Unprepared Irish arrivals adding to welfare strain

Ozeire

Guys this is worth a read anyone planning on heading down to us here in Oz .

Unprepared Irish arrivals adding to welfare strain
Posted on 11 April 2013 at 12:00 pm by Sarah Carty
www.irishecho.com.au

There has been a sharp increase in “distressed calls” to Irish welfare groups in Perth.
The number of newly-arrived Irish making desperate calls to Perth’s emigrant support associations is on the rise, community groups say.

Western Australia based groups, the Claddagh Association and Friends of Sinn Féin have both reported a substantial increase in the number of distressed calls from young Irish.

The majority of the calls are relating to a shortage of work or money while other calls are more sinister, it has been claimed.

Tom Quinn from the Claddagh Association expressed his frustration at the lack of preparation made by younger Irish landing in Perth.

Irish people should not be allowed to enter Australia unless they have a return ticket and insurance, he said.

“It’s just a lack of common sense,” Mr Quinn said.

“One man called us on Good Friday. He arrived here three weeks before with $3,000 in his pocket and he thought it was going to last forever. He just made some bad decisions and he had spent it all already.”

Mr Quinn said people need to understand the streets of Perth are not lined with gold, and that they are going to need their own supply of money when they get here.

“We’ve noticed that the boys are throwing away money,” he said.

“The only times girls have problems is when they’ve had accidents, which is different.

“We’ve also just had a case this week where a girl rented a room in a house and less than 24 hours after moving in, the door got busted down because the bloke that owned the house was selling drugs.

“She was the first one in the firing line, and she got a smack in the face and a knife was held to her throat,” he explained.

Mr Quinn believes that things are only going to get worse due to the growing number of Irish people making their way to Perth with lofty expectations of immediate employment.

“They’re arriving and they’ve been told we’re waiting out here ready to give them jobs,” he said.

“They’re arriving here unprepared.”

Friends of Sinn Féin member Dean Keating spoke to the Irish Echo about the difficulties Irish workers are having with 457 visas and the Irish perception of the Australian dream.

As previously reported in the Irish Echo, some unscrupulous employers are getting rid of their sponsored staff as economic conditions tighten.

The sponsored worker then has just 28 days to find a new sponsor.

“I’ve been involved with Cairde Sinn Féin for about a year now, and we had never had any queries in relation to losing jobs up until probably five or six weeks ago and in a short period of time we’ve had about a dozen,” he said.

“It’s a lot of tradesmen, carpenters and electricians and one or two of them were actually working up north and came back to Perth after being let go and they were looking for sponsorship because they were on 457 visas.”

He has expressed his concern over the way Australia is being portrayed as a land of opportunity in Ireland.

“With the expos back home, people think they can get off the plane in Perth and there will be employers waiting at the gate for them, but it’s not that way at all,” he said.

The concerns came as the Claddagh Association launched an information booklet for Irish immigrants in the West Australian capital

Taken from this article

Xavi6

“One man called us on Good Friday. He arrived here three weeks before with $3,000 in his pocket and he thought it was going to last forever. He just made some bad decisions and he had spent it all already.”

So pissed it up against a wall basically, zero sympathy in situations like that.

Perth hasn't been the land of milk and honey for WHVs for a long time and a bit of research would tell people that before coming out.

Rubadubchub

The perceptions that some people have when coming out here is verging on insanity. I was speaking to a girl in Melbourne a few months ago and she was saying that she was fed up after 3 weeks and wanted to go home because she wasnt earning the kind of money she thought she would over here. When i asked her what she done for a living she told me she was working in a bar but everyone back home had told her she would be earning 60-70k easy!

danotroy

I will put my hands up and say that i was a bit foolish arriving over here expecting things to be better than they are. I listened to the talks reeled out at all the expos about jobs sponsership opportunities and shortage of skills, but i think alot of this has to do with people who return to ireland after two years on the olde WHV and make it look like they lived like kings out here. But in reality its hard work as the cost of living is high and the whv isnt a great option if you are seeking serious work (i know its primarily a holiday visa but it is a stepping stone to a proper visa). I havent found it too bad over here though. if you work hard and make connections you can get onto the path you are looking for. Stay away from the elephant and wheelbarrow and if your asked to a bbq or a childs footy game or even to watch your boss play cricket GO

Ozeire

That one of the problems , anyone out here or who has returned from Oz to Ireland is always going to pick the best times and forget the rest. So to anyone in Ireland it looks so good here all roses and no **** when in fact living here is like living anywhere. The weather is better but you get all the crap that happens in Ireland too, 9 to 5 working here is like 9 to 5 working in any major city.

