Sydney/Australia

Far-liberal- prob between the US and England most people don’t care what other people are doing but the vocal minority are around and have some power. The government is the liberal party but that’s just a name the opposition is labour the two party’s are basically identical. They would be slightly conservative but that has more to do with change being a political risk than anything else

socialist? Capitalistic socialism, i.e. the wealthy/successful should work hard and provide everything for everybody else. Oddly enough the more you pay the less society thinks you are entitled to.

health care- like all of them it has its problems doesn’t seem to bad, but I haven’t even seen a doctor in about 8yrs so I wouldn’t really know.

tax- its bad really bad if you earn anything decent if you don’t have a good accountant you could end up paying nearly half your wage in taxes. There are a bunch of other taxes but no different to the states. Things also cost a fair bit more over here, a combination of protectionist taxes (i.e nice cars) distance both to get over here then around as well as the size of the market (only 20 million) daily things like rent, power, normal food etc will cost similar

Business- Business is easy you have to obviously deal with beurocratic nonsense but that’s everywhere. As above society wants you to succeed so they can tax you to buggery.

Any particular reason for Sydney? Melbourne, Adelaide, Brisbane/gold coast are all bigish places all with their own character one of the others may be better depending on the environment you prefer and type of business

While I am personally looking to move overseas Australia really is a good place, weather is great, people are generally nice, it is pretty safe etc plus it is big open and there are a lot of things to do.

 

i wanna go to new york and you want to come here...ironic. well we should house sit .

will write more tommorow

 

compared to the US there is no real incentive for small business so you have to create your own and lie to the taxman to get ahead, makes very little difference which thieving govt is in power.

I'd say make your mark in the US first and then establish a branch in Oz that is up and running successfully before you make a move out here.

 

if you're not cashed up and can't get into some decent cashflow pretty quickly, i'd leave sydney behind for a bit. if you want to be near the business districts and nice areas you'll be taking it in the cakehole with living expenses, or living amongst 7 other dirty uni students, otherwise you'll be out in the badlands, pretty much no point choosing sydney in this case, coz you'll be too far away from the bustle.

personally, i'd choose melbourne, a bit easier on the wallet, is as up to date as any modern international city, and generally nice place.

my home town is adelaide, 1 million residents so "big enough", but is considered a large country town with a lot of heritage by many. on even my embarrassing budget i've been able to live and werk half-decently in some of the best areas, my daily commute is 10-15 mins each way in peak hour, beach is 15 mins away, awesome driving hills 15 mins the other way, wine country 45 mins away, and some of the coolest motorsport events are local. (i'd say ALL, but melbourne flogged our F1 GP )

perth is very similar to adelaide, just more spread out. the beaches are better, the hills are worthless, and overall the city has a more modern feel to it.

i don't know much about canberra.

then there's tassie... well, what can be said about those bunch of mongrels.

with the price of flights nowadays, unless your business would require a distinct presence among a larger crowd, i'd start off in adelaide or melbourne. domestic flights are cheaper nowadays, it would be easy enough to have a base of interstate clients if needed that you could visit as often as required.

 

No one does.
My advice. Dont even consider that one.

 

Hey dude,

That is really funny that you wanna come to Australia, as i live here and am trying to move to the US.

anyway, if you have not much money then Sydney is out. I read somewhere that Sydney was amongst the 5 most expensive cities in the world, among Tokyo, New York, London, and i cant remember the other one.

If you wanna move to Australia perhaps consider somewhere a little less expensive, Melbourne is a briliant place, but i couldnt live there because of their terrible weather, the Gold Coast is nice except for all the queenslanders (no offence intended to anyone reading this) so that's why i live in Perth, its a similar city as say San Diego as far as lifestyle and climate goes. Housing is cheap, $600k will get you something prety nice (where that gets you SFA in Sydney) and general cost of living is prety low (Perth is actually the least expensive city in Australia for Cost of Living, according to a recent study i saw on TV).

But i must say i like Sydney, if i had in excess of $10 Million i would move there in a heart beat, but for now i need to earn a little more.

I just wanna move to FLorida, and that whole Greencard Lottery sucks, i may have to think more seriously about an investor visa.

Cheers

 

HAHAHA there are NO qlders here on the Coast dude, Kiwis, Sydney/Melb refugees and the "odd" Pom but REAL Qlders, no.

One funny thing about Qlders is that they drive terrible on the open road but very well on the track , actually I would say they're brilliant on the track but keep away from them on the road, seems they have too many other things to think about.

Lots of business people retire here so this is the wrong place to come early on in your endeavours but a good place to come later in life, but we don't let Russian travel agents come here.

