Very proud to call it home Smile

tryingtoleave · 21/08/2012 12:42

(thank you, btw,frizzy)

auschopper · 21/08/2012 13:18

Wog hasn't the same connotations in Australia as it has here... I have loads of friends who are Wog's and we call them Wog's all the time... It is a term of endearment... like how you going you old bastard...

The Wog Boy
www.imdb.com/title/tt0216417/

auschopper · 21/08/2012 13:20

iMoniker : Glad to be of service..

auschopper · 21/08/2012 13:45

Honeytea : Exactly, so why is the word pom used? neither of us are prisoners so it is a pretty stupid word to use in my opinion.

Well neither of us jump around like skippy either, but get called that sometimes as well... I know that it is a term of endearment, and not derogatory, and the same stands for POM in oz. It is a dedication to where you came from...

honeytea · 21/08/2012 14:00

My point is that I wouldn't call anyone a term for their nationality that wasn't a direct shortening of the nationality. But in Australia it is normal to do this. There is no reason to use the word pom or wog when you can use the term british or greek.

A quick search gives you this regarding the word pom,

The term pommy, pom or pomme,[1] in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, commonly denotes a person of British heritage or origin?or just English: it is used regardless of distinctions between the four UK nations. It has been explained as 'Prisoner of the Mother Country'. A derogatory term, it was controversially ruled no longer offensive in 2006 by the Australian Advertising Standards Board and in 2010 by the New Zealand Broadcasting Standards Authority.[2] Despite these changing views, many British people or those of British origin consider the expression offensive or racist when used by people not of British origin to describe English or British people, yet acceptable when used within that community: for example, the community group British People Against Racial Discrimination was among those who complained to the Advertising Standards Board about five advertisements poking fun at "Poms", prompting the 2006 decision.[3]

The fact that in Australia the term is deemed as no longer offensive to me shows how casual racism is normal in Australia. It would be like a group of white people deciding that the term nigger is no longer offensive.

squoosh · 21/08/2012 14:04

I agree with you honeytea. Being told that the term 'wog' in Australia doesn't have the same connotation as it does in the UK doesn't really tell me anything other than Australians think that casual racism is acceptable.

FreudianSlipper · 21/08/2012 14:59

i was in australia when the film wog boy came out it was not greated by everyone with humour

and on australia's got talent a few years back didn't they have to apologise to harry connick jr as he was offened by the blackface tribute act Hmm because he is american

i am sure many were offended in australia too

WillNeverGetALicence · 22/08/2012 10:06

honeytea really?

Calling the British "poms" is the same as white people deciding the term "nigger" is no longer offensive? Hmm

I don't personally call anyone of british origin a pom and agree it is a silly and dated term. I think the majority of those who use it in Aus are people of my parents or grandparents generation and it is used mainly in a gentle joking sort of way but I imagine it could become pretty tedious to be classified in this way and to be the butt of even mild jokes based on your nationality/origins.

However I don't think it compares AT ALL to the hugely offensive and derogatory term "nigger".

jandymaccomesback · 22/08/2012 10:12

Use of language seems to be different in Australia anyway. I was really shocked when a friend of ours, who was messing about with our 17 year old son called him 'retard' (he has AS). She didn't mean it in an offensive way and was really apologetic when I explained that it wasn't acceptable over here.
Political correctness has changed our perception of language. On the same holiday someone kept making references to 'you Brits' and 'the Pommie friends you've got with you' and he obviously thought it was a joke, not an insult. It would get a bit tedious after a while, but I don't think it was intended to upset us.

SlightlySquiffy · 22/08/2012 10:37

honeytea I would tread VERY carefully in those waters you're dabbling in. A lot of Australians have negative views of Aboriginals because we have no reason to think otherwise. I went to school with Aboriginal girls whom were lovely. I've worked with people of all ages, and both genders of Aboriginal descent. But I have met 10 times more people of Aboriginal descent who are wanting to make a quick buck and not work by crying poor simply because they are Aboriginal.

I worked for the department of housing for a couple of years and the amount of abuse I received upon asking for proof of tribal descent to fast track a council housing placement would shock you. Reverse racism is rife and it's hard to not become jaded when the experience of growing up you can't walk through certain parts of town simply because you will be screamed at because you are white.

Yes, Aboriginal people have been treated abominably by the British, and yes, their culture needs to be supported (and largely is. I learnt more about The Dreamtime than British history at school) but entitlement is a big issue.

On the topic of moving, the cost of living has shot up, as has the value of the Aussie dollar, so maybe tally up the things you do on a daily basis and convert the costs. Do you have a coffee out every morning? That can be $5. Husband have lunch at work everyday? That's another $60 a week. A decent meal out for 2 will set you back about another £60, depending in where you live.

Also be aware if you're stationed somewhere, you could actually be about 80 miles to your closest 'town'. It's not uncommon to have to do a least a 20 minute drive just to get milk, if your out bush.

It sounds great, but it's a very different lifestyle.

SlightlySquiffy · 22/08/2012 11:15

The opinions on hert also explains the racism I've been subjected to as a white Australian (half British) personal

iMoniker · 22/08/2012 11:17

Honeytea - with all due respect your opinion is a pile of shite!! To brand an entire casually racist is at best ignorant, at worst just another form of bigotry!!

SlightlySquiffy · 22/08/2012 11:17

The opinions on here also go a long way to explain the racism I've been subjected to as a white Australian (half British) person living in London Hmm

iMoniker · 22/08/2012 11:17

Entire country.. Rather

squoosh · 22/08/2012 11:21

With all due respect a lot of Australians on this thread have made justifications for casual racism.

FreudianSlipper · 22/08/2012 11:29

i agree squoosh the they and us is coming across very clearly

i did tread carefully or soon learnt to when discussing aborigines while in australia as i would so often get shouted down for not knowing that they are really like