The pay maybe better but the price of living is more expensive. Forget about ever owning a house anywhere near civilisation unless both parties are on great wages and you have loads of savings first.

People need to realise WHV isn’t a visa to a new life. It’s not a guarantee that you can stay in Oz for the rest of your life .

danotroy

Ozeire wrote: »

People need to realise WHV isn’t a visa to a new life. It’s not a guarantee that you can stay in Oz for the rest of your life .

I think this visa is mis understood by some irish and english backpackers. The other europeans seem happy to come here on holiday do some intermittant work in a cafe and head home. We on the otherhand seem to come on the lash and expectsomeone to sponser us. (sweeping generalisation?)

Maybe i should of been more critical when I listened to mates back home when they told me about the good times, a simple question i never once thought of asking was "if its so good in australia and you lived like a king why are you home and on the dole?"

hussey

Exactly, I've been here a few years, a lot is by accident (6weeks turned into 6 months, turned into 2 years, into 4, then 7)

But the attitude has changed since then, most people I meet in 06 would be roughly on the same path, travel around asia, work in sydney/melbourne, do some more travel (east/west side) then go to the other city for a bit of work, then home.

Or else 457's would stay for a few years then head back home.

But now, I rarely meet or hear about anyone with attitude number 1, most are land in city try to get a job, try to get sponsorship, if doesn't work out, work on a farm get 2nd year visa, do a bit of travel and start again.

I recently meet a guy who was after a generic IT support role and was said he was looking for $50-60ph ! 1 year out of college, he said that's what his mate told them was the going rate and what they were on etc.

Yes there is money to be made in the right industry, and I have to say Irish people are some of the hardest workers I've seen, but to expect to walk into a job/sponsorship is just silly, and to come over with just $3000 is just plain stupid.
sure if you were to get a room over a third of that is gone on rent/bond alone.

danotroy

hussey wrote: »

to come over with just $3000 is just plain stupid.
sure if you were to get a room over a third of that is gone on rent/bond alone.

I came with about 1000 dollars. I had no choice it was mid November I couldnt find work, my dole was barely enough to get me through the week I was living at home with my mam and I had a masters degree i had to pay back. Its not ideal to arrive here with little money but if you book into a hostel get a 20 dollar an hour job and get your self in order its possible to survive. It was the better option for me i didnt want to spend 4 winter months on my mothers couch.

I honestly think if i came with 5000 i would of pissed it up agaisnt a wall i came with nothing found out its expensive here and adapted.

jackbhoy

Rubadubchub wrote: »

The perceptions that some people have when coming out here is verging on insanity. I was speaking to a girl in Melbourne a few months ago and she was saying that she was fed up after 3 weeks and wanted to go home because she wasnt earning the kind of money she thought she would over here. When i asked her what she done for a living she told me she was working in a bar but everyone back home had told her she would be earning 60-70k easy!

Ah mate, you should have told her to go to da moynes!! I know a fella whose 3rd cousin's dog groomer is making $150 p/h cleaning toilets in WA, no lie!!

mandrake04

Really commonsense would tell you that this was going happen, you only have to look at some of myth, pubtalk and monkey chatter posted on here for example.

It was a mathematical certainty that number of casual non-skilled jobs, people aiming for jobs way above their skillset and a bottle neck when it comes to actual number of employers sponsoring would reach a point of saturation. Not everyone is going to get a good paying job or sponsored. It will alway be a minority but there was that sense of entitlement associated with the tiger cubs. Many times I have stated that there is not a labor shortage but a skills shortage, there is a huge difference but people don't want to hear it.

