To think the people on Wanted Down Under have unrealistic expectations?

[CatherineOfAragonsPrayerBook]

Just watching this morning, as have a late shift. It's a 'revisted' episode so idea when it first aired. Mum has a small budget of £150,000 but wants a 'dream home' in Australia. First apartment too small, as is the second. You only have a budget of £150,000!! Eventually last house hits all the right notes, but is £60,000 overbudget. So she'll just work harder.

Planning to do Social Work, so goes to an experience day. The SW's are dealing with the case of an indigenous Aboriginal family. They work with a lot of indigenous families and their customs. Does she know anything about the Aboriginal people? No. Not done any research So what view of Australia does she have?

Everytime I watch this program the participants seem to have massive unrealistic expectations. AIBU to think they should at least know something about the Aboriginal people if they plan to move there?

@CatherineOfAragonsPrayerBook

YANBU.

There's nothing in the world that would make me leave the UK, and especially not for an overrated pit like Australia. The vast majority of it is inhabitable, it's too hot, and too dry, and there are way too many scary, dangerous reptiles and insects and arachnids. In addition, it's a very conservative (and quite racist and bigoted) place with very little tolerance. It's also a million miles away from most of the rest of the world. (Well it may as well be.)

Even in the habitable bits of Oz, it's very expensive to live. And I have seen many cases where people go for a 'better life' as they have a good skill (like plumbing or nursing,) and they find they have to retrain in Oz in THEIR ways/rules etc... and get a qualification that suits Oz. Someone I know found they needed a surplus £30K to survive that first year, as he had no income, and the living costs were sky-high.

I also blame Neighbours and Home and Away, and programmes like H20 (the Aussie mermaid show,) and the Sleepover Club, as they all made living in Oz look fab, glossy, sunny, free-living, relaxing, and cool. In reality, it's anything but, and I have known half a dozen families move over and then come back. In addition to that, I know a further 4 or 5 families who were going to go, and started the ball rolling, and then decided to stay.

I personally cannot fathom why ANYone would want to move to the other side of the world, when they have their family and friends here.

I would only leave the UK and move that far away, if I had no-one here who meant anything to me.

I think it is MASSIVELY selfish to expect your partner/spouse, and kids, to emigrate to Australia, and if my husband said he wanted to go, (to live,) it would be a dealbreaker. No way would I go. Neither would our kids. Our kids (now adults,) love to travel, and have travelled to around 15-18 countries each, some of them with me and DH and some with friends or their partner. But they said they would never, EVER leave the UK. Ever.

@bingbongnoise so would you emigrate?

Fwiw I agree with you.

@bingbongnoise

The UK is pretty amazing! I can't fathom people leaving all they hold dear to move so far away either. I remember one episode years ago where a stepmum wanted to move to Australia and wanted to persuade the reluctant husband that it was the best move even though her stepson was just 15 yrs old. Of course they had children together. Totally selfish. I didn't see the follow up episode.

Re: Racism. I keep hearing this so I assume it's true. It does seem that Aboriginals don't get a look in much Hard to tell as I dont live there, but a PP mentioned receiving guidebooks to Maori culture when emigrating to NZ but is there anything comparative in Australia?

My undercover guilty pleasure is Nothing To Declare and sometimes I'm at how hardline the customs officers are to people trying to enter, or people carrying a bit of fruit in. Not a job I could do. One sob story and I'd melt. We're relaxed by comparison!

@gifdaft

Soooo bing, would you emigrate?

LOL. Probably not!

@Catherineofaragonsprayerbook I agree that NZ is quite stunning, but I would also never move there, as it is also waaaaay too far!

Also, I don't feel that there would be many opportunities there, and the shine would wear off living there after about 2-3 months.

people carrying a bit of fruit in

that bit of fruit could have parasites on it that do not exist in Australia and could wipe out whole species of plants, what a thing to say!

On racism, Australia's treatment of refugees that come by boat is appalling, but not that different to what happens in Europe

On the other hand, almost 30% of the population in Australia is immigrants, for fewer immigrants here we got Brexit, so I'd be careful who I accuse of racism and xenophobia, particularly when many of the negative attitudes to Aboriginal people in Australia are a legacy of the colonial past, and who was that again?!

