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Re: Why people are not Migrating to Australia
australia is the worst country in the world - get over it.
australia is the worst country in the world - get over it.
-
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The official OZ bashing thread.
- Thread starter AAA
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Oz Soars on Mercer Cost of Living Rank!
http://www.smartcompany.com.au/Free-...expensive.html
Australia’s cities are getting more expensive
Thursday, 24 July 2008
Australia’s capital cities have leapt up the ranks in an annual global cost of living survey conducted by consultancy Mercer.
Sydney is Australia’s most expensive city to live in, coming in 15th on the list ahead of famously opulent cities like Vienna, New York and Madrid.
Melbourne comes in next in 36th place, followed by Perth (53rd), Brisbane (57th) and Adelaide (71st).
Across the Tasman, New Zealand’s cities have also grown costlier, but even so the most expensive Kiwi city, 78th placed Auckland, remains a cheaper place to live than the least costly Australian capital.
Most striking, however, is the rapid rise in the cost of living experienced by the occupants of many of Australia’s state capitals. While Sydney only moved up a relatively modest six places, Melbourne jumped 28 places, Perth jumped 31, Brisbane 29 and Adelaide 23.
Changing currency values is a key reason for the shift, according to Mercer’s Rob Knox. “A weakening US dollar coupled with the sustained appreciation of the Australian dollar, has really pushed Australian cities further up the ranks,” he says.
Moscow retained its title as the world’s most expensive city this year, ahead of Tokyo, London, Seoul, Oslo and Hong Kong.
http://www.smartcompany.com.au/Free-...expensive.html
Australia’s cities are getting more expensive
Thursday, 24 July 2008
Australia’s capital cities have leapt up the ranks in an annual global cost of living survey conducted by consultancy Mercer.
Sydney is Australia’s most expensive city to live in, coming in 15th on the list ahead of famously opulent cities like Vienna, New York and Madrid.
Melbourne comes in next in 36th place, followed by Perth (53rd), Brisbane (57th) and Adelaide (71st).
Across the Tasman, New Zealand’s cities have also grown costlier, but even so the most expensive Kiwi city, 78th placed Auckland, remains a cheaper place to live than the least costly Australian capital.
Most striking, however, is the rapid rise in the cost of living experienced by the occupants of many of Australia’s state capitals. While Sydney only moved up a relatively modest six places, Melbourne jumped 28 places, Perth jumped 31, Brisbane 29 and Adelaide 23.
Changing currency values is a key reason for the shift, according to Mercer’s Rob Knox. “A weakening US dollar coupled with the sustained appreciation of the Australian dollar, has really pushed Australian cities further up the ranks,” he says.
Moscow retained its title as the world’s most expensive city this year, ahead of Tokyo, London, Seoul, Oslo and Hong Kong.
Brisbane,Perth, Most Expensive Cities in the World
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au...006789,00.html
Brisbane, Perth and Sydney among 50 most expensive cities
Florence Chong | May 29, 2008
RAPIDLY rising rents in Sydney, Brisbane and Perth have pushed the cities into the ranks of the 50 most expensive markets.
In the latest Global Market Rents Survey, published by CB Richard Ellis, Sydney's ranking moved from 62nd to 18th on the list of cities with the fastest-growing occupancy costs.
Sydney's average rent grew by 23.3 per cent to $800/sqm in the 12 months to May this year. It is 38th most expensive office market, jumping 10 places in six months.
Similarly, rents in Perth grew rapidly, averaging $785/sqm, placing the West Australian capital in 41st position -- and debuting in 50 most expensive cities list.
Although it slipped behind Sydney in the latest rankings, having overtaken it six months ago, Brisbane moved up a notch from 47th to 46th, with an average rent of $747/sqm.
Brisbane, which previously featured prominently in the fastest-growing rents list, slipped back from 16th place to 27th in the latest survey.
"This points to an easing in growth in this market in the early part of 2008," says CBRE Research and Consulting executive director Kevin Stanley.
"This is perhaps a sign of things to come for a market which has enjoyed staggering rental growth over the past three to four years," he says.
Rental growth in Perth was the fastest of the Australian cities: 32.3 per cent in the 12 months to May 2008.
It ranked as the 41st most expensive city in the world.
Two Indian cities -- Mumbai and New Delhi -- are now among the 10 most expensive markets.
Rentals in London's West End remain the most expensive, followed by Moscow and Tokyo respectively.
Singapore and Dubai were newcomers to the 10 most expensive cities.
Singapore ranked ninth with a median rent of $1643/sqm.
Occupancy costs in Singapore rose 86 per cent during the survey period, placing it third on the list of the cities with the fastest-growing occupancy costs.
Dubai, which was the 10th most expensive city, recorded a median office rent of $1515/sqm.
Occupancy costs in the UAE city rose 43 per cent in the past 12 months, making it the seventh fastest-growing city.
CBRE's global chief economist Raymond Torto says office occupancy costs are continuing to defy sluggish economic conditions and the credit crunch, rising faster than global inflation.
Edit/Delete Message
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au...006789,00.html
Brisbane, Perth and Sydney among 50 most expensive cities
Florence Chong | May 29, 2008
RAPIDLY rising rents in Sydney, Brisbane and Perth have pushed the cities into the ranks of the 50 most expensive markets.
In the latest Global Market Rents Survey, published by CB Richard Ellis, Sydney's ranking moved from 62nd to 18th on the list of cities with the fastest-growing occupancy costs.
Sydney's average rent grew by 23.3 per cent to $800/sqm in the 12 months to May this year. It is 38th most expensive office market, jumping 10 places in six months.
Similarly, rents in Perth grew rapidly, averaging $785/sqm, placing the West Australian capital in 41st position -- and debuting in 50 most expensive cities list.
Although it slipped behind Sydney in the latest rankings, having overtaken it six months ago, Brisbane moved up a notch from 47th to 46th, with an average rent of $747/sqm.
Brisbane, which previously featured prominently in the fastest-growing rents list, slipped back from 16th place to 27th in the latest survey.
"This points to an easing in growth in this market in the early part of 2008," says CBRE Research and Consulting executive director Kevin Stanley.
"This is perhaps a sign of things to come for a market which has enjoyed staggering rental growth over the past three to four years," he says.
Rental growth in Perth was the fastest of the Australian cities: 32.3 per cent in the 12 months to May 2008.
It ranked as the 41st most expensive city in the world.
Two Indian cities -- Mumbai and New Delhi -- are now among the 10 most expensive markets.
Rentals in London's West End remain the most expensive, followed by Moscow and Tokyo respectively.
Singapore and Dubai were newcomers to the 10 most expensive cities.
Singapore ranked ninth with a median rent of $1643/sqm.
Occupancy costs in Singapore rose 86 per cent during the survey period, placing it third on the list of the cities with the fastest-growing occupancy costs.
Dubai, which was the 10th most expensive city, recorded a median office rent of $1515/sqm.
Occupancy costs in the UAE city rose 43 per cent in the past 12 months, making it the seventh fastest-growing city.
CBRE's global chief economist Raymond Torto says office occupancy costs are continuing to defy sluggish economic conditions and the credit crunch, rising faster than global inflation.
Edit/Delete Message
Migrants leaving Australia cost too high
http://www.stuff.co.nz/timaruherald/4551382a6010.html
Aust housing crisis forcing Kiwis to leave
The Timaru Herald | Saturday, 17 May 2008
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Kiwis are missing out on the big bucks in Western Australia because it's too difficult and too expensive to find accommodation.
Booming business is drawing hundreds of people to Western Australia but the accommodation crisis gripping the state is forcing many people to leave.
An anonymous letter sent to the Herald warned Kiwis thinking of moving to "the lucky country" that: "Life is not all milk and honey in Australia."
The letter writer said rental demand is forcing up rentals with some families sleeping in their cars and sharing accommodation with other families.
The West Australian newspaper reported that the State's resource boom is to blame for soaring rents and rising house prices and has created a poverty epidemic in the state.
The number of homeless in Perth is believed to have risen 20 per cent to more than 7000 since the 2001 census and is predicted to worsen.
The letter writer said between one and two dozen families are sleeping in cars each night near Kwinana beach which is south of Perth.
"If people from New Zealand come to Australia without much money they could soon be in the cactus."
A former Timaru woman is also warning people to do their homework before booking a one-way ticket to Perth.
Wendy Tapper said the accommodation shortage is spoiling many Kiwi's plans.
The human resources coordinator said people are coming to Perth in search of big money but can't stay because they can't find anywhere to live.
"I often have Kiwis and other nationalities applying for positions here but unless they have contacts or plenty of money accommodation becomes a huge issue and more often than not they either have to return to New Zealand or try their luck in other states."
Former Waimate man Paul Dillon had a place to stay before he moved to Perth three years ago.
He urged people to arrange accommodation before moving to Western Australia because flat hunting can be a long and painful process with as many as 30 people vying for one flat.
He admitted the money was good but it was an expensive lifestyle. "The rent here's like a mortgage back home."
http://www.stuff.co.nz/timaruherald/4551382a6010.html
Aust housing crisis forcing Kiwis to leave
The Timaru Herald | Saturday, 17 May 2008
Email a Friend | Printable View | Have Your Say
Related Links
• Subscribe to Archivestuff
• Have your say
Kiwis are missing out on the big bucks in Western Australia because it's too difficult and too expensive to find accommodation.
Booming business is drawing hundreds of people to Western Australia but the accommodation crisis gripping the state is forcing many people to leave.