Claddagh can print books to the cows come home, nothing will change as you can't put brains in statues.

danotroy

jackbhoy wrote: »

Ah mate, you should have told her to go to da moynes!! I know a fella whose 3rd cousin's dog groomer is making $150 p/h cleaning toilets in WA, no lie!!

in fairness a mate of mine went and washed trucks at some mine town i think it was Karratha and he was making about 40 dollars and hour but he was doing a 15-20 hour week and had to pay 400 or so a week for accommodation lasted three weeks. Ended up losing about 3000 dollars as a result in flights accommodation, en-route and the loss he made when he was actually on site. He also gave up a room in his apartment and a full time hospitality gig to go there so he lost out on quiet a bit. nothing ventured nothing gained..... kind of :rolleyes:

mandrake04

Ozeire wrote: »

The companies have to prove to the Aussie Gov that they can't get the person here in Oz with the skills to do the job before they can sponsor anyone.

That is the biggest myth on here, it used to be the case but labor market testing was removed. There is no need to prove that a local cant be found and a job offer was good enough, that's why there has been such a whoo haa over 457 lately.

Even now Brendan O'Connor can't return labor market testing due to international trade agreements, in its place he is putting a genuine employer test, upping mandatory training, limit/ratio of sponsored employees and upping the minimum pay thresholds to reduce the number of 457 handed out.

Mellor

Ozeire wrote: »

The companies have to prove to the Aussie Gov that they can't get the person here in Oz with the skills to do the job before they can sponsor anyone.

That is completely false.

And even when labout market testing was in palce it was never the case that they prove they there was nobody in Oz to fill the role. A person in perth is no good to a business in Sydney. It was on a local level.

Anyway if your skill set was that good you'd be out on a skilled workers visa.

That's also complete nonsense.
Not every occupation qualifies for every visa.
There are numerous reasons a 457 is better option for some people.


I fully agree with your intentions here. People need a better idea of what a WHV is. The days when staying on a 457 was almost an option to those that want it are gone. But what you've posted above is kinda like hearsay info on the 457 visa, which isn't a good idea either. It's gettiung pretty common in relation to the 457 and the ENS. (especially 457 to ENS PR after 2 years)

Doc

danotroy wrote: »

I came with about 1000 dollars. I had no choice it was mid November I couldnt find work, my dole was barely enough to get me through the week I was living at home with my mam and I had a masters degree i had to pay back. Its not ideal to arrive here with little money but if you book into a hostel get a 20 dollar an hour job and get your self in order its possible to survive. It was the better option for me i didnt want to spend 4 winter months on my mothers couch.

I honestly think if i came with 5000 i would of pissed it up agaisnt a wall i came with nothing found out its expensive here and adapted.

You are incredibly lucky and the type of person the articular in the opening post is aimed at. To be quite frank you should not have come to Australia with so little money.
Not only that but if you did only come with access to only $1000 you should not have been let in.
In a way I admire your guts in taking the risk of coming out here but that doesn't mean that you should have and I would never recommend anyone else do the same. Someone coming over from Ireland with that little money would have to get a job straight away and that simply isn't very likely. Obviously you have but you were very lucky and the exception not the rule in my experience.

Here are the risks of coming over with so little money.

1: It is a condition of your visa (if you come on a WHV) that you have more then that and you could be refused entry and put on a flight back to Ireland that you would be charged for thus leaving you in a far worse situation then you started.

2: Yes some (cheap) backpackers have dorm rooms for $20 a night but that is still $140 a week. If that is you can even find a free room as accommodation these days can be difficult to get. When you add in food and transport at the very least you would have an outgoing of say $250 a week leaving you with at the very best 4 weeks to find employment and to be honest I think that is more then generous. Even if you did find employment you would probably have to organise advances on your pay to keep going. If you don't find work in that 4 weeks (which is really not that unlikely) then what do you do? You are half way around the world with not a penny to your name.

