Back again, folks, and answering some of your questions about Australia.
Care work is not unskilled work. It requires a tertiary qual, the Certificate III in Individual Support, which prepares people to work in nursing homes, assisted living and in-home care. I have this qual myself, as I'm working toward a new career as a nurse, and I have to tell you, it is a shipload of work and very exacting. It also goes out of date quickly, as improvements are moving so fast in the care sector. So we have to keep up. But I do enjoy the work.
The homelessness problem. A PP asked why the Aust govt doesn't restrict AirBnB and foreign ownership of residences. We would LOVE this. I'd add: Why do our govts demolish public housing, refuse to build replacements, and say "the private market will provide" when clearly it doesn't and never has in my lifetime? My answer is: Because our pollies are protecting their own wealth, and because they are in thrall to lobby groups. Most of us normies believe in the Australian tradition of "a fair go" and have a strong sense of fairness. But this is not reflected in the decisions made on our behalf. Nor will our media, on the whole, ask these hard questions of govts.
Boat people. Seriously, we do not want immigrants trying to reach Australia by clapped-out fishing boats from Indonesia. Thousands have drowned trying to do this. That's why the fed govt voted to tow any boats detected by the Coast Guard back to Indonesia. If immigrants want to come here, they can apply via the points system rather than forking out to illegal people smugglers.
Deportees. I have a family member in the Dept of Immigration. They investigate visa violators. They tell me three groups are major offenders:
People who claim refugee status on persecution grounds, then six months later want to high-tail it back to their country of origin for a "family visit". Nah, mate, if you were scared enough to flee, you won't want to rush back. Visa cancelled.
People who come here and join a bikie gang to make easy money from drug dealing. Visa cancelled. Pity about the wives and kids who did nothing wrong, but their visas also get cancelled.
People who come here on occupational points, then assume Australian women of European descent are sluts who will shag anyone, then are shocked when those women report them for harassment and assault. Visa cancelled. Again, shame about the wives and children.
I'm getting tired of people denouncing Australians as racists. Yes, we have a huge debt to our indigenous people, but we now have the political and social will to make it up to them. We get it wrong in a lot of ways, but we are trying. As for foreigners who lob here and trash us for not immediately accepting them, remember that the onus is on the newcomer. We do have a particular culture here, and we appreciate and will help those who try to understand it.
I'm an immigrant from Hong Kong. After all these years I'm still perplexed by some aspects of Australian culture, but I can roll. And I do like it here.