An anonymous letter sent to the Herald warned Kiwis thinking of moving to "the lucky country" that: "Life is not all milk and honey in Australia."
The letter writer said rental demand is forcing up rentals with some families sleeping in their cars and sharing accommodation with other families.
The West Australian newspaper reported that the State's resource boom is to blame for soaring rents and rising house prices and has created a poverty epidemic in the state.
The number of homeless in Perth is believed to have risen 20 per cent to more than 7000 since the 2001 census and is predicted to worsen.
The letter writer said between one and two dozen families are sleeping in cars each night near Kwinana beach which is south of Perth.
"If people from New Zealand come to Australia without much money they could soon be in the cactus."
A former Timaru woman is also warning people to do their homework before booking a one-way ticket to Perth.
Wendy Tapper said the accommodation shortage is spoiling many Kiwi's plans.
The human resources coordinator said people are coming to Perth in search of big money but can't stay because they can't find anywhere to live.
"I often have Kiwis and other nationalities applying for positions here but unless they have contacts or plenty of money accommodation becomes a huge issue and more often than not they either have to return to New Zealand or try their luck in other states."
Former Waimate man Paul Dillon had a place to stay before he moved to Perth three years ago.
He urged people to arrange accommodation before moving to Western Australia because flat hunting can be a long and painful process with as many as 30 people vying for one flat.
He admitted the money was good but it was an expensive lifestyle. "The rent here's like a mortgage back home."
Re: New Racist Party Formed in Australia-Asians Banned
Originally Posted by OzSucks View Post
once again you read it here, you saw it here, people.
so australian whites are not contented with beating and killing asians, now this Neil Smith wants to ban all non-white colored people for 100 years.
and dont forget pauline hanson ran in 2007 trying to ban muslims from australia because she gets letters from whites saying they are afraid of foreigners.
yet another reason why australia is the worst country in the world.
http://monash.yourguide.com.au/news/...n/1368090.aspx
Ousted candidate eyes 'next election'
24/11/2008 4:09:00 PM
A MULGRAVE Ward council election candidate, who was expelled by One Nation, has vowed to form his own political party with a platform slammed as "immoral and impossible".
Last month, Neil Henry Smith, who ran as a self-proclaimed "racist" in recent state and federal elections,
said he would form his own political party Pauline's One Nation White Australia Party.
His party's main platform is a "100 years moratorium on coloured immigration" to ease problems caused by
overpopulation. Monash University's Centre for Population and Urban Research director, Bob Birrell, said a slowdown in migration movement would help ease demand for water and other resources, but to link it to a 'white Australia' policy was "immoral and impossible". "The point about migration is legitimate but not based on colour. It's a real pity that this kind of advocacy gets wrapped up in an extraneous issue."
Mr Smith said he formed the party to get him "some billing in the next election".
One Nation state secretary Pat Loy said the party would fight against Mr Smith registering the proposed party name. "He is still bringing us into disrepute. We will have to take legal action if he doesn't stop. It's harmful to us and it's harmful to Pauline [Hanson]."
A spokesman for the Australian Electoral Commission said its jurisdiction came into play once a party attempted to register.
One Nation founder Pauline Hanson did not respond to the Journal before publication.
Kirsten Leiminger
Originally Posted by OzSucks View Post
once again you read it here, you saw it here, people.
so australian whites are not contented with beating and killing asians, now this Neil Smith wants to ban all non-white colored people for 100 years.
and dont forget pauline hanson ran in 2007 trying to ban muslims from australia because she gets letters from whites saying they are afraid of foreigners.
yet another reason why australia is the worst country in the world.
http://monash.yourguide.com.au/news/...n/1368090.aspx
Ousted candidate eyes 'next election'
24/11/2008 4:09:00 PM
A MULGRAVE Ward council election candidate, who was expelled by One Nation, has vowed to form his own political party with a platform slammed as "immoral and impossible".
Last month, Neil Henry Smith, who ran as a self-proclaimed "racist" in recent state and federal elections,
said he would form his own political party Pauline's One Nation White Australia Party.
His party's main platform is a "100 years moratorium on coloured immigration" to ease problems caused by
overpopulation. Monash University's Centre for Population and Urban Research director, Bob Birrell, said a slowdown in migration movement would help ease demand for water and other resources, but to link it to a 'white Australia' policy was "immoral and impossible". "The point about migration is legitimate but not based on colour. It's a real pity that this kind of advocacy gets wrapped up in an extraneous issue."
Mr Smith said he formed the party to get him "some billing in the next election".
One Nation state secretary Pat Loy said the party would fight against Mr Smith registering the proposed party name. "He is still bringing us into disrepute. We will have to take legal action if he doesn't stop. It's harmful to us and it's harmful to Pauline [Hanson]."
A spokesman for the Australian Electoral Commission said its jurisdiction came into play once a party attempted to register.
One Nation founder Pauline Hanson did not respond to the Journal before publication.
Kirsten Leiminger
NZ Cheaper, better than Australia!
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4592585a19716.html
The grass isn't greener across the Ditch
Sunday Star Times | Sunday, 22 June 2008
Email a Friend | Printable View | Have Your Say
Sunday Star-Times
OZ BOUND: Thousands of Kiwis hop across the ditch every year in search of a better life in the Lucky Country - but don't expect the grass to always be greener, says recent Melbourne migrant Elinore Wellwood (with Loti, 3)
Australia lives up to its image in many ways.
Kiwi migrants to Melbourne, for example, can read the newspaper as though it's a novel, its fanciful descriptions of gang wars and restaurant assassinations, corrupt police passing names of police informers to gangland contacts, who call in the hitmen.
Even as you shrug off the language differences as background noise thongs for jandals, doona for duvet, a child's fluffy is a babycino, you will smile at the Italian grandmothers who stop polishing their iron railings to run a wrinkled hand under a three-year-old's chin and thrust a gold coin into the mother's hand. "She is beautiful. Buy her something with this."
At the large neighbourhoods of those who still regard themselves as Italians and Greeks even though their grandparents left those cultures behind when they were barely out of their teens.
So, at Easter, the local baker sells specialties like melomakarona (walnut cookies drenched in syrup) and kourabiethes (moonshaped almond shortbreads covered in icing sugar). And all year round, locals go to the brilliant tapas bars in the alleys which produce their own top-selling cookbooks, and the farmers' markets sell beef you can trust the rural folk have known it since it was a calf.
These are reasons to move to Melbourne, to Australia. The food, the warmer weather, the broader multiculturalism.
Just don't expect it to be cheap.
Despite salaries reported to be 25 per cent higher on average, middle-income professionals won't earn that much more than in New Zealand in the same job, says Kiwi lawyer Jo Davidson. She's been Tasman-hopping moving to Melbourne, then back to Wellington, before returning last year to Australia to a dream job.
She loves the gourmet food in and around the city. And for her, the weather is a relief. The summer in Melbourne is warm, the seasons actually change, it's always dawning fine and even when it rains, it's gentle.
She didn't return for the money, though. "I felt significantly better off when I moved back from Melbourne to New Zealand. As a single woman [in Australia] I would never have contemplated buying a house. I went back to New Zealand and within six months bought my own home."
Food, she says, is also much more expensive in Australia. Everyday items such as milk and bread will cost you more. Woolworths' chief executive even admitted to a national inquiry that the company charges shoppers more in Australia than in New Zealand.
"And the quality at supermarkets is appalling. I used to be able to go to New World in Wellington and buy every single thing I wanted, and it was delicatessen standard."
Even if your pay packet is larger, the money quickly disappears. Teacher Mike Arthur, who recently moved from Wellington, says he earns about $4000 more than in New Zealand. "But the higher cost of living here eats that up."
Houses and cars are the big unaffordables. Advertised prices do not include tens of thousands of dollars in stamp duty when buying a house or vehicle. "Our car was far more expensive here, and then we had to pay stamp duty on it, plus about $700 to register it," says Arthur.
Some things cost less. Furniture because of superstores like Ikea and electricity (80 per cent generated from coal, the green-minded should note) are far cheaper, he says.
Presuming you don't earn less than $A25,000 ($31,100) taxes are not too different from New Zealand - about $2500 less in Australia on average but 9 per cent of wages is taken for compulsory superannuation, a figure hidden in the salary packages that lure unsuspecting Kiwis across the Tasman (salary "packaging" to cut your tax burden is big business). Tough if you wanted to pay off the mortgage first.
That's if you can afford to buy. To live within 4km of Melbourne's centre, expect to pay well over $600,000 for a house. The house will be semi-detached, unrenovated, have a tiny courtyard and probably be next to a big highway.
If you can't afford to buy, finding lower-end rental accommodation may be difficult, with an inner-city rental crisis in Melbourne. Chris and Carly, who just moved over from New Zealand, told the Age newspaper they had "been to four inspections in four days. The perception from home is that there are plenty of places to rent, but when you get to a place, 30 people turn up".
Renters are being forced to offer more rent to beat the competition, or pay eight weeks in advance instead of four.
If you are going to go, do it when you don't have kids. Mother-of-one Jocelyn Prasad, who moved to Sydney last year from Auckland, says life in Australia seems harder for families. "If you're single, there's a lot more opportunity. I think the higher cost of living really kicks in when you bring a family here."
She's also found that private schools are not just a luxury for the privileged. Kiwis who would never dream of using anything but the local high school at home, scrimp and save to avoid the Australian government school system and put their child through private education.