3: Lots of businesses are reluctant to hire people who are on working holiday visas due to the restrictions on the amount of time they can work for them. This obviously makes getting a job harder so haven so little money therefor so little time to search means you might not find one in time. Then what? Live on the streets?

4: The job market is not as good as people seem to think.

At the very least people should have enough money to be able to come over here spend some weeks searching for a job and if they cant find one afford a ticket home. Coming over with less leaves you with no safety net and luck will not always be with you.

danotroy wrote: »

I came with about 1000 dollars. I had no choice

This is a ridicules statement. You weren't tied up, gagged and thrown onto a airplane. Nor were you a convict shipped over here. You didn't want to stay in Ireland so you paid for a ticket to Australia thinking that you could easily get a job and that it would be a better life for yourself. Don't try and fool yourself or anyone else by saying different. Through what I'm sure must have been hard work and quite a bit of luck you managed to survive on the meager amount you had to bring. I luck had not been on your side and it had take a little longer to get that job you could have been one of the people mentioned in the OP.

I have seen people come over fail to get a job and go home. Fortunately all of them had the good sense to have enough money to get home.

I have also seen people come over with little money find a bad job that they were forced to take because they didn't have the money not to, get stick it out for a while get sick of it and leave.

I have also seen people come over and be very successful. I have to say the majority of these people came prepared and with no illusions they would have it easy at from start.

Zambia

Doc is correct as harsh as it sounds.

I hope you at least had a return ticket as a bare minimum danotroy.

Xavi6

Great post Doc

Ozeire

Ozeire wrote: »

Its stories like this n others that have things the way they are. Fair enough maybe they do make $150 p/h but that doesn't mean everyone coming here will make money like that .

Have you considered the possibility that jackbhoy is making one of those joke things? His post was funny, your first paragraph was twice as! No disrespect Ozeire:D

Most of the people I know who've come back from Oz with stories of decent to moderate fortune are the ones who went and spent their time there 4-6 years ago, got in before the virtual rest of Ireland did. I've never been myself, had the notion of going with friends years ago but life and work here were treating me right. When I do go it will be for an extended holiday with the good lady with sufficient cash to back it and some actual research done.

I'd say it is daunting though to go down there with what you reckon is a small fortune and see it gone after a few weeks and no job to slip into, or at least not the one you saw yourself getting when you got on the plane out of Dublin.

Zambia

Sure the stories are true , I got of the plane on monday and by wednesday I was being paid 150 an hour as Miranda Kerrs bikini pit crew.

If you come over it could happen to you to.

danotroy

Doc wrote: »

You are incredibly lucky and the type of person the articular in the opening post is aimed at. To be quite frank you should not have come to Australia with so little money.
Not only that but if you did only come with access to only $1000 you should not have been let in.
In a way I admire your guts in taking the risk of coming out here but that doesn't mean that you should have and I would never recommend anyone else do the same. Someone coming over from Ireland with that little money would have to get a job straight away and that simply isn't very likely. Obviously you have but you were very lucky and the exception not the rule in my experience.

Here are the risks of coming over with so little money.

1: It is a condition of your visa (if you come on a WHV) that you have more then that and you could be refused entry and put on a flight back to Ireland that you would be charged for thus leaving you in a far worse situation then you started.

2: Yes some (cheap) backpackers have dorm rooms for $20 a night but that is still $140 a week. If that is you can even find a free room as accommodation these days can be difficult to get. When you add in food and transport at the very least you would have an outgoing of say $250 a week leaving you with at the very best 4 weeks to find employment and to be honest I think that is more then generous. Even if you did find employment you would probably have to organise advances on your pay to keep going. If you don't find work in that 4 weeks (which is really not that unlikely) then what do you do? You are half way around the world with not a penny to your name.

3: Lots of businesses are reluctant to hire people who are on working holiday visas due to the restrictions on the amount of time they can work for them. This obviously makes getting a job harder so haven so little money therefor so little time to search means you might not find one in time. Then what? Live on the streets?

4: The job market is not as good as people seem to think.

