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Pompous Rhombus posted:Thinking about a working holiday in Australia? Enjoy your 32% income tax as of June 1 2016, sucka. I know one guy who works in ski racing who was looking for a southern hemisphere job, he was going to work in Australia, but then settled on New Zealand in part because of the tax laws.
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May 12, 2015 16:58
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Pompous Rhombus posted:Thinking about a working holiday in Australia? Enjoy your 32% income tax as of June 1 2016, sucka. drat. And I really wanted to go in 2016. How on earth is this policy a good idea?
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May 12, 2015 20:41
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A Time To Chill posted:drat. And I really wanted to go in 2016. Backpackers don't vote, so they're a pretty easy target for a cash-strapped government. There was another article speculating it might help the employment prospects of young Australians (not having to compete with cheap backpacker labour so much). It looks like the tourism industry is kicking up a bit of a fuss in the news (tourist visa prices also increased substantially, there was a new $55 departure tax type thing for foreigners leaving Australia added, and I think they also got completely shorted in terms of new funding), but I think they're pretty much standing alone on that one. Sucks for my household as my girlfriend is planning to come over early next year on a WH visa, and she was definitely be relying on her wages here to help support her (and save for tuition the following year) until I/we apply for residency the year after that. I remember it being kind of a pain in the rear end, but I might look into adding her onto my student visa as a dependent; she'd be limited to the same 20hrs/week I am, but I reckon she'd be happier to do half of the work for two thirds of the take-home pay, and spend the rest of her time either volunteering or finding some remote work from the States. Plus, she could go F/T from Nov-Feb when school's not in session, which is when all the seasonal work is available around here anyhow. I couldn't find anything but I assume since this is a tax policy issue that it takes place immediately on July 1 and affects everyone in the country on a WH visa (i.e. if you enter before then you're not "grandfathered in" with the old tax residency system for the rest of your stay). Pompous Rhombus fucked around with this message at 23:21 on May 12, 2015 |
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May 12, 2015 23:08
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Pompous Rhombus posted:there was a new $55 departure tax type thing for foreigners leaving Australia added Lmbo if you hate anyone coming to your country and spending their dirty foreign dollars in your economy so much just shut the borders completely already.
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May 12, 2015 23:40
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A Time To Chill posted:Lmbo if you hate anyone coming to your country and spending their dirty foreign dollars in your economy so much just shut the borders completely already. Don't worry, this muppet government is trying to. They just handed down a budget where they cut nearly everything except found a billion dollars for a new border security force.
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May 13, 2015 00:34
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Hang on... did people on working holiday visas not pay tax previously?
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May 13, 2015 04:44
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Finch! posted:Hang on... did people on working holiday visas not pay tax previously? No, they paid the same amount of tax as regular Australians. quote:This means they are able to pay no tax on income received up to about $20,000, they pay a tax rate of 19¢ in the dollar for income up to $37,000, and receive benefits through the low-income tax offset. Now they have to pay 32.5% on every dollar they earn period.
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May 13, 2015 05:13
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Pompous Rhombus posted:Sucks for my household as my girlfriend is planning to come over early next year on a WH visa, and she was definitely be relying on her wages here to help support her (and save for tuition the following year) until I/we apply for residency the year after that. I remember it being kind of a pain in the rear end, but I might look into adding her onto my student visa as a dependent; she'd be limited to the same 20hrs/week I am I forgot, aren't you doing a postgraduate course? Subclass 573 and 574 visa dependents have full work rights while the primary visa holder is enrolled in a masters/doctorate course.
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May 13, 2015 07:17
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plasmoduck posted:I forgot, aren't you doing a postgraduate course? Subclass 573 and 574 visa dependents have full work rights while the primary visa holder is enrolled in a masters/doctorate course. Only a Master's by research if I'm remembering correctly; mine's a Master's by coursework unfortunately.
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May 13, 2015 08:35
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Pompous Rhombus posted:Only a Master's by research if I'm remembering correctly; mine's a Master's by coursework unfortunately. I'd look more into that. Are you on 573? On the main page it doesn't discriminate coursework vs research. https://www.immi.gov.au/students/students/working_while_studying/conditions.htm quote:have unlimited work rights if the primary visa holder has commenced a course towards a masters or doctorate degree and hold a subclass 573 (Higher education sector), 574 (Postgraduate research sector) or 576 (AusAID/Defence sector) student visa. On this page (https://www.immi.gov.au/students/visa-conditions-family.htm) the "40h per fortnight" work limitation condition explicitly excludes dependants of: quote:- Students studying a masters by coursework degree (subclass 573)
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May 13, 2015 09:10
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plasmoduck posted:I'd look more into that. Are you on 573? On the main page it doesn't discriminate coursework vs research. Oh, looks like you're right! I was getting the dependent confused with the visa holder in that case.  Unfortunately I think I was wrong in the first place about being able to add her as a dependent; Immigration is unlikely to recognise it without some sort of legal standing. Tassie actually has a "deed of relationship" thing that would probably work (were planning on doing it for resident visa purposes already), but it requires both parties to be physically present and residing in Tasmania, and IIRC there's still an unofficial ~1year waiting period after that before Immigration takes them seriously, although I could be mis-remembering that too. Still, might be worth trying to switch her over to a dependent visa once she's arrived on a WH and we've got the deed, I guess the worst they can do is say "no".