Education experts such as Richard James, director of Melbourne University's Centre for the Study of Higher Education, says the middle class here has lost confidence in government schools and moved its children to private schools, blaming funding cuts and closures under the previous state government.
In Victoria, last year, only 58 per cent of Year 12 students went to state government schools (which often lack sports fields and language options). Private school fees are often higher than in New Zealand.
It pays to go private. Seven out of 10 Melbourne University students were recruited from private or academically selective government schools, according to an Age survey of 2006 Year 12 students.
And the quality education quest starts early. In parts of Melbourne, even to get on a kindergarten waiting list you have to pay $A100 ($125). School waiting list fees can top $800. And forget picturing your kids growing up running under the sprinkler. Thanks to water restrictions, the grass definitely won't be greener for them.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4592585a19716.html
The grass isn't greener across the Ditch
Sunday Star Times | Sunday, 22 June 2008
Email a Friend | Printable View | Have Your Say
Sunday Star-Times
OZ BOUND: Thousands of Kiwis hop across the ditch every year in search of a better life in the Lucky Country - but don't expect the grass to always be greener, says recent Melbourne migrant Elinore Wellwood (with Loti, 3)
Australia lives up to its image in many ways.
Kiwi migrants to Melbourne, for example, can read the newspaper as though it's a novel, its fanciful descriptions of gang wars and restaurant assassinations, corrupt police passing names of police informers to gangland contacts, who call in the hitmen.
Even as you shrug off the language differences as background noise thongs for jandals, doona for duvet, a child's fluffy is a babycino, you will smile at the Italian grandmothers who stop polishing their iron railings to run a wrinkled hand under a three-year-old's chin and thrust a gold coin into the mother's hand. "She is beautiful. Buy her something with this."
At the large neighbourhoods of those who still regard themselves as Italians and Greeks even though their grandparents left those cultures behind when they were barely out of their teens.
So, at Easter, the local baker sells specialties like melomakarona (walnut cookies drenched in syrup) and kourabiethes (moonshaped almond shortbreads covered in icing sugar). And all year round, locals go to the brilliant tapas bars in the alleys which produce their own top-selling cookbooks, and the farmers' markets sell beef you can trust the rural folk have known it since it was a calf.
These are reasons to move to Melbourne, to Australia. The food, the warmer weather, the broader multiculturalism.
Just don't expect it to be cheap.
Despite salaries reported to be 25 per cent higher on average, middle-income professionals won't earn that much more than in New Zealand in the same job, says Kiwi lawyer Jo Davidson. She's been Tasman-hopping moving to Melbourne, then back to Wellington, before returning last year to Australia to a dream job.
She loves the gourmet food in and around the city. And for her, the weather is a relief. The summer in Melbourne is warm, the seasons actually change, it's always dawning fine and even when it rains, it's gentle.
She didn't return for the money, though. "I felt significantly better off when I moved back from Melbourne to New Zealand. As a single woman [in Australia] I would never have contemplated buying a house. I went back to New Zealand and within six months bought my own home."
Food, she says, is also much more expensive in Australia. Everyday items such as milk and bread will cost you more. Woolworths' chief executive even admitted to a national inquiry that the company charges shoppers more in Australia than in New Zealand.
"And the quality at supermarkets is appalling. I used to be able to go to New World in Wellington and buy every single thing I wanted, and it was delicatessen standard."
Even if your pay packet is larger, the money quickly disappears. Teacher Mike Arthur, who recently moved from Wellington, says he earns about $4000 more than in New Zealand. "But the higher cost of living here eats that up."
Houses and cars are the big unaffordables. Advertised prices do not include tens of thousands of dollars in stamp duty when buying a house or vehicle. "Our car was far more expensive here, and then we had to pay stamp duty on it, plus about $700 to register it," says Arthur.
Some things cost less. Furniture because of superstores like Ikea and electricity (80 per cent generated from coal, the green-minded should note) are far cheaper, he says.
Presuming you don't earn less than $A25,000 ($31,100) taxes are not too different from New Zealand - about $2500 less in Australia on average but 9 per cent of wages is taken for compulsory superannuation, a figure hidden in the salary packages that lure unsuspecting Kiwis across the Tasman (salary "packaging" to cut your tax burden is big business). Tough if you wanted to pay off the mortgage first.
That's if you can afford to buy. To live within 4km of Melbourne's centre, expect to pay well over $600,000 for a house. The house will be semi-detached, unrenovated, have a tiny courtyard and probably be next to a big highway.
If you can't afford to buy, finding lower-end rental accommodation may be difficult, with an inner-city rental crisis in Melbourne. Chris and Carly, who just moved over from New Zealand, told the Age newspaper they had "been to four inspections in four days. The perception from home is that there are plenty of places to rent, but when you get to a place, 30 people turn up".
Renters are being forced to offer more rent to beat the competition, or pay eight weeks in advance instead of four.
If you are going to go, do it when you don't have kids. Mother-of-one Jocelyn Prasad, who moved to Sydney last year from Auckland, says life in Australia seems harder for families. "If you're single, there's a lot more opportunity. I think the higher cost of living really kicks in when you bring a family here."
She's also found that private schools are not just a luxury for the privileged. Kiwis who would never dream of using anything but the local high school at home, scrimp and save to avoid the Australian government school system and put their child through private education.
Education experts such as Richard James, director of Melbourne University's Centre for the Study of Higher Education, says the middle class here has lost confidence in government schools and moved its children to private schools, blaming funding cuts and closures under the previous state government.
In Victoria, last year, only 58 per cent of Year 12 students went to state government schools (which often lack sports fields and language options). Private school fees are often higher than in New Zealand.
It pays to go private. Seven out of 10 Melbourne University students were recruited from private or academically selective government schools, according to an Age survey of 2006 Year 12 students.
And the quality education quest starts early. In parts of Melbourne, even to get on a kindergarten waiting list you have to pay $A100 ($125). School waiting list fees can top $800. And forget picturing your kids growing up running under the sprinkler. Thanks to water restrictions, the grass definitely won't be greener for them.
Its Official:Australia is only for losers
ttp://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/ar...ectid=10545562
4:00AM Saturday Nov 29, 2008
By Jarrod Booker
Kelvin Lawson left Auckland for Sydney about 10 years ago expecting to encounter the "land of milk and honey".
What he found was the opposite - long working hours, higher taxes, higher cost of living and intolerance and poor attitudes among the people.
He and fiancee Denise Laing moved back to Auckland a couple of months ago to be closer to their ageing parents and friends, and are relieved to be back home.
"I believe a lot of New Zealanders are going to get there and they are in for a shock," Mr Lawson said.
"Australia has been painted out to be the 'grass is greener'. It's not. Unless you are making a simple lifestyle choice as in, say, weather... then there's no other reason to go."
Although Mr Lawson, 48, might have earned more in Sydney "it's not a lot more". And he was hit with a 48 per cent tax rate on overtime he was expected to do working in installing and monitoring communications.
Then there was stamp duty for home ownership and higher costs of car ownership.
Back home, Mr Lawson and Ms Laing were amazed at how much cheaper they found basic food items.
Mr Lawson was also left with an impression of many Australians he encountered not being accepting of other cultures. Being from NZ was not so bad, but "if you're from other any part of the world, mate, they can make it really hard for them".
He was also unimpressed at the lack of sportsmanship shown by Australians, illustrated most recently by their reaction to the Rugby League World Cup loss. "If they win at ping pong, you are going to hear about it. If they lose, it's like it never happened. It's unbelievable
ttp://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/ar...ectid=10545562
4:00AM Saturday Nov 29, 2008
By Jarrod Booker
Kelvin Lawson left Auckland for Sydney about 10 years ago expecting to encounter the "land of milk and honey".
What he found was the opposite - long working hours, higher taxes, higher cost of living and intolerance and poor attitudes among the people.
He and fiancee Denise Laing moved back to Auckland a couple of months ago to be closer to their ageing parents and friends, and are relieved to be back home.
"I believe a lot of New Zealanders are going to get there and they are in for a shock," Mr Lawson said.
"Australia has been painted out to be the 'grass is greener'. It's not. Unless you are making a simple lifestyle choice as in, say, weather... then there's no other reason to go."
Although Mr Lawson, 48, might have earned more in Sydney "it's not a lot more". And he was hit with a 48 per cent tax rate on overtime he was expected to do working in installing and monitoring communications.
Then there was stamp duty for home ownership and higher costs of car ownership.
Back home, Mr Lawson and Ms Laing were amazed at how much cheaper they found basic food items.
Mr Lawson was also left with an impression of many Australians he encountered not being accepting of other cultures. Being from NZ was not so bad, but "if you're from other any part of the world, mate, they can make it really hard for them".
He was also unimpressed at the lack of sportsmanship shown by Australians, illustrated most recently by their reaction to the Rugby League World Cup loss. "If they win at ping pong, you are going to hear about it. If they lose, it's like it never happened. It's unbelievable
Rich Australians Run Away from Massive Oz Taxes!
tp://www.latimes.com/business/la-f...,0,73840.story
Australian Beverly Hills mall mogul to testify before Senate subcommittee
By Roger Vincent, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
July 19, 2008
A Beverly Hills shopping center magnate whose family investments have been routed through a bank in the tiny country of Liechtenstein is set to testify next week before a Senate subcommittee in Washington conducting a probe of overseas tax havens at the request of the Australian Tax Office (ATO).