At the very least people should have enough money to be able to come over here spend some weeks searching for a job and if they cant find one afford a ticket home. Coming over with less leaves you with no safety net and luck will not always be with you.


This is a ridicules statement. You weren't tied up, gagged and thrown onto a airplane. Nor were you a convict shipped over here. You didn't want to stay in Ireland so you paid for a ticket to Australia thinking that you could easily get a job and that it would be a better life for yourself. Don't try and fool yourself or anyone else by saying different. Through what I'm sure must have been hard work and quite a bit of luck you managed to survive on the meager amount you had to bring. I luck had not been on your side and it had take a little longer to get that job you could have been one of the people mentioned in the OP.

I have seen people come over fail to get a job and go home. Fortunately all of them had the good sense to have enough money to get home.

I have also seen people come over with little money find a bad job that they were forced to take because they didn't have the money not to, get stick it out for a while get sick of it and leave.

I have also seen people come over and be very successful. I have to say the majority of these people came prepared and with no illusions they would have it easy at from start.

I came over to a mate I went to uni with in the Uk. I pissed a good amount of my money up against the wall the first weekend. I had paid for the hostel for 2 weeks (forgot about this) and I stayed in my mates for a week so basically my first 3 weeks was ‘rent free’.


I don’t think luck has anything got to do with getting a job. I have a masters degree but I have no sense of entitlement, I went looking for a bar job. After my first weekend on the beer catching up with my mate I printed out over 100 CVs and handed everyone out. I walked from Windsor to Richmond to the CBD handing out CVs, I got 2 calls.
I scored a job doing 20 hours a week at $20 dollars from here on I did not spend my time in the pubs I bought a cheap bike and got to know this city I eventually landed a sweet Hospo job. Now after 16 months and building up a network of connections I have a short term contract with the local council doing what I studied in college, I had no experience from back home but I do not consider this luck either. I worked hard and worked harder at making connections and got where I am.

I am not living like a king I would much prefer to be in a more steady job have a proper visa and working rights, but it is better than being at home on the dole.

The job market is not as plentiful as people are led to believe as I said 100 or so CV’s 2 calls. I hope to never be one of those people mentioned on the article but I have gone to 3 different cities in the world with little amount of money and had successful experiences. I have seen my fair share of people from my home town come over and fail. I would chat to these people regularly when I was at home, not friends but same circles. I worked in the cbd and offered on countless occasions to come to my work and ill introduce you and hopefully get you a job somewhere, but CBD was deemed too far from st.kilda that’s where all ‘everyone’ is. Now these people have gone fruit picking realised its hard and have gone home.

I honestly don’t think I had an option in staying in Ireland Job bridge was a joke, I proposed to two companies and they both didn’t understand what it was.

I never had an illusion that it would be easy out here but I did have a preconception that jobs would be more plentiful.

If I was to offer anyone advise on coming here get away from the traditional backpacker hubs you won’t struggle to find friends as there will be back packers in every hospitality job and share house. Bring the stated amount of money, do your farm work early, stay away from Irish pubs unless that’s your buzz and leave your sense of entitlement at home.

Doc

Did you have RSA qualification? (RSA is Responsible Service of Alcohol)

If you arrived in the country and went out looking for work in bars 3 days later then I wouldn't have taught so.

If you didn't have RSA you were lucky to get 2 out of the 100 contact you because it is a training you must have before being able to work in licensed premises.

You are even luckier still to have one of them give you a job without it.

You obviously did work hard to get out there and find a job and it reflects well on you that you did get it still no matter how much you might not like it there was an element of luck that you did as well as you did.

Still you worked very hard to get what you got (and well done to you for that I have nothing ageist you at all you obviously you are the type of Irish person with the right attitude and we can be happy that your efforts could reflect well on the rest of us). I want to point out that even if you do work very hard coming over with that little money puts you at a huge disadvantage to start with and you can fast end up with nothing even if you do work hard.

Getting 2 reply's from 100 may sound bad but what if nether offered you a job or you got no reply's at all?

