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So it’s started to get a little warm here in Western Australia and yesterday it hit 40 degrees Celsius which is the first time this summer that it’s hit this temperature.

Today the forecast is a very warm 38 C and tomorrow (new years day) we’ll be hitting the 40’s again.

Nothing for a bloke to do really other then strip off,   jump into the pool and enjoy a cold beer.

What if your a cat with a built in fur coat though?

Our cat Charlie really struggles with the hot weather. Being black doesn’t help and even the shade provided by the canopy covering our patio offers little relief.

Cats for some reason don’t quite understand the benefits of refrigerated air conditioning. In ‘Cat World’ it’s always bound to be cooler outside even though the wonders of modern air conditioning means that the difference between inside and outside temperatures could be as much as 10 – 15 degrees C.

Charlie after his brief introduction to a jug of water. I think he's plotting something

In the three years that we’ve been here we’ve tried a number of things to bring down Charlie s core body temperature during the really hot days.

As frequent visits to the vets have taught us, one of the few places where cats sweat is through their paws. They don’t have the ability to loose heat by panting like a dog or sweating like us humans do.

One thing we’ve tried was ice cubes in the water bowl. Unfortunately this approach will only work if you can convince your cat to get up from his shady corner for a drink. Yesterday this just was not going to happen and the ice cubes soon melt in this really hot weather.

What does work though is a big jug of water!

Now, I don’t mean that in the ‘chuck a jug of water over your cat’ kind of way

What we do is simply sit down next to the cat and give him a good stoke.

The sly part is between each stroke we dip our hand in the jug of water so that over a period of time we manage to give him a good soaking.

Anyone who has attempted to bath a cat will know that getting your cat wet is often not a very wise move. For Charlie though, he was either to warm to rip us to pieces with his claws or simply couldn’t be bothered. Either way he was happy to be given some relief from the heat.

Charlie has been showing an interest in the swimming pool of late. If he decides to start taking regular dips then I’ll get the clips posted up on Youtube!

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Wanted down under has been an extremely successful format for the BBC with Series 3 of Wanted down Under being launched in the UK on Monday the 5th of January.

The idea for the program is a simple one; If the job that you do is on the list of those in short supply in Australia and you are under 45 then the Australian government will help to fast track you through the immigration procedure.

The reality is that unfortunately getting down under is not such a simple process and reading some of the posts made by many of our community members would confirm this.

Just like series 1 and series 2 of Wanted down under, the beeb have chosen to show the program at an unhealthy 9:30am which still surprises me despite it’s popularity! The decision to air the series in early January is probably a good one though as post Christmas glumness and the grim British weather make the prospect of a new life down under an even more attractive one.

I’m expecting good things from the BBC although views on previous series have been mixed.

Some folks have commented that the view the Beeb give of life down under needs to be a more realistic one. One member in a forum commented:

We followed the show last year and recorded each programme and watched them twice. Even had the family watching them. Went out to Oz last year. The houses are fantastic, stunning, better than anything here in UK. But what a load of rubbish the programme was. The price’s were wrong, and they didn’t include in the price the cost of the block of land in the first place.

Also keep an eye out for the other inaccuracies they give. For example, as you know the series concentrates on Skilled Migrants Under 45. Last year they said a new migrant can’t start up their own business, when arriving in Australia and would need to go into paid employment. That’s rubbish. I have 2 friends there one set up his own barbers shop within 2 months of arrival, another one opened a coffee shop within a fortnight. This year they have shown one couple with the main applicant not having worked for 2 years. Does that sound right to you cos it doesn’t t to me. Chase the dream by all means but don’t get carried away with this show or your in for a disappointment.

Others have found Wanted Down Under a really useful intro to life down under. A member of our community commented:

The series is really useful, especially as there was an episode that included Brisbane. It shows you the type of house available, the supermarkets and makes comparisons with education.

I guess the moral of the story is; before you start packing your bags do a little homework.

I can’t stress enough the importance of doing some proper research before hand!

There are some great resources on the web and our articles and community forum are a good place to find help and advice from people currently making the big move down under.

One of the articles from our archives you may find of use for example is: Where do I start? The Visa Wizard is here to help (link opens in a new window). We have hundreds more that you can find by simply browsing around our site.

Back to Wanted Down Under, the first episode   ’stars’ the Williams Family and the blurb on the BBC’s website describes the first episode as:

The Williams family from Leicester has the chance to sample life in Adelaide for a week, before deciding whether to make the massive step to emigrate.