The committee has called Peter Lowy to testify Friday as part of its investigation into how financial institutions in Switzerland and Liechtenstein may be engaging in banking practices that result in "tax evasion and other misconduct," according to the panel.
* Peter Lowy Westfield America malls
Peter Lowy Westfield America malls
Australian-born Lowy, 49, is an American citizen and head of the U.S. division of Westfield Group, one of the world's largest shopping center chains. Ranked as one of the wealthiest individuals in Los Angeles, he is a major political donor and philanthropist.
The Australian company has 24 regional malls in California, including centers in Century City, Arcadia and Woodland Hills.
Lowy has hired prominent Washington lawyer Robert S. Bennett, who said Friday that his client would testify voluntarily. He stressed that the committee was probing the role of the offshore banks and not his client or the Lowy relatives, the second-wealthiest family in Australia.
The U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations held hearings this week into the use of tax havens that cost the country an estimated $100 billion a year in lost revenue, according to the Treasury. The panel heard from witnesses who banked funds in Liechtenstein. Lowy was to be among them but he was out of the country then and so will testify next week.
The Senate hearings have focused on the Swiss bank UBS and a private bank, LGT, owned by the royal family of Liechtenstein. Levin said that Frank Lowy, Peter's father, set up a foundation with LGT in 1998 after telling the bank that he did not want Australian tax authorities to know about the money involved.
LGT took measures to hide the Lowys' ownership, such as routing incoming funds through an offshore corporation and using a Delaware corporation headed by Peter Lowy to name the foundation's beneficiaries, Levin said. In 2001, he said, the Lowys dissolved the foundation in Liechtenstein and moved about $68 million to Switzerland.
"These were charitable contributions," Bennett said. "Not one penny went to Lowy or his sons."
Bennett, who represented President Clinton during the Monica Lewinsky investigation, downplayed the significance of the $68 million banked by the Lowys. "For me, that's a lot. For the Lowys it's not."
The Los Angeles Business Journal recently estimated Peter Lowy's net worth at $880 million, down from $1 billion a year ago. He and his wife own a seven-bedroom house in Beverly Hills with an assessed value of almost $11 million.
Lowy's father was a Hungarian Jew who survived the Holocaust and fought as a commando for Israeli independence before moving to Australia. Peter Lowy has helped raise millions of dollars for Jewish causes and serves on the board of directors of American Jewish University and the Simon Wiesenthal Center.
Lowy has been a major donor to California state and federal politicians. He and his company, Westfield, also funded a major ballot fight over shopping mall development in Arcadia, spending $6 million on two local measures in 2006 to protect its position at its Santa Anita shopping mall against a planned competing center.
Lowy donated $44,600 in 2005 and 2006 to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's reelection campaign. In addition, Westfield gave the governor $44,600, and $10,000 to the governor's Democratic foe, Phil Angelides.
The shopping mall mogul and his firm also give heavily to federal candidates.
In the last decade, Lowy has given $365,000 to federal candidates and political parties. His largest donations have gone to national Democratic Party organizations: $53,500 to the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee; $35,000 to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee; and $25,000 to the Democratic National Committee.
He gave $4,600 to Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential campaign, and the Westfield political action committee gave her an additional $10,000.
tp://www.latimes.com/business/la-f...,0,73840.story
Australian Beverly Hills mall mogul to testify before Senate subcommittee
By Roger Vincent, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
July 19, 2008
A Beverly Hills shopping center magnate whose family investments have been routed through a bank in the tiny country of Liechtenstein is set to testify next week before a Senate subcommittee in Washington conducting a probe of overseas tax havens at the request of the Australian Tax Office (ATO).
The committee has called Peter Lowy to testify Friday as part of its investigation into how financial institutions in Switzerland and Liechtenstein may be engaging in banking practices that result in "tax evasion and other misconduct," according to the panel.
* Peter Lowy Westfield America malls
Peter Lowy Westfield America malls
Australian-born Lowy, 49, is an American citizen and head of the U.S. division of Westfield Group, one of the world's largest shopping center chains. Ranked as one of the wealthiest individuals in Los Angeles, he is a major political donor and philanthropist.
The Australian company has 24 regional malls in California, including centers in Century City, Arcadia and Woodland Hills.
Lowy has hired prominent Washington lawyer Robert S. Bennett, who said Friday that his client would testify voluntarily. He stressed that the committee was probing the role of the offshore banks and not his client or the Lowy relatives, the second-wealthiest family in Australia.
The U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations held hearings this week into the use of tax havens that cost the country an estimated $100 billion a year in lost revenue, according to the Treasury. The panel heard from witnesses who banked funds in Liechtenstein. Lowy was to be among them but he was out of the country then and so will testify next week.
The Senate hearings have focused on the Swiss bank UBS and a private bank, LGT, owned by the royal family of Liechtenstein. Levin said that Frank Lowy, Peter's father, set up a foundation with LGT in 1998 after telling the bank that he did not want Australian tax authorities to know about the money involved.
LGT took measures to hide the Lowys' ownership, such as routing incoming funds through an offshore corporation and using a Delaware corporation headed by Peter Lowy to name the foundation's beneficiaries, Levin said. In 2001, he said, the Lowys dissolved the foundation in Liechtenstein and moved about $68 million to Switzerland.
"These were charitable contributions," Bennett said. "Not one penny went to Lowy or his sons."
Bennett, who represented President Clinton during the Monica Lewinsky investigation, downplayed the significance of the $68 million banked by the Lowys. "For me, that's a lot. For the Lowys it's not."
The Los Angeles Business Journal recently estimated Peter Lowy's net worth at $880 million, down from $1 billion a year ago. He and his wife own a seven-bedroom house in Beverly Hills with an assessed value of almost $11 million.
Lowy's father was a Hungarian Jew who survived the Holocaust and fought as a commando for Israeli independence before moving to Australia. Peter Lowy has helped raise millions of dollars for Jewish causes and serves on the board of directors of American Jewish University and the Simon Wiesenthal Center.
Lowy has been a major donor to California state and federal politicians. He and his company, Westfield, also funded a major ballot fight over shopping mall development in Arcadia, spending $6 million on two local measures in 2006 to protect its position at its Santa Anita shopping mall against a planned competing center.
Lowy donated $44,600 in 2005 and 2006 to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's reelection campaign. In addition, Westfield gave the governor $44,600, and $10,000 to the governor's Democratic foe, Phil Angelides.
The shopping mall mogul and his firm also give heavily to federal candidates.
In the last decade, Lowy has given $365,000 to federal candidates and political parties. His largest donations have gone to national Democratic Party organizations: $53,500 to the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee; $35,000 to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee; and $25,000 to the Democratic National Committee.
He gave $4,600 to Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential campaign, and the Westfield political action committee gave her an additional $10,000.
Australia Petrol Excise 38% !
ttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuel_taxes_in_Australia
Fuel taxes in Australia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
The fuel tax system in Australia is very similar to Canada in terms of its double-dipping tax rates, but varies in the case of exemptions including and certain excise free fuel sources. Fuel taxes are handled by both the Federal and State Governments, including both an Excise Tax and a Goods and Services Tax or "GST". The tax collected is generally used to help fund national road infrastructure projects and repair roads, as well as provide extra revenue for other services.
The Goods and Services Tax of 10% is charged and included in the price of all fuel purchases in Australia.
The excise tax on commonly used fuels in Australia as of June 2006 are as follows:[citation needed]
* A$0.38143 per litre on Unleaded Petrol fuel (Includes standard, blended (E10) and premium grades)
* A$0.38143/0.40143 per litre on Diesel fuel (Ultra-low sulphur/Conventional)
ttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuel_taxes_in_Australia
Fuel taxes in Australia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
The fuel tax system in Australia is very similar to Canada in terms of its double-dipping tax rates, but varies in the case of exemptions including and certain excise free fuel sources. Fuel taxes are handled by both the Federal and State Governments, including both an Excise Tax and a Goods and Services Tax or "GST". The tax collected is generally used to help fund national road infrastructure projects and repair roads, as well as provide extra revenue for other services.
The Goods and Services Tax of 10% is charged and included in the price of all fuel purchases in Australia.
The excise tax on commonly used fuels in Australia as of June 2006 are as follows:[citation needed]
* A$0.38143 per litre on Unleaded Petrol fuel (Includes standard, blended (E10) and premium grades)
* A$0.38143/0.40143 per litre on Diesel fuel (Ultra-low sulphur/Conventional)
Australians in Melbourne Habitually Beat Asians
Originally Posted by OzSucks View Post
July 29, 2008
Four men beat up M'sian student in Melbourne
MELBOURNE - A MALAYSIAN student who was walking to his cousin's house was badly beaten up by four men here last Friday.
Mr Kevinra Joseph, 19, son of Binary University College vice-chancellor Prof Joseph Adaikalam has emerged from a coma and is recovering from severe head injuries at the Royal Melbourne Hospital.
Police said that Kevinra, who arrived here just a month ago for his studies, was walking alone in Little Lonsdale Street at 2.50am on Friday when four men assaulted him.
Kevinra suffered head injuries and was found by passers-by lying unconscious on the footpath in nearby Russell Street.
The RMIT engineering student was walking to his cousin's house when he was attacked.
'Surgeons have found bleeding in Kevinra's brain. He has memory loss and is confused and traumatised,' said Prof Adaikalam, who arrived here on Sunday with his wife and daughter.
He said that his son, who was new to this city, had lost his way.
'He was talking to his cousin on the handphone when the attack took place. His cousin was still on the phone and could hear the screams and the whole attack,' added the father.