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May 13, 2015 09:45
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Such a loving ridiculous change. Australia's tourism sector should, by rights, be among the best in the world - just look at this loving country! - and it already faces challenges from extremely high prices and the tyranny of distance. I can't understand why every government just adds fuel to the fire of discouragement for people thinking about holidaying here.
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May 13, 2015 09:52
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freebooter posted:Such a loving ridiculous change. Australia's tourism sector should, by rights, be among the best in the world - just look at this loving country! - and it already faces challenges from extremely high prices and the tyranny of distance. I can't understand why every government just adds fuel to the fire of discouragement for people thinking about holidaying here. Because you can get a lot of political milage out of demonising others, and at their base level, Australians are terrified of other people.
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May 13, 2015 10:25
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Absolute Zero posted:Hey guys. American guy here moving to central QLD later this month (by way of Canada) on a transfer from my employer. You're going to mining and coal seam gas country. It costs that much because all the big companys have bought or leased everything in sight that is a new model single cab or dual cab pickup. Whats your company?
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May 14, 2015 13:08
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Man you're like ages late, lived in Australia over a month a now  . I ended up just paying cash for a Mitsubishi Triton cause they are drat cheap and had everyone I needed.
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May 19, 2015 12:35
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nice to see the auspol crew giving advice.
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Jun 2, 2015 04:43
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I'm looking at going to Australia for vacation for two weeks in the beginning of September. My plan right now is to rent a car in Sydney and spend a week driving to Broken Hill and then to Melbourne. With hiking along the way, mostly Blue Mountains and Grampians and also drive the Great Ocean Road. Then fly from Melbourne to Tasmania and spend a week driving around and doing day hikes. I'm sure I'll have some more specific questions later, but for now, does this seem like a reasonable plan? I'm from the US, so I understand driving long distances; I laid out my route from Sydney to Melbourne and I'll end up driving an average 4 hrs/day, which gives me plenty of time for other stuff. Is there anything in particular that I should be aware of for driving this route? Is early September a decent time of year for this? From what I found the average climate for Sydney is 50 - 70 deg F and for Tasmania is 40 - 60 deg F in September, which is fine with me. However, I'm reading mixed things on how much snow there will be Tasmania at that time. I'm from northern Minnesota, so I'm familiar with cold and snow, and I did hiking vacations in Iceland and Patagonia in their springtime, which was in the 40 - 60 deg F range, and I found it very pleasant. Is Tasmania a snow-locked mess in September, our should I be fine if I can handle some cool weather? Does anyone have any particular suggestions of places to see along my route? I have no interest in cities, so I don't plan to spend anymore time than needed in Sydney or Melbourne. I just want to see cool landscapes and animals.
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Jun 9, 2015 04:10
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jjack229 posted:I'm looking at going to Australia for vacation for two weeks in the beginning of September. I don't think there'll be much if any snow in Tasmania in September, this is my first winter here but as of today the top of Mt. Wellington has barely gotten any. The Midlands (interior part) might have some, I dunno, but I reckon the main roads ought to be fine. If you're from Minnesota you are probably miles ahead of the mainlanders who come down here, I'm especially lookin' at you, Queensland. Aussies make Tasmania out to be Literally Hoth, they're just huge babbies about the cold. Hobart's like... Georgia or something, I don't think it's actually snowed in the city in years. I'm from Florida originally, so hardly hardy Northern stock. I'd be keen to join you literally any other time (haven't been too many places here yet, just have a bicycle at the moment) but I've got a two week practicum in September I've got to be around for. I'd otherwise be free any day but Tuesday, from the looks of next semester's timetable.
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Jun 9, 2015 09:59
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Everything Pompous Rhombus says is correct. Unless you're driving into the mountains you will probably not see any actual snow on the ground, and if there is it'll be so little that you won't have a problem with it at all. What you WILL notice is a problem is that Australians are loving terrible at insulating things, so whereas you're used to Minnesota winters where everything was built for actual cold, you may end up staying in a place where the inside is colder than the outside. Don't be surprised if you end up wearing your winter jacket and stuff indoors. If you want to see landscapes/cool animals, stay off the main highway. I'd probably actually recommend going inland, driving to Canberra, then taking the highway down to Cooma before cutting back across to the coast; along the less busy highways you'll both see more things and also feel a lot less like someone's going to rear end you if you stop by the side of the road to take a picture or two. If I can be honest though, I would suggest splitting your Tasmania time with Kangaroo Island. It has hands down the best landscapes in all of Australia, and quite a few cool animals (PENGUINS!!!!! and the Kangaroo Island penguin tours are WAY better than the ones at Philip Island in Melbourne). I think you'd really enjoy it and it's worth looking up at least to have a look.