 

Я пробую думать о Queenslander, кто был блестящий на следе(курс&#1077 - неудачно - о, возможно Глайн Скотт - он был банановыми клещами, разве он не был?

Approximate translation -

I'm trying to think of a Queenslander who's been brilliant on the track - unsuccessfully - oh, maybe Glyn Scott - he was a banana bender wasn't he?

 

GO already!

 

I came with a backpack in 2000, with no intention of staying for more than a few months, let alone setting up a business and now applying for PR.

I guess I got lucky...fell into a niche market, lucky timing etc etc, but in my experience, in the UK you have to break your back working just to stay alive...here you can get out what you put in.

I started my own business in Jan 2003, I owe nobody anything, I own outright everything I need and have a very happy home life here now. I only rent my house, but the market is bizarre for renting. If I owned the house I live in my repayments would be more than double the rent, and I'd have to take care of things.

Renting gets all maintenance included, heck, my place has even got a gardener included. I'll keep trying to save for a house, but without a PR visa, buying is too hard.

 

Don't like the Melbourne weather, stick around, it'll change soon enough. What is it with you Aussies, haven't you ever seen real rain before

I've been working in Melbourne for the last seven years and have to keep coming back to NZ to reaquaint myself with what bad weather is really all about. Worst I've seen in Melbourne is 1/2 a day of drizzling rain or a couple of heavy showers, nothing to complain about.

 

Hey Petey,

I want to go to the US,

can you think of a way i can get residency without any of the following?

Green Card Lottery Win
Investment Visa (requires me to spend a large proportion of my wealth on a business in a strange country)
Beint in the top 1% of my chosen sport
becoming a Doctor or some other urgently required job
or Marrying a mid west trailer park girl (and I dont think my wife would appreciate that one).

if you know any way i can just walk in and become a resident please let me know.

 

Don't like the Melbourne weather, stick around, it'll change soon enough. What is it with you Aussies, haven't you ever seen real rain before

I've been working in Melbourne for the last seven years and have to keep coming back to NZ to reaquaint myself with what bad weather is really all about. Worst I've seen in Melbourne is 1/2 a day of drizzling rain or a couple of heavy showers, nothing to complain about.

man if you think melbourne weather is not that bad move to Perth our wether is brilliant by comparison, however the reason im contemplating moving is because i dont find perth temperate enough anymore, Global warming my ass, Perth seems to be getting cooler every year :-(

 

adelaide had the best thunderstorm i've seen in like 2 years last night. sat out in my yard in my boxers with a supply of becks. absolutely wickid.

perth on the other hand, yuck. i lived there for about a year, it rained a couple times in the first month, then i don't think i saw another single cloud until the day i left almost a year later. it was never as hot as it gets here in adelaide, but it was just constant BOOOORING weather. man that sucked ass.

tassie is my kinda place, mild summer, decent winter, chance of snow, plenty of rain, beautiful scenery... just a pity it's full of ugly people.

 

and you are sadly missed

 

Man, i like a good storm too, but i personally like 300 fine days of weather a year

like i said its just a little cold from time to time.

I couldnt handle melbourne weather for too long though, when you go out you never know when its going to rain etc, (i guess it just always does so you prepare so) but i think tropical weather is the best, warm humid, a bit of rain

went to Hawaii last year, weather there is ideal just a shame its so isolated, hence i think Florida is the place for me

 

ah, it made the news.
http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,12003936%255E910,00.html

 

Of course it made the news, nothing else happens there since the GP left town

and you are one strange dude sitting in the rain in your boxers

 

Economically Australia alredy has an 'agressive capitalist platform'. You will find that the current system serves the ultra wealthy. I personally have never paid more than 25% tax on my income as an Australian resident. But if you cant afford to keep an accountant on staff you are pretty much screwed. Luckily Australians can escape to places like Hong Kong you however with your US passport are doomed to paying US income tax the rest of your life. Nothing you can do about that one.

 

OP,

Just my .02 - I have a mate that married an Aussie girl, ooh, 8-10 years ago. He raved about Aus and finally left for Sydney in 2003. He's been there since and although the quality of life is awesome and much better than (his native) UK, the opportunities to start and develope a buinsess are not as great as they are in somewhere like the UK or US.

20 million people is HUGE, but when you consider they are spread out over such an enormous space, its not that great.

I would look at Aus for lifestyle, I wouldnt look at Aus for a business incubator.

Jamie

 

Maybach, welcome to the board.

Would you mind posting a picture or two of your cars? I'm sure others as well as me would love to see your Maybach in all its glory.

 

yep, a pic of the Maybach would be very nice. They are very rare in Australia, although I was lucky enough to spot one driving here in Perth on Melbourne Cup day last year