I watched an episode recently it was a rerun from quite a few years before.
The dad had a teenage daughter from a previous relationship and 2 children with his wife. They seemed happy to leave the older daughter behind even though they said they would really miss her. He had a brilliant niche job in england and wanted to get the same in Aus. He soon realised he would be taking a massive paycut and might get the same job in about 8 years time but only if he jumped through many hoops and was very lucky.
They decided that they wouldnt move because they 'couldnt leave the daughter' A likely story! they were all for leaving the daughter it was only the job situation chaged their minds.

I watched this show for the first time today! I don't was working from home and dd left tv on and I got sucked in.

Couldn't believe the end when the mum was pregnant again and still pinning for Australia. Seriously love, you need your family and support network around you! You'd be struggling financially and on your own! (But she'd be eating loads of rice and a size 8 so that's ok then)

I felt so sad watching today’s episode. She did not look pleased to be pregnant again.

(But she'd be eating loads of rice and a size 8 so that's ok then)

Yes @Sparkles07 I thought that comment was bizarre! She was desperate to overlook the negatives.

@missperegrinespeculiar So I'd be careful who I accuse of racism and xenophobia, particularly when many of the negative attitudes to Aboriginal people in Australia are a legacy of the colonial past, and who was that again?!

Huh? What does it matter? Surely it's about how Aboriginal people are being treated in their country of origin today, as in 2019?

Not sure what else you mean. My forebears (bar a couple possibly) were too busy cutting sugar cane in the West Indies to do much active colonialising, although I'm sure they would have liked the opportunity!

But yes we British (in the collective we) did have a hand in it all.

It always makes me sad when they reveal they are moving away from their DC's father to start a new life in Australia with their new stepfather and siblings.

I am sure I saw one where the eldest child did not want to go for this reason, the mother then said she would not leave her son behind no matter how much she wanted to go, and the step-dad had a hissy fit as he always wanted to go. It seemed to bring out a lot of troublesome family dynamics which did not seem to be apparent before they went on the show.

I was really shocked at the end today to discover that she was pregnant again. I think it's the very last thing she needed. The kids were really lovely though.

I remember watching one where she really wanted to go and he was less keen. His dad had died when he was young so he'd been raised by his mum and his older sister, their dynamic was really weird and they came across as quite overbearing. When they played the family video messages his mum and sister basically said that if he went to Australia he was dead to them, he was gutted. In the bit at the end where they say where the family are now, they had moved to Oz several months previously and his mum and sister had cut all contact with him

I think it's not just that they have unrealistic expectations, there almost seems to be a sense of entitlement, that they ought to be able to afford a lovely house with all the bells and whistles, within walking distance of where they would work, and great beaches and amenities, and feel terribly aggrieved when it turns out they can't.

@CatherineOfAragonsPrayerBook We knew that NZ was a bicultural country and I read up on the treaty of Waitangi for the purposes of interview questions. We knew nothing of Maori culture or traditions and to be honest, didn’t give it a thought as to its importance.

Definitely we didn’t see it as Britain but with better weather! We moved because of the politics of the UK, and because my working life in the NHS was becoming untenable. I wasn’t seeing DH or the boys from one week to the next with working long hours including overnights, coming home to eat & sleep and leaving again before they’d woken up. We couldn’t afford to live where we wanted to even on £70k a year (my starting salary as a hospital consultant).

Here we have a lovely house, an amazing town to live in, beautiful beaches, fantastic free education and healthcare - but more importantly I have so much more time with my family. I no longer feel heartbroken about never seeing the boys, my commute is down to a 10 min bike ride (not today, it’s raining!) and I’m home every evening for dinner and family time, and every morning for breakfast and lunchboxes. Some days I do the school run, which I’d never been able to do in the UK. I went on my sons’ school camps, again it wouldn’t have been possible in the UK.

Regarding Maori culture - we’ve learned it as we went along. Lack of advance knowledge wasn’t a hindrance, and as my boys were immersed in the bicultural aspect as soon as they started kindy, they taught me a lot of it.

I reckon 80% of the people on Wanted Down Under just go for the free holiday. At a push they’ve had a pillow talk convo about moving to more exotic climes

They always seem too keen to make the numbers work. In the U.K. X works part time but would earn $$$ working ft in Oz. Oz has never appealed to me and I remember watching one episode where the family went then came back to the U.K. and where looking to go back to Oz again.

I remember seeing one episode quite recently in which the family's 'lifestyle' activity got rained off (rather ironic given the often talked about 'outdoor lifestyle') so they took them to one of those indoor climbing arenas instead. The kids had a great time and the parents told them that they'd be able to do that all the time if they moved. Last time I looked, the UK was full of such centres and they're not weather dependant either!