But when policeman Paul meets the South Australia police, he finds the job prospects don’t really stack up. And when he weighs up whether he could leave his 12-year-old daughter in the UK, the whole family feels the unbearable pain of deciding whether they could leave loved ones behind.

Episode 2 follows Zoe Mehra

Zoe Mehra has been dreaming of a new life down under ever since she went travelling there after university. But she has to persuade husband Peel that their future would be brighter if they emigrated. They spend their trial week in Sydney, where painter-decorator Peel finds there is plenty of well paid work. But will that be enough to tempt him?

And Episode 3 follows the Cookson family trying life in Melbourne for a week.You can see details of more episodes as they are released here. (opens in a new window)

Reading the blurbs, the stories seem pretty full on huh?

One final thing from me.

Having made the move down under ourselves, I have to say the stress and effort really IS worth it!

I wrote this post a while back after being here for our first year. Three years on it gets better every day.

Please feel free to post a comment if you’ve seen the latest series of Wanted Down Under below.

To Apply for Series 4 of Wanted Down Under see this post.

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Well this is our third Christmas since we arrived down under and the family and I are really looking forward to a nice relaxing Christmas day.

The Turkey has been taken out of the freezer and the next 24 hours should hopefully provide sufficient time for the thing to be defrosted.We’ve also got some huge Tiger prawns which will be getting introduced to the barbecue in the next day or so

Junior number one is ultra excited that Santa will be visiting (probably via the air conditioning vents again due to the lack of a Chimney) and Junior number two will likely be trying her hardest to have a nice brown smelly present for Mummy and Daddy first thing tomorrow morning.

The weather forecast for tomorrow is Sunny and a balmy 31 degrees Celsius which is a stark contrast to the delights of the weather we used to enjoy back in the UK.

Speaking of weather. The cloudy sky picture to the left is a picture I took from my front garden this morning. I don’t know if it’s down to a sheer lack of ozone in Australia but the sky’s here are the most amazing vivid blues.

By Aussie Standards (or certainly Western Australian standards) this is a pretty cloudy day but the cloud formations looked pretty cool and I decided to get all Arty and take a picture.

The picture now acts as my desktop wallpaper. I know that many visitors to our site come from less sunny Climates (such as the UK so feel free to do the same.

To set the picture as your desktop, simply click the thumbnail for the full sized version and (in most browsers) right click with your mouse button and select ’select as desktop’ or similar.

I hope you all have a happy and peaceful Christmas and on the basis that I don’t get food poising from poorly defrosted turkey you’ll be hearing more from us very soon

Cheers

Mark

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The Australian Government has announced a relaxation in its policy affecting the purchase of real estate by temporary residents living in Australia.

Currently, all temporary residents and non-residents (including businesses) must notify the Australian Government through the Foreign Investment Review Board of their intention to acquire residential real estate, and must comply with post-purchase conditions on its use, development and resale.

The Australian Government considers that:

“The current arrangements have not been updated since 1989 and are consequently poorly targeted. They restrict housing market flexibility and impose unnecessary costs and delay on around 7,500 foreign residents and businesses receiving approval each year. Residential real estate comprises more than 92 per cent of applications received each year by the Foreign Investment Review Board.

The changes will streamline notification arrangements, reducing post purchase conditions on the development of single blocks of vacant land, and aligning the definition of temporary residents with contemporary visa categories.

Restrictions aimed at encouraging the supply of new dwellings and preventing excess demand in the housing market will be retained, for example, the rule requiring non‑residents to purchases new rather than buying existing dwellings.”

More specifically:

From the 18th of December, 2008:

Temporary residents purchasing second hand dwellings

The definition of ‘temporary resident’ includes all foreign persons living in Australia on a valid visa, irrespective of the expiry date of that visa. This includes people on bridging visas pending the outcome of a substantive visa application (eg if they have applied for permanent residency) but, for example, does not include short-term visitors such as tourists, business people and those here for a medical procedure.

Foreign students resident in Australia are no longer subject to a $300,000 limit on the value of an established dwelling purchased as their principal place of residence.

Vacant residential land

Acquisitions by foreign-owned companies, trust estates and non-resident foreign persons of single blocks of vacant residential land are required to build a dwelling within a period of 24 months (previously within 12 months and development expenditure of at least 50 per cent of land cost).

The conditions previously applied to acquisitions by temporary residents of single blocks of vacant residential land no longer apply (such acquisitions will be exempt after the Regulations are amended in early 2009).

‘Single blocks’ of vacant land generally refers to a block of land on which only a single dwelling could be constructed. This does not include large tracts of land (eg for the purpose of subdivision) or multiple adjacent single blocks (eg to develop a multi-dwelling apartment complex) – additional development conditions may apply to such acquisitions.