Police have CCTV footage of the assault and hope to catch the attackers soon.
Vicious attacks are becoming common after dark in the central business district here, and local police have repeatedly reminded the public to move in groups at night.
Most of the attacks are drug or alcohol-induced.
Originally Posted by OzSucks View Post
July 29, 2008
Four men beat up M'sian student in Melbourne
MELBOURNE - A MALAYSIAN student who was walking to his cousin's house was badly beaten up by four men here last Friday.
Mr Kevinra Joseph, 19, son of Binary University College vice-chancellor Prof Joseph Adaikalam has emerged from a coma and is recovering from severe head injuries at the Royal Melbourne Hospital.
Police said that Kevinra, who arrived here just a month ago for his studies, was walking alone in Little Lonsdale Street at 2.50am on Friday when four men assaulted him.
Kevinra suffered head injuries and was found by passers-by lying unconscious on the footpath in nearby Russell Street.
The RMIT engineering student was walking to his cousin's house when he was attacked.
'Surgeons have found bleeding in Kevinra's brain. He has memory loss and is confused and traumatised,' said Prof Adaikalam, who arrived here on Sunday with his wife and daughter.
He said that his son, who was new to this city, had lost his way.
'He was talking to his cousin on the handphone when the attack took place. His cousin was still on the phone and could hear the screams and the whole attack,' added the father.
Police have CCTV footage of the assault and hope to catch the attackers soon.
Vicious attacks are becoming common after dark in the central business district here, and local police have repeatedly reminded the public to move in groups at night.
Most of the attacks are drug or alcohol-induced.
Breaking News: Australia cuts Migrants in 2009
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worl...-migrants.html
Australia to make cut in migrants
The Australian government is considering a modest reduction in the number of migrant visas it issues in preparation for a rise in unemployment.
By Bonnie Malkin in Sydney
Last Updated: 3:33PM GMT 17 Dec 2008
Immigration minister Chris Evans has said the global financial crisis could lead to a smaller migrant intake in 2009, as demand for skilled migrants slowed.
The migrant scheme allowed about 159,000 foreign workers and their dependants into Australia in 2007-08. Of those, 108,000 were skilled migrants, including 23,000 Britons.
Acknowleding a modest reduction was "more likely than not", Senator Evans said: "There's no doubt in my view that there's a strong link between the economic cycle and people's attitude towards immigration."
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd recently hinted that migration levels could be tied to unemployment in the future.
Australia's employment rate remained steady at 4.2 per cent last month, but is expected to rise to 4.75 per cent by June next year. Mr Evans said the government was currently consulting industry over its labour demands and may have to revise unemployment forecasts.
Any change in the migration scheme would affect Britons wanting to relocate to Australia. British migrants make up the largrst group of general migrants to Australia, and the second largest group of skilled migrants, after India.
Edit/Delete Message
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worl...-migrants.html
Australia to make cut in migrants
The Australian government is considering a modest reduction in the number of migrant visas it issues in preparation for a rise in unemployment.
By Bonnie Malkin in Sydney
Last Updated: 3:33PM GMT 17 Dec 2008
Immigration minister Chris Evans has said the global financial crisis could lead to a smaller migrant intake in 2009, as demand for skilled migrants slowed.
The migrant scheme allowed about 159,000 foreign workers and their dependants into Australia in 2007-08. Of those, 108,000 were skilled migrants, including 23,000 Britons.
Acknowleding a modest reduction was "more likely than not", Senator Evans said: "There's no doubt in my view that there's a strong link between the economic cycle and people's attitude towards immigration."
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd recently hinted that migration levels could be tied to unemployment in the future.
Australia's employment rate remained steady at 4.2 per cent last month, but is expected to rise to 4.75 per cent by June next year. Mr Evans said the government was currently consulting industry over its labour demands and may have to revise unemployment forecasts.
Any change in the migration scheme would affect Britons wanting to relocate to Australia. British migrants make up the largrst group of general migrants to Australia, and the second largest group of skilled migrants, after India.
Edit/Delete Message
Why people are not Migrating to Australia
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/ar...ectid=10545562
4:00AM Saturday Nov 29, 2008
By Jarrod Booker
Kelvin Lawson left Auckland for Sydney about 10 years ago expecting to encounter the "land of milk and honey".
What he found was the opposite - long working hours, higher taxes, higher cost of living and intolerance and poor attitudes among the people.
He and fiancee Denise Laing moved back to Auckland a couple of months ago to be closer to their ageing parents and friends, and are relieved to be back home.
"I believe a lot of New Zealanders are going to get there and they are in for a shock," Mr Lawson said.
"Australia has been painted out to be the 'grass is greener'. It's not. Unless you are making a simple lifestyle choice as in, say, weather... then there's no other reason to go."
Although Mr Lawson, 48, might have earned more in Sydney "it's not a lot more". And he was hit with a 48 per cent tax rate on overtime he was expected to do working in installing and monitoring communications.
Then there was stamp duty for home ownership and higher costs of car ownership.
Back home, Mr Lawson and Ms Laing were amazed at how much cheaper they found basic food items.
Mr Lawson was also left with an impression of many Australians he encountered not being accepting of other cultures. Being from NZ was not so bad, but "if you're from other any part of the world, mate, they can make it really hard for them".
He was also unimpressed at the lack of sportsmanship shown by Australians, illustrated most recently by their reaction to the Rugby League World Cup loss. "If they win at ping pong, you are going to hear about it. If they lose, it's like it never happened. It's unbelievable
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/ar...ectid=10545562
4:00AM Saturday Nov 29, 2008
By Jarrod Booker
Kelvin Lawson left Auckland for Sydney about 10 years ago expecting to encounter the "land of milk and honey".
What he found was the opposite - long working hours, higher taxes, higher cost of living and intolerance and poor attitudes among the people.
He and fiancee Denise Laing moved back to Auckland a couple of months ago to be closer to their ageing parents and friends, and are relieved to be back home.
"I believe a lot of New Zealanders are going to get there and they are in for a shock," Mr Lawson said.
"Australia has been painted out to be the 'grass is greener'. It's not. Unless you are making a simple lifestyle choice as in, say, weather... then there's no other reason to go."
Although Mr Lawson, 48, might have earned more in Sydney "it's not a lot more". And he was hit with a 48 per cent tax rate on overtime he was expected to do working in installing and monitoring communications.
Then there was stamp duty for home ownership and higher costs of car ownership.
Back home, Mr Lawson and Ms Laing were amazed at how much cheaper they found basic food items.
Mr Lawson was also left with an impression of many Australians he encountered not being accepting of other cultures. Being from NZ was not so bad, but "if you're from other any part of the world, mate, they can make it really hard for them".
He was also unimpressed at the lack of sportsmanship shown by Australians, illustrated most recently by their reaction to the Rugby League World Cup loss. "If they win at ping pong, you are going to hear about it. If they lose, it's like it never happened. It's unbelievable
Elite & Famous Ozzies Run Road from Aussie Tax Authority
tp://www.latimes.com/business/la-f...,0,73840.story
Australian Beverly Hills mall mogul to testify before Senate subcommittee
By Roger Vincent, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
July 19, 2008
A Beverly Hills shopping center magnate whose family investments have been routed through a bank in the tiny country of Liechtenstein is set to testify next week before a Senate subcommittee in Washington conducting a probe of overseas tax havens at the request of the Australian Tax Office (ATO).
The committee has called Peter Lowy to testify Friday as part of its investigation into how financial institutions in Switzerland and Liechtenstein may be engaging in banking practices that result in "tax evasion and other misconduct," according to the panel.
* Peter Lowy Westfield America malls
Peter Lowy Westfield America malls
Australian-born Lowy, 49, is an American citizen and head of the U.S. division of Westfield Group, one of the world's largest shopping center chains. Ranked as one of the wealthiest individuals in Los Angeles, he is a major political donor and philanthropist.
The Australian company has 24 regional malls in California, including centers in Century City, Arcadia and Woodland Hills.
Lowy has hired prominent Washington lawyer Robert S. Bennett, who said Friday that his client would testify voluntarily. He stressed that the committee was probing the role of the offshore banks and not his client or the Lowy relatives, the second-wealthiest family in Australia.
The U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations held hearings this week into the use of tax havens that cost the country an estimated $100 billion a year in lost revenue, according to the Treasury. The panel heard from witnesses who banked funds in Liechtenstein. Lowy was to be among them but he was out of the country then and so will testify next week.
The Senate hearings have focused on the Swiss bank UBS and a private bank, LGT, owned by the royal family of Liechtenstein. Levin said that Frank Lowy, Peter's father, set up a foundation with LGT in 1998 after telling the bank that he did not want Australian tax authorities to know about the money involved.
LGT took measures to hide the Lowys' ownership, such as routing incoming funds through an offshore corporation and using a Delaware corporation headed by Peter Lowy to name the foundation's beneficiaries, Levin said. In 2001, he said, the Lowys dissolved the foundation in Liechtenstein and moved about $68 million to Switzerland.
"These were charitable contributions," Bennett said. "Not one penny went to Lowy or his sons."
Bennett, who represented President Clinton during the Monica Lewinsky investigation, downplayed the significance of the $68 million banked by the Lowys. "For me, that's a lot. For the Lowys it's not."
The Los Angeles Business Journal recently estimated Peter Lowy's net worth at $880 million, down from $1 billion a year ago. He and his wife own a seven-bedroom house in Beverly Hills with an assessed value of almost $11 million.