I just wouldn't encourage anyone that is in the position you were in to do the same as you. Regardless if you think so or not you were very lucky it all worked out for you.

knipex

What most people don't realise is just how expencive Australia is. I live in Singapore and travel alot across asia Pacific for work, we normally have accomodation and expenses guidelines which are pretty strongly enforced except for Australia and Japan..

Most Irish I have met assume Ireland is a hugely expencive place to live. In comparison to Australia its not... Budget what you would need to live in Ireland, double it and make an allowance that you will have to buy stuff that you didn't bring or forgot to bring from home..

danotroy

Doc wrote: »

Did you have RSA qualification? (RSA is Responsible Service of Alcohol)

If you arrived in the country and went out looking for work in bars 3 days later then I wouldn't have taught so.



Getting 2 reply's from 100 may sound bad but what if nether offered you a job or you got no reply's at all?

I just wouldn't encourage anyone that is in the position you were in to do the same as you. Regardless if you think so or not you were very lucky it all worked out for you.

I knew i needed an RSA so i booked in to do it but in melbourne any of the places i went to said i didnt need it until i got the job. and since then where i work people with no RSAs have been hired over people with them. Its not a deal breaker it cost $70 and 3 hours to do. If i didnt get any relpies i would of went out again with CV's until i got a job. in all fairness its bar work. I would not give up as other people seem too. I wouldnt encourage anyone to come here expecting to have it easy but from my personal experience is it (bar the advice ive given above).

Doc

danotroy I think we have to agree to disagree here because I don't see anything you have done as easy. Even going on what you have said (all of which sounds like hard work) you have to admit that coming over with the correct amount of money and by this I mean the minimum required according to immigration or more would be the best thing to do if you could.

You dropped yourself in a sink or swim situation with the possibility of sharks in the water and manged to get yourself to land but I still think it wasn't the best thing to do.

People coming over with very little money have to take into consideration what they would do if they get sick or have to go to the dentist or get robed or any other of the millions of things that could happen here.

I just don't want people risking getting stuck in horrible situations that could be avoided. People with the option to save a bit more should do so and in my opinion people who don't have enough shouldn't come until they do.


P.S. What visa are you on now?

mandrake04

knipex wrote: »

What most people don't realise is just how expencive Australia is. I live in Singapore and travel alot across asia Pacific for work, we normally have accomodation and expenses guidelines which are pretty strongly enforced except for Australia and Japan..

Most Irish I have met assume Ireland is a hugely expencive place to live. In comparison to Australia its not... Budget what you would need to live in Ireland, double it and make an allowance that you will have to buy stuff that you didn't bring or forgot to bring from home..

I agree you need a factor of 2, Oz = aiming for x2 your Irish wages to offset the x2 prices* in Oz.

*although not everything is x2 the price.

Not everyone likes easy factors but there is no denying Australia is expensive and you need to be paid accordingly.

Also another common mistake is some Irish people I have met think that $60K/$70K is big money, its not really but the whole $/€ xchange makes it sound like loads.

Xavi6

mandrake04 wrote: »

I agree you need a factor of 2, Oz = aiming for x2 your Irish wages to offset the x2 prices* in Oz.

*although not everything is x2 the price.

Slightly OT but out of curiosity, I checked a return flight from Perth to Dublin then Dublin to Perth for the same date in August.

Cheapest ticket for each was c. $1000 and $2000 respectively, twice the price! Couldn't believe it, we're getting shafted.

Zambia

Xavi6 wrote: »

Cheapest ticket for each was c. $1000 and $2000 respectively, twice the price! Couldn't believe it, we're getting shafted.

danotroy

Doc wrote: »

danotroy I think we have to agree to disagree here because I don't see anything you have done as easy. Even going on what you have said (all of which sounds like hard work) you have to admit that coming over with the correct amount of money and by this I mean the minimum required according to immigration or more would be the best thing to do if you could.

You dropped yourself in a sink or swim situation with the possibility of sharks in the water and manged to get yourself to land but I still think it wasn't the best thing to do.

People coming over with very little money have to take into consideration what they would do if they get sick or have to go to the dentist or get robed or any other of the millions of things that could happen here.