New dwellings

The existing requirement that only 50 per cent of new dwellings can be sold to foreign persons on an ‘off the plan’ basis has been removed provided developers market locally as well as overseas. Vendors are no longer required to have concurrently developed a similar dwelling in order to be able to sell a new stand-alone dwelling to a foreign person. This will be reviewed after two years.

A ‘new dwelling’ is currently defined as having never been occupied or sold; this now includes dwellings that have not been sold but that have been rented out for no more than 12 months.

Foreign companies purchasing second hand dwellings

Foreign-owned companies can now purchase established dwellings for the use of their Australian based staff provided that they sell or rent the dwelling if it is expected to remain vacant for more than 6 months. There is no limit to the number of established dwellings which can be purchased, where required for employee accommodation.
Redevelopment of second hand dwellings

A proposed redevelopment must increase the number of dwellings and no rental income can be obtained from the existing dwelling prior to demolition. Such redevelopments are required to demolish the existing dwelling and commence construction of the new dwellings within 24 months in line with vacant land (previously 12 months), and development expenditure must be at least 50 per cent of the purchase price of the property.

From February 2009 – Subject to Approval of Amendments to the Applicable Regulations

Temporary residents’ exemption
Temporary residents will not be required to notify proposed acquisitions of:

* an established dwelling for their own residence (not for investment purposes);
* any new dwellings; and
* single blocks of vacant residential land (other acquisitions of vacant land will require notification and will normally be approved subject to development within 24 months).

The exemption will include acquisitions of property by temporary residents via their wholly owned trust or Australian incorporated company.

The existing notification requirements will continue to apply to non-residents, who must notify all proposed acquisitions of residential real estate.

Accommodation facilities

Accommodation facilities such as resorts and hotels will be treated as commercial real estate rather than residential real estate. Acquisitions of such facilities – or individual units within them – valued below the relevant developed commercial property threshold ($5 million for heritage listed property, $50 million for non-heritage listed property or $953 million for US investors) will be exempt from the FATA and will not require notification and approval.

Streamlined administrative procedures

Streamlined administrative procedures will be established for foreign-owned companies, trust estates and non-resident foreign persons to notify and receive approval for proposed acquisitions of vacant residential land and newly constructed dwellings. New application forms and statutory notices will be introduced to facilitate the streamlined procedures.

Developers will no longer be issued advance approval for sales of new dwellings to foreign persons – all non-resident foreign purchasers must submit individual applications (although developers may submit these on behalf of the purchaser/s). Temporary residents will be exempt and not required to notify.

Weblink:   http://www.firb.gov.au/content/policy.asp

News Source :   http://www.gomatilda.com.au

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It’s been a while since I played around with the look of our site and as I have a little time on my hands (with the lead up to Christmas) I thought it was about time for a change.

As time has gone by Getting Down Under has developed from just a personal Blog to an online magazine for people looking to emigrate Down Under.

I’m hoping the new design will help pull together a large part of our content whilst helping people visiting our site navigate through the pages a little more easier than before.

There’s still a little tweaking to do with the design before I’d be fully happy with it but I think it does the job for now

Please feel free to comment if you have any questions or notice anything which appears to have gone a little wrong!

Cheers

Mark

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An interesting and useful revision for those applying under one of the skilled Migration programs.

The Rudd Government will revise the migration program for the second half of 2008-09 so that skilled migrants who have a confirmed job, or have skills in critical need will be given priority for a permanent visa to come to Australia.

In a statement tabled in Parliament today, the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, Senator Chris Evans, said the changes, effective from 1 January, will ensure that the Skilled Migration program is driven by the requirements of industry and targets skills in critical need across a number of sectors.

‘This will ensure our migration program is more responsive to the needs of the economy and assists industries still experiencing skills shortages,’ Senator Evans said.

‘In light of the changing economic circumstances, the Rudd Government has reviewed the Skilled Migration program and consulted business and industry along with state and territory governments Australia-wide about their skills needs. Continue Reading

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We had a really useful entry posted by one of our forum members which I think is really worth sharing on the main pages of getting down under.

Following this advice could save you quite a bit of your hard earned money once you finally make it down under so the entry is worth a read.

I’ve included the full text of the entry below. Thanks for your input Marilyn

OK… you’ve spent countless hours doing the research, you’ve spent days filling out form after form, and you’ve spent MONTHS on end waiting (OH the awful waiting) and now you’ve finally got that wonderful visa!!

Well… here is a little tip bit to help you on the process after you land.

Continue Reading

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