Lowy's father was a Hungarian Jew who survived the Holocaust and fought as a commando for Israeli independence before moving to Australia. Peter Lowy has helped raise millions of dollars for Jewish causes and serves on the board of directors of American Jewish University and the Simon Wiesenthal Center.
Lowy has been a major donor to California state and federal politicians. He and his company, Westfield, also funded a major ballot fight over shopping mall development in Arcadia, spending $6 million on two local measures in 2006 to protect its position at its Santa Anita shopping mall against a planned competing center.
Lowy donated $44,600 in 2005 and 2006 to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's reelection campaign. In addition, Westfield gave the governor $44,600, and $10,000 to the governor's Democratic foe, Phil Angelides.
The shopping mall mogul and his firm also give heavily to federal candidates.
In the last decade, Lowy has given $365,000 to federal candidates and political parties. His largest donations have gone to national Democratic Party organizations: $53,500 to the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee; $35,000 to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee; and $25,000 to the Democratic National Committee.
He gave $4,600 to Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential campaign, and the Westfield political action committee gave her an additional $10,000.
tp://www.latimes.com/business/la-f...,0,73840.story
Australian Beverly Hills mall mogul to testify before Senate subcommittee
By Roger Vincent, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
July 19, 2008
A Beverly Hills shopping center magnate whose family investments have been routed through a bank in the tiny country of Liechtenstein is set to testify next week before a Senate subcommittee in Washington conducting a probe of overseas tax havens at the request of the Australian Tax Office (ATO).
The committee has called Peter Lowy to testify Friday as part of its investigation into how financial institutions in Switzerland and Liechtenstein may be engaging in banking practices that result in "tax evasion and other misconduct," according to the panel.
* Peter Lowy Westfield America malls
Peter Lowy Westfield America malls
Australian-born Lowy, 49, is an American citizen and head of the U.S. division of Westfield Group, one of the world's largest shopping center chains. Ranked as one of the wealthiest individuals in Los Angeles, he is a major political donor and philanthropist.
The Australian company has 24 regional malls in California, including centers in Century City, Arcadia and Woodland Hills.
Lowy has hired prominent Washington lawyer Robert S. Bennett, who said Friday that his client would testify voluntarily. He stressed that the committee was probing the role of the offshore banks and not his client or the Lowy relatives, the second-wealthiest family in Australia.
The U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations held hearings this week into the use of tax havens that cost the country an estimated $100 billion a year in lost revenue, according to the Treasury. The panel heard from witnesses who banked funds in Liechtenstein. Lowy was to be among them but he was out of the country then and so will testify next week.
The Senate hearings have focused on the Swiss bank UBS and a private bank, LGT, owned by the royal family of Liechtenstein. Levin said that Frank Lowy, Peter's father, set up a foundation with LGT in 1998 after telling the bank that he did not want Australian tax authorities to know about the money involved.
LGT took measures to hide the Lowys' ownership, such as routing incoming funds through an offshore corporation and using a Delaware corporation headed by Peter Lowy to name the foundation's beneficiaries, Levin said. In 2001, he said, the Lowys dissolved the foundation in Liechtenstein and moved about $68 million to Switzerland.
"These were charitable contributions," Bennett said. "Not one penny went to Lowy or his sons."
Bennett, who represented President Clinton during the Monica Lewinsky investigation, downplayed the significance of the $68 million banked by the Lowys. "For me, that's a lot. For the Lowys it's not."
The Los Angeles Business Journal recently estimated Peter Lowy's net worth at $880 million, down from $1 billion a year ago. He and his wife own a seven-bedroom house in Beverly Hills with an assessed value of almost $11 million.
Lowy's father was a Hungarian Jew who survived the Holocaust and fought as a commando for Israeli independence before moving to Australia. Peter Lowy has helped raise millions of dollars for Jewish causes and serves on the board of directors of American Jewish University and the Simon Wiesenthal Center.
Lowy has been a major donor to California state and federal politicians. He and his company, Westfield, also funded a major ballot fight over shopping mall development in Arcadia, spending $6 million on two local measures in 2006 to protect its position at its Santa Anita shopping mall against a planned competing center.
Lowy donated $44,600 in 2005 and 2006 to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's reelection campaign. In addition, Westfield gave the governor $44,600, and $10,000 to the governor's Democratic foe, Phil Angelides.
The shopping mall mogul and his firm also give heavily to federal candidates.
In the last decade, Lowy has given $365,000 to federal candidates and political parties. His largest donations have gone to national Democratic Party organizations: $53,500 to the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee; $35,000 to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee; and $25,000 to the Democratic National Committee.
He gave $4,600 to Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential campaign, and the Westfield political action committee gave her an additional $10,000.
Australia World HQ for Nazi Killers
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/...Fzf-QD950OONG0
Nazi hunters fault Australia for inaction
By VERONIKA OLEKSYN – 5 hours ago
VIENNA, Austria (AP) — Australia, Hungary and Lithuania are failing to investigate and prosecute suspected Nazi war criminals largely due to a lack of political will, the Simon Wiesenthal Center said Thursday.
The Nazi-hunting group said the same holds true for Croatia, Estonia, Latvia and Ukraine, adding all countries in question face no legal obstacles in bringing suspects to justice.
The findings were published in the center's annual report, which graded the investigation and prosecution efforts of countries around the world between April 2007 and March 2008.
"In analyzing the results presented in this report, the critical importance of political will in bringing Nazi war criminals to justice is increasingly evident," wrote Efraim Zuroff, the center's chief Nazi hunter.
However, he lauded the success achieved by U.S. prosecution agencies, saying they should serve as a catalyst for governments around the world.
Australia was given the worst possible mark — an "F-2"_ for its continued failure to extradite Nazi collaborator Charles Zentai, an Australian citizen accused of killing a Jewish teenager in Hungary during World War II.
The report said Australia admitted at least several hundred Nazi war criminals and collaborators but has failed to take successful legal action against a single one.
In August, an Australian judge found that Zentai's case and circumstances met the requirements of the Australian Extradition Act and the Extradition Treaty between Australia and the Republic of Hungary. Lawyers for Zentai said at the time they would appeal the ruling.
Hungary, also in the "F-2" category, was reprimanded for failing to prosecute former gendarmerie officer Sandor Kepiro, accused by the Wiesenthal Center of playing an active role in the "mass murder of at least hundreds of civilians" in Novi Sad, Serbia, on Jan. 23, 1942.
In October, Hungarian prosecutors investigating Kepiro said they were considering expanding their probe to Serbia and were awaiting access to archival documents there which could shed new light on the 1942 events.
In a separate development in September, Serbian prosecutors lodged a request for investigation against Kepiro with the Belgrade war crimes court, the first step toward a possible indictment and trial.
Lithuania, meanwhile, got a failing grade for its refusal to jail Algimantas Dailide, convicted in 2006 of helping round up Jews for Nazis as an officer in the Vilnius security police. He was sentenced to five years in jail, but the judge ruled he was too frail to serve the sentence. The center said that reflected Lithuania's resistance to acknowledging "the extensive scope of local complicity in the crimes of the Holocaust."
The report also criticized Norway, Sweden and Syria, saying all three countries refuse in principle to investigate and prosecute suspected Nazi war criminals because of legal or ideological restrictions.
The report noted that Austria, which got a "C" for its efforts, has not convicted anyone for crimes committed against Jews during the Holocaust for more than three decades.
It also said Austrian authorities have refused the center's request to allow a foreign medical expert to examine Milivoj Asner, a wartime Croatian police chief living in Carinthia and suspected of an active role in deporting hundreds of Serbs, Jews, and Gypsies to their deaths. Authorities have said Asner suffers from dementia.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/...Fzf-QD950OONG0
Nazi hunters fault Australia for inaction
By VERONIKA OLEKSYN – 5 hours ago
VIENNA, Austria (AP) — Australia, Hungary and Lithuania are failing to investigate and prosecute suspected Nazi war criminals largely due to a lack of political will, the Simon Wiesenthal Center said Thursday.
The Nazi-hunting group said the same holds true for Croatia, Estonia, Latvia and Ukraine, adding all countries in question face no legal obstacles in bringing suspects to justice.
The findings were published in the center's annual report, which graded the investigation and prosecution efforts of countries around the world between April 2007 and March 2008.
"In analyzing the results presented in this report, the critical importance of political will in bringing Nazi war criminals to justice is increasingly evident," wrote Efraim Zuroff, the center's chief Nazi hunter.
However, he lauded the success achieved by U.S. prosecution agencies, saying they should serve as a catalyst for governments around the world.
Australia was given the worst possible mark — an "F-2"_ for its continued failure to extradite Nazi collaborator Charles Zentai, an Australian citizen accused of killing a Jewish teenager in Hungary during World War II.
The report said Australia admitted at least several hundred Nazi war criminals and collaborators but has failed to take successful legal action against a single one.
In August, an Australian judge found that Zentai's case and circumstances met the requirements of the Australian Extradition Act and the Extradition Treaty between Australia and the Republic of Hungary. Lawyers for Zentai said at the time they would appeal the ruling.
Hungary, also in the "F-2" category, was reprimanded for failing to prosecute former gendarmerie officer Sandor Kepiro, accused by the Wiesenthal Center of playing an active role in the "mass murder of at least hundreds of civilians" in Novi Sad, Serbia, on Jan. 23, 1942.