There was another episode in which the couple wanted to run their own coffee shop in Australia, despite neither of them having any experience whatsoever in this area. They were sent to speak to the owner of a coffee shop who told them about the high fail rate of such business and if they expected to be shutting up at 5pm and heading for the beach, they were very much mistaken. They just didn't have a clue!

I suppose it makes for more entertaining viewing if they feature people who've clearly done no research and are going to be bitterly disappointed the minute they step off the plane. The same reason they pick families where one or more members don't want to go.

I work with some Australians. They say it is shit and they much prefer living in Glasgow.

How can people just think they can go over to Australia and start up.a coffee shop? If it was that easy surely more actual.Australians would be doing it? Plenty of cafe,s etc fail here too , but at least you wouldn't be thousands of miles from home, I have known several mental health nurse,s emigrate to Australia ,but they are transferable skills.

Most people on this annoy me-one she thought she could just walk into a job over in oz then found out she would need more qualificaiton-oh and she was dying to get a pool-theyre not that cheap!

I think most just want to run away for some reason i dont think its genuine reasons to go

Some not very nice comments on here, not sure anyone would tolerate an African country being called an uninhabitable ‘pit’.

Anyway I am bemused by the ‘working less’ myth. If you have a 9-5 job you’ll have the same in Aus! But if you work in professional services I do think it’s true that you’ll have better hours on balance. My ‘long hours’ in a law firm in London were something else. I have a much better life here, both in terms of balance and quality.

I took a pay cut but i work less, am home for dinner more, v rarely work weekends, I now rent a really beautiful brand new flat in a gorgeous chi chi Sydney suburb (could never have rented something comparable in say Fulham), I eat out more often (at least twice a week) and yes the weather is glorious. We cycle to work and will generally do something outdoorsy at the weekend.

I do think it’s probably true that quality of life here is better but only if you quality of life (ie salary) was good before.

@CatherineOfAragonsPrayerBook
“ScotsinOz Why not though? Is it that Aboriginal culture doesn't have to be engaged with and has little impact? Or it's a secondary culture subsumed within the wider 'Australian culture' or that it still essentially feels like UK with a minority culture that happens to be there? I find that hard to believe since there are many Italians, Greeks, Chinese etc there.

Everything sounds idylic where you are with family nearby so why don't you love it what's missing (if anything is)”

Auatralia is so multicultural that Aboriginal people (and British, Vietnamese, Chinese etc) are just another part of it. Yes, they are the original owners of the land and their ancestors were treated appallingly, but whose ancestors weren’t?

Aboriginal people are entitled to more Government benefits, a higher rate of certain benefits over non-Aboriginal people and a lot of jobs are only for open for Aboriginal people to apply, but at the end be of the day, we are all just people.

As for why I don’t love it - I’d love to get a proper Chinese Curry, I’d love to get a true chicken tikka masala, I miss my friends and cheap last minute holiday deals when in a few hours you can be in so many different countries, I miss walking to work in knee deep snow, I miss my large extended family and I really miss people understanding what I’m saying!!

My cousin's son emigrated to Australia years ago. He lives in Sydney and has no intention of returning although he has dual nationality.

However, he is from the southern states of the USA and Australia probably is very much better in terms of working conditions, employment laws, and healthcare. First thing that he posted on Facebook after Trump's election was that he was clinging tightly to his Aussie passport. Living a large city centre life is very probably easier for someone with more liberal views than in an area which is rapidly turning itself into Gilead.

There are suburbs where every home has a pool - from minimum wage earners to CEO’s. Having a pool is not just for the wealthy in Australia.

I didn't say it was, but it's not everyone who has them and those suburbs are likely quite a long way from the city centre. I was in Sydney 6 months ago and houses in outer suburbs not near beaches and with no pool were being listed upwards of AUD1m. Property values have really skyrocketed in the past 10 years due to an influx of money from China so it's not realistic for average newcomers to Australia to get a house with a pool unless they're high earners.

I'm in Sydney and work for a large global law firm - actually my work life balance is much worse and I work far harder and longer hours than I did in a London law firm.

We do however rent a bigger house with a pool but it's expensive.

Ironically we had a more outdoors lifestyle in London and cycled more etc.

There are benefits to being here and we feel that we have given the children more time to be children but it comes at a price.