I just don't want people risking getting stuck in horrible situations that could be avoided. People with the option to save a bit more should do so and in my opinion people who don't have enough shouldn't come until they do.


P.S. What visa are you on now?

For me personally i did not need anymore money. For someone who comes out here wanting a month long holiday when they first arrive and i mean this loosy, i.e handing out a few cv's boozing with new found mates or mates from home, before they knuckle down to get a job bring $10,000 that will be significantly drained in a month but you should be okay to get yourslef set up. But even with that amount of money if you 'get sick' say break an arm which is proable if your on the beer and partying hard your probably heading home eitherway youd be hard pressed to last 6 weeks in a new county with a broken arm without spending all your money.

I would try and save all the money you can at home before you come. but for me it was coming into winter and the lure of the summer was too much for me.

Im still on a WHV (2nd yr). Hoping this 3 month contract will furnish me with an opportunity to get more work somewhere else.

Nelson Muntz

mandrake04 wrote: »

I agree you need a factor of 2, Oz = aiming for x2 your Irish wages to offset the x2 prices* in Oz.

*although not everything is x2 the price.

Not everyone likes easy factors but there is no denying Australia is expensive and you need to be paid accordingly.

Also another common mistake is some Irish people I have met think that $60K/$70K is big money, its not really but the whole $/€ xchange makes it sound like loads.

The x2 is not toally accurate. I was contracting in Ireland before moving back here. Even as a contractor with things to claim I was paying 44% tax on average. Over here, I average 37% as paye on a much higher (not double) wage. Have a lot more left over here than there.

But I do agree, things are very expensive here. $4 for a 500ml bottle of drink is taking the p*ss.

markymark21

I don't understand why these nimrods come over here and drink themselves into oblivion. It's embarrassing the lack of respect they have for this country and even themselves

Sundy

markymark21 wrote: »

I don't understand why these nimrods come over here and drink themselves into oblivion. It's embarrassing the lack of respect they have for this country and even themselves

Come on less of the outrage, plenty of aussies, english and kiwis do the exact same.

Only last saturday, 5 or 6 kiwis streaked/pitch invaded at the western force game. If that had been Irish people this place would a haven of righteous indignation.

Plenty of idiots but its more likely a lack of life experience and immaturity that lack of respect.

Itoa

danotroy wrote: »

For me personally i did not need anymore money. For someone who comes out here wanting a month long holiday when they first arrive and i mean this loosy, i.e handing out a few cv's boozing with new found mates or mates from home, before they knuckle down to get a job bring $10,000 that will be significantly drained in a month but you should be okay to get yourslef set up. But even with that amount of money if you 'get sick' say break an arm which is proable if your on the beer and partying hard your probably heading home eitherway youd be hard pressed to last 6 weeks in a new county with a broken arm without spending all your money.

I would try and save all the money you can at home before you come. but for me it was coming into winter and the lure of the summer was too much for me.

Im still on a WHV (2nd yr). Hoping this 3 month contract will furnish me with an opportunity to get more work somewhere else.

Agree with both Danotroy and Doc, definitely a bad idea coming out with just $1000 but I done the same myself and managed. Got to Sydney and stayed in a cheap sh*t hostel while looking for work, after spending a month working about 3 days a week with labour hire companies a got a bit of work in Townsville through a mate. Eventually ended up on the Gold Coast and have a permanent job for the last 3.5 years in what I trained in Uni for.
This still doesnt change the fact that coming here with just $1000 was a stupid thing to so (should have tried to save more first or try and borrow some) and there is no way I would recomend anyone to do the same. Would be even harder to do now as this country is getting more expensive every year.
As for the work and people thinking they can come here with nothing and get rich after a working a year or two, I dont know anyone that has and I work in Civil which is where most people say the money is great. It can be good and very good at times but the work is hard and the hours are long. When I think of it now its no wonder Ireland went tits up, I was working 38 hours a week on a great salery at the time just out of Uni, here Im working a minimum of 50 hours a week all be it on good money but I earn every penny of it!