In October, Hungarian prosecutors investigating Kepiro said they were considering expanding their probe to Serbia and were awaiting access to archival documents there which could shed new light on the 1942 events.
In a separate development in September, Serbian prosecutors lodged a request for investigation against Kepiro with the Belgrade war crimes court, the first step toward a possible indictment and trial.
Lithuania, meanwhile, got a failing grade for its refusal to jail Algimantas Dailide, convicted in 2006 of helping round up Jews for Nazis as an officer in the Vilnius security police. He was sentenced to five years in jail, but the judge ruled he was too frail to serve the sentence. The center said that reflected Lithuania's resistance to acknowledging "the extensive scope of local complicity in the crimes of the Holocaust."
The report also criticized Norway, Sweden and Syria, saying all three countries refuse in principle to investigate and prosecute suspected Nazi war criminals because of legal or ideological restrictions.
The report noted that Austria, which got a "C" for its efforts, has not convicted anyone for crimes committed against Jews during the Holocaust for more than three decades.
It also said Austrian authorities have refused the center's request to allow a foreign medical expert to examine Milivoj Asner, a wartime Croatian police chief living in Carinthia and suspected of an active role in deporting hundreds of Serbs, Jews, and Gypsies to their deaths. Authorities have said Asner suffers from dementia.
Australian Job Market "Falls off a Cliff!"
http://www.theage.com.au/national/dr...1208-6u47.html
Dramatic drop in job prospects
* Peter Martin
* December 9, 2008
ALARMING figures show the jobs market "falling off a cliff" as the Government implores Australians to spend their $8.7 billion in stimulus payments due over the next two weeks.
The ANZ's count of newspaper job advertisements collapsed 12 per cent in November on top of a 12 per cent slide in October — the steepest fall in its 30-year history.
"Job ads are now in the zone last seen during the recessions of the early 1970s and early 1980s," said UBS Australia economist Scott Haslem.
"They have fallen off a cliff. For every 10 jobs advertised a year ago, there now are only six," said Macquarie Bank strategist Rory Robertson.
"Full-time jobs growth has slowed to a crawl. Should it slow further in the figures to be released on Thursday it will be an ominous sign of darker times ahead," he said.
Treasurer Wayne Swan urged the millions of Australians due to get the $8.7 billion in bonus payments to spend the money "knowing they are supporting Australian industry and supporting Australian jobs".
"These payments are directly related to the urgent task of supporting employment in our economy because of events which have occurred internationally," he said.
Treasury estimates suggest that between 50 per cent and 100 per cent of the payments will be spent.
Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull dismissed the payments as a "sugar hit", saying the money would be better delivered as tax cuts.
"In a climate like this people are very much inclined to save one-off payments like this," he said. "This is an economic equivalent of a one-off sugar hit."
"Across-the-board tax cuts, particularly targeted at lower and middle-income earners, are going to have a greater impact. People would see them as being permanent. They will see them as encouraging people to work, to invest, to hire people and so forth," he said.
Kevin Rudd expected the criticism. "The Government understands that we'll be criticised for how some of this money is spent, but the alternative is for government to do nothing to stimulate the economy, for government not to invest in jobs, in growth, in families, and this government, by contrast, has resolved to act," he said.
Payments will begin to enter bank accounts tomorrow. Families Minister Jenny Macklin appealed to eligible Australians to wait until after December 19 before phoning Centrelink to inquire about missing payments.
http://www.theage.com.au/national/dr...1208-6u47.html
Dramatic drop in job prospects
* Peter Martin
* December 9, 2008
ALARMING figures show the jobs market "falling off a cliff" as the Government implores Australians to spend their $8.7 billion in stimulus payments due over the next two weeks.
The ANZ's count of newspaper job advertisements collapsed 12 per cent in November on top of a 12 per cent slide in October — the steepest fall in its 30-year history.
"Job ads are now in the zone last seen during the recessions of the early 1970s and early 1980s," said UBS Australia economist Scott Haslem.
"They have fallen off a cliff. For every 10 jobs advertised a year ago, there now are only six," said Macquarie Bank strategist Rory Robertson.
"Full-time jobs growth has slowed to a crawl. Should it slow further in the figures to be released on Thursday it will be an ominous sign of darker times ahead," he said.
Treasurer Wayne Swan urged the millions of Australians due to get the $8.7 billion in bonus payments to spend the money "knowing they are supporting Australian industry and supporting Australian jobs".
"These payments are directly related to the urgent task of supporting employment in our economy because of events which have occurred internationally," he said.
Treasury estimates suggest that between 50 per cent and 100 per cent of the payments will be spent.
Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull dismissed the payments as a "sugar hit", saying the money would be better delivered as tax cuts.
"In a climate like this people are very much inclined to save one-off payments like this," he said. "This is an economic equivalent of a one-off sugar hit."
"Across-the-board tax cuts, particularly targeted at lower and middle-income earners, are going to have a greater impact. People would see them as being permanent. They will see them as encouraging people to work, to invest, to hire people and so forth," he said.
Kevin Rudd expected the criticism. "The Government understands that we'll be criticised for how some of this money is spent, but the alternative is for government to do nothing to stimulate the economy, for government not to invest in jobs, in growth, in families, and this government, by contrast, has resolved to act," he said.
Payments will begin to enter bank accounts tomorrow. Families Minister Jenny Macklin appealed to eligible Australians to wait until after December 19 before phoning Centrelink to inquire about missing payments.
Forbes Magazine:Melbourne/Perth 8th/10th Most Expensive City
tsk tsk tsk. all the morons in perth/melbourne must be crying.
hee hee
http://www.forbes.com/realestate/200...ffordable.html
World's Increasingly Unaffordable Cities
Matt Woolsey, 07.24.08, 12:01 AM ET
The Australian government, for example, has increased interest rates 12 times consecutively since 2002 to stave off inflation and is cutting personal taxes so consumers have money to spend. This affects those in Melbourne and Perth, which rank No. 8 and No.10, respectively, for their accelerating costs of living. It's a precarious situation. Increase interest rates too quickly and you'll slow growth, but keep interest rates too low and you'll mute the spending power of the economy's growth by making money more expensive.
"The tax cuts over the past couple of years have been somewhat offset by the double whammy of sustained higher petrol prices and the marked increase in the cost of debt," says Matt Whitby, national director of Knight Frank Australia, an arm of the London-based financial research firm.
One major problem has been in the availability of housing. "Both state and federal governments need to seriously address the supply shortage in this country, not only as a necessity due to the growing population, but to put downward pressure on prices and rents and hence inflation," Whitby says.
tsk tsk tsk. all the morons in perth/melbourne must be crying.
hee hee
http://www.forbes.com/realestate/200...ffordable.html
World's Increasingly Unaffordable Cities
Matt Woolsey, 07.24.08, 12:01 AM ET
The Australian government, for example, has increased interest rates 12 times consecutively since 2002 to stave off inflation and is cutting personal taxes so consumers have money to spend. This affects those in Melbourne and Perth, which rank No. 8 and No.10, respectively, for their accelerating costs of living. It's a precarious situation. Increase interest rates too quickly and you'll slow growth, but keep interest rates too low and you'll mute the spending power of the economy's growth by making money more expensive.
"The tax cuts over the past couple of years have been somewhat offset by the double whammy of sustained higher petrol prices and the marked increase in the cost of debt," says Matt Whitby, national director of Knight Frank Australia, an arm of the London-based financial research firm.
One major problem has been in the availability of housing. "Both state and federal governments need to seriously address the supply shortage in this country, not only as a necessity due to the growing population, but to put downward pressure on prices and rents and hence inflation," Whitby says.
OZ:Home of the World's Fattest People
http://pressmediawire.com/article.cfm?articleID=19890
Obesity Crisis Of Australia Creates Lucrative Fitness Oppotunities
Published 12/08/2008 - 1:20 p.m. EST
(PressMediaWire) - Alarmingly, in a recent survey Australia was found to have the highest incidence of obesity in the world that s right, we came out one per cent higher than the US; how scary is that? The silver lining of the dire state of our nation s health, however, is that there remains an abundance of work for educated, qualified and passionate personal trainers. The more unhealthy our population, the fuller the personal trainers books become!
Australia actually leads the way in terms of fitness education standards. Many countries around the globe are mimicking the set up we operate with, to ensure that educational standards are regulated and a professional registration scheme is in place. What this scheme ensures is that personal trainers are adequately qualified and insured to prescribe exercise to the masses. Even better, thanks to organisations like FISAF and Australian Fitness Network, personal trainers who become qualified in Australia are being more widely (and instantly) recognised in other countries, including Canada and the UK, allowing them to be immediately employable (visa conditions permitting of course) when they take themselves and their personal trainer qualification overseas.
So why sit in that dead-end job any longer? Change your career for one in a vibrant, dynamic and energetic fitness industry. Becoming a personal trainer is easier and more fun - than you think.
http://pressmediawire.com/article.cfm?articleID=19890
Obesity Crisis Of Australia Creates Lucrative Fitness Oppotunities
Published 12/08/2008 - 1:20 p.m. EST
(PressMediaWire) - Alarmingly, in a recent survey Australia was found to have the highest incidence of obesity in the world that s right, we came out one per cent higher than the US; how scary is that? The silver lining of the dire state of our nation s health, however, is that there remains an abundance of work for educated, qualified and passionate personal trainers. The more unhealthy our population, the fuller the personal trainers books become!
Australia actually leads the way in terms of fitness education standards. Many countries around the globe are mimicking the set up we operate with, to ensure that educational standards are regulated and a professional registration scheme is in place. What this scheme ensures is that personal trainers are adequately qualified and insured to prescribe exercise to the masses. Even better, thanks to organisations like FISAF and Australian Fitness Network, personal trainers who become qualified in Australia are being more widely (and instantly) recognised in other countries, including Canada and the UK, allowing them to be immediately employable (visa conditions permitting of course) when they take themselves and their personal trainer qualification overseas.
So why sit in that dead-end job any longer? Change your career for one in a vibrant, dynamic and energetic fitness industry. Becoming a personal trainer is easier and more fun - than you think.
Australian Job Market "Falls off a Cliff!"
http://www.theage.com.au/national/dr...1208-6u47.html
Dramatic drop in job prospects
* Peter Martin
* December 9, 2008
ALARMING figures show the jobs market "falling off a cliff" as the Government implores Australians to spend their $8.7 billion in stimulus payments due over the next two weeks.
The ANZ's count of newspaper job advertisements collapsed 12 per cent in November on top of a 12 per cent slide in October — the steepest fall in its 30-year history.
"Job ads are now in the zone last seen during the recessions of the early 1970s and early 1980s," said UBS Australia economist Scott Haslem.
"They have fallen off a cliff. For every 10 jobs advertised a year ago, there now are only six," said Macquarie Bank strategist Rory Robertson.
"Full-time jobs growth has slowed to a crawl. Should it slow further in the figures to be released on Thursday it will be an ominous sign of darker times ahead," he said.
Treasurer Wayne Swan urged the millions of Australians due to get the $8.7 billion in bonus payments to spend the money "knowing they are supporting Australian industry and supporting Australian jobs".
"These payments are directly related to the urgent task of supporting employment in our economy because of events which have occurred internationally," he said.
Treasury estimates suggest that between 50 per cent and 100 per cent of the payments will be spent.
Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull dismissed the payments as a "sugar hit", saying the money would be better delivered as tax cuts.
"In a climate like this people are very much inclined to save one-off payments like this," he said. "This is an economic equivalent of a one-off sugar hit."
"Across-the-board tax cuts, particularly targeted at lower and middle-income earners, are going to have a greater impact. People would see them as being permanent. They will see them as encouraging people to work, to invest, to hire people and so forth," he said.
Kevin Rudd expected the criticism. "The Government understands that we'll be criticised for how some of this money is spent, but the alternative is for government to do nothing to stimulate the economy, for government not to invest in jobs, in growth, in families, and this government, by contrast, has resolved to act," he said.
Payments will begin to enter bank accounts tomorrow. Families Minister Jenny Macklin appealed to eligible Australians to wait until after December 19 before phoning Centrelink to inquire about missing payments.
http://www.theage.com.au/national/dr...1208-6u47.html
Dramatic drop in job prospects
* Peter Martin
* December 9, 2008
ALARMING figures show the jobs market "falling off a cliff" as the Government implores Australians to spend their $8.7 billion in stimulus payments due over the next two weeks.
The ANZ's count of newspaper job advertisements collapsed 12 per cent in November on top of a 12 per cent slide in October — the steepest fall in its 30-year history.
"Job ads are now in the zone last seen during the recessions of the early 1970s and early 1980s," said UBS Australia economist Scott Haslem.
"They have fallen off a cliff. For every 10 jobs advertised a year ago, there now are only six," said Macquarie Bank strategist Rory Robertson.
"Full-time jobs growth has slowed to a crawl. Should it slow further in the figures to be released on Thursday it will be an ominous sign of darker times ahead," he said.
Treasurer Wayne Swan urged the millions of Australians due to get the $8.7 billion in bonus payments to spend the money "knowing they are supporting Australian industry and supporting Australian jobs".
"These payments are directly related to the urgent task of supporting employment in our economy because of events which have occurred internationally," he said.
Treasury estimates suggest that between 50 per cent and 100 per cent of the payments will be spent.
Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull dismissed the payments as a "sugar hit", saying the money would be better delivered as tax cuts.
"In a climate like this people are very much inclined to save one-off payments like this," he said. "This is an economic equivalent of a one-off sugar hit."
"Across-the-board tax cuts, particularly targeted at lower and middle-income earners, are going to have a greater impact. People would see them as being permanent. They will see them as encouraging people to work, to invest, to hire people and so forth," he said.
Kevin Rudd expected the criticism. "The Government understands that we'll be criticised for how some of this money is spent, but the alternative is for government to do nothing to stimulate the economy, for government not to invest in jobs, in growth, in families, and this government, by contrast, has resolved to act," he said.
Payments will begin to enter bank accounts tomorrow. Families Minister Jenny Macklin appealed to eligible Australians to wait until after December 19 before phoning Centrelink to inquire about missing payments.
Forbes Magazine:Melbourne/Perth 8th/10th Most Expensive City
tsk tsk tsk. all the morons in perth/melbourne must be crying.
hee hee
http://www.forbes.com/realestate/200...ffordable.html
World's Increasingly Unaffordable Cities
Matt Woolsey, 07.24.08, 12:01 AM ET
The Australian government, for example, has increased interest rates 12 times consecutively since 2002 to stave off inflation and is cutting personal taxes so consumers have money to spend. This affects those in Melbourne and Perth, which rank No. 8 and No.10, respectively, for their accelerating costs of living. It's a precarious situation. Increase interest rates too quickly and you'll slow growth, but keep interest rates too low and you'll mute the spending power of the economy's growth by making money more expensive.
"The tax cuts over the past couple of years have been somewhat offset by the double whammy of sustained higher petrol prices and the marked increase in the cost of debt," says Matt Whitby, national director of Knight Frank Australia, an arm of the London-based financial research firm.
One major problem has been in the availability of housing. "Both state and federal governments need to seriously address the supply shortage in this country, not only as a necessity due to the growing population, but to put downward pressure on prices and rents and hence inflation," Whitby says.
tsk tsk tsk. all the morons in perth/melbourne must be crying.
hee hee
http://www.forbes.com/realestate/200...ffordable.html
World's Increasingly Unaffordable Cities
Matt Woolsey, 07.24.08, 12:01 AM ET
The Australian government, for example, has increased interest rates 12 times consecutively since 2002 to stave off inflation and is cutting personal taxes so consumers have money to spend. This affects those in Melbourne and Perth, which rank No. 8 and No.10, respectively, for their accelerating costs of living. It's a precarious situation. Increase interest rates too quickly and you'll slow growth, but keep interest rates too low and you'll mute the spending power of the economy's growth by making money more expensive.
"The tax cuts over the past couple of years have been somewhat offset by the double whammy of sustained higher petrol prices and the marked increase in the cost of debt," says Matt Whitby, national director of Knight Frank Australia, an arm of the London-based financial research firm.
One major problem has been in the availability of housing. "Both state and federal governments need to seriously address the supply shortage in this country, not only as a necessity due to the growing population, but to put downward pressure on prices and rents and hence inflation," Whitby says.
OZ:Home of the World's Fattest People
http://pressmediawire.com/article.cfm?articleID=19890
Obesity Crisis Of Australia Creates Lucrative Fitness Oppotunities
Published 12/08/2008 - 1:20 p.m. EST
(PressMediaWire) - Alarmingly, in a recent survey Australia was found to have the highest incidence of obesity in the world that s right, we came out one per cent higher than the US; how scary is that? The silver lining of the dire state of our nation s health, however, is that there remains an abundance of work for educated, qualified and passionate personal trainers. The more unhealthy our population, the fuller the personal trainers books become!
Australia actually leads the way in terms of fitness education standards. Many countries around the globe are mimicking the set up we operate with, to ensure that educational standards are regulated and a professional registration scheme is in place. What this scheme ensures is that personal trainers are adequately qualified and insured to prescribe exercise to the masses. Even better, thanks to organisations like FISAF and Australian Fitness Network, personal trainers who become qualified in Australia are being more widely (and instantly) recognised in other countries, including Canada and the UK, allowing them to be immediately employable (visa conditions permitting of course) when they take themselves and their personal trainer qualification overseas.
So why sit in that dead-end job any longer? Change your career for one in a vibrant, dynamic and energetic fitness industry. Becoming a personal trainer is easier and more fun - than you think.
http://pressmediawire.com/article.cfm?articleID=19890
Obesity Crisis Of Australia Creates Lucrative Fitness Oppotunities
Published 12/08/2008 - 1:20 p.m. EST
(PressMediaWire) - Alarmingly, in a recent survey Australia was found to have the highest incidence of obesity in the world that s right, we came out one per cent higher than the US; how scary is that? The silver lining of the dire state of our nation s health, however, is that there remains an abundance of work for educated, qualified and passionate personal trainers. The more unhealthy our population, the fuller the personal trainers books become!
Australia actually leads the way in terms of fitness education standards. Many countries around the globe are mimicking the set up we operate with, to ensure that educational standards are regulated and a professional registration scheme is in place. What this scheme ensures is that personal trainers are adequately qualified and insured to prescribe exercise to the masses. Even better, thanks to organisations like FISAF and Australian Fitness Network, personal trainers who become qualified in Australia are being more widely (and instantly) recognised in other countries, including Canada and the UK, allowing them to be immediately employable (visa conditions permitting of course) when they take themselves and their personal trainer qualification overseas.
So why sit in that dead-end job any longer? Change your career for one in a vibrant, dynamic and energetic fitness industry. Becoming a personal trainer is easier and more fun - than you think.
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