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Jun 9, 2015 18:17
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jjack229 posted:Is early September a decent time of year for this? From what I found the average climate for Sydney is 50 - 70 deg F and for Tasmania is 40 - 60 deg F in September, which is fine with me. However, I'm reading mixed things on how much snow there will be Tasmania at that time. I'm from northern Minnesota, so I'm familiar with cold and snow, and I did hiking vacations in Iceland and Patagonia in their springtime, which was in the 40 - 60 deg F range, and I found it very pleasant. Is Tasmania a snow-locked mess in September, our should I be fine if I can handle some cool weather? You will handle snow far better than the Tasmanians, although yes, you may get some up in the mountains. But if you're from Minnesota you probably won't feel remotely cold. I'm not a huge hiker by any means but from what I've heard the best hiking in Tasmania is around the central north-west, the Lake St Clair/Cradle Mountain/Walls of Jerusalem area. I was there on a roadtrip where I sadly had no time for getting very deep into the national parks on foot, but absolutely plan to go back someday, it's some of the most beautiful landscape in Australia. It seemed pretty packed during February, but in September you should be missing the peak. (Although check what the school holidays are - for all Australian states, not just Tas - and see if you can work around them; I think there may be some along the September/October line.)
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Jun 9, 2015 20:24
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Tasmania is beautiful! We went there last year (late April) and did some short day walks around the coast (Cape Huay) and the small alpine trail (Tarn shelf) at Mt Field, but I'd love to go back to do some of the overland track or Mt Eliza (although I'd definitely need to improve my fitness for those...). If you need some hiking inspiration, check out http://tastrails.com. Edit: Generally, it's good to check the conditions on http://www.bom.gov.au. Last year we drove on top of Mt. Wellington (definitely worth for the view) and the winds almost blew our ears off. plasmoduck fucked around with this message at 03:06 on Jun 10, 2015 |
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Jun 10, 2015 02:44
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Tasmania owns but I feel like I've crapped on about it enough in this thread. Go to there. Just do it.
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Jun 10, 2015 03:44
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There may be snow in Tassie in September, just in the alpine areas, as there is often one last big dump around then. Otherwise for the rest of the state, a jumper and/or a light jacket is all you need as a typical day is about 15-16C.
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Jun 10, 2015 04:34
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Awesome. Thanks for all the great information and recommendations. It sounds like September should be good for what I want to do. I'm sure I'll have some more questions once I do some more planning.
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Jun 10, 2015 05:21
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Doctor Cave posted:There may be snow in Tassie in September, just in the alpine areas, as there is often one last big dump around then. Otherwise for the rest of the state, a jumper and/or a light jacket is all you need as a typical day is about 15-16C. Yeah, wanted to update: had a bit of rain and the top of Mt. Wellington was clear this afternoon, noticed a bit of snow at the peak, finally.
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Jun 10, 2015 06:55
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jjack229 posted:Does anyone have any particular suggestions of places to see along my route? I have no interest in cities, so I don't plan to spend anymore time than needed in Sydney or Melbourne. I just want to see cool landscapes and animals. Don't stop at Wilcannia. I'm pretty impressed you're planning to go inland - so many people stick to the coasts. Central and western New South Wales is great, and if you stick to the sealed roads you're nowhere remote enough to be concerned about being stranded in the event of car trouble. That said, a week to drive from Sydney to Melbourne via Broken Hill isn't much. Broken Hill to Melbourne can be done in several ways: Broken Hill to Adelaide, via the Barrier Highway. If you take this route you'll see some great scenery between Broken Hill and Burra. It's mostly flat and desert but it's pretty cool - I like it. From Burra, head south through Clare (wine country) to Adelaide (it's a city but it's not enormous) and check out the Adelaide Hills, Kangaroo Island, and the South East of South Australia around Mt. Gambier before crossing into Victoria and hitting the Grampians from the southern end and then making your way to the western end of the Great Ocean Road. Alternatively, you could head to Adelaide via the Riverland: Broken Hill to Mildura, Mildura to Renmark, and then one of a variety of ways to Adelaide. This route will take you across the Murray River. From Adelaide, follow the above. Otherwise, from Mildura you can ignore South Australia completely (  ) and go south to Ouyen, Warracknabeal (hometown of one of the greats of Australian music, Nick Cave) and get to Horsham, which is one of the larger towns near the Grampians. Check those out for a while and then I thoroughly recommend following the road to Hamilton (there are great views of the mountains) and for dinner in the iconic Royal Mail Hotel. The chef has moved to another place, but conveniently if you follow the Great Ocean Road from near Warrnambool (south of Hamilton) and care enough about eating some seriously epic food then it's relatively easy to get to his new restaurant from Lorne.Have fun!
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Jun 10, 2015 09:08
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I once drove from Rockhampton to Adelaide and Broken Hill was absolutely my highlight. I drove via Toowoomba, Narrabri then to BH then to ADL. Broken Hill owns man, it's so interesting. I agree, if you can avoid Wilcannia please do, it's scary I stopped there for fuel and left wishing I hadn't, it gave me the utter creeps. Drive to Silverton from BH (it's not far at all) so you can see some Mad Max poo poo. It's beautiful. If you don't drive from Adelaide to Melbourne via the Great Ocean Road you're an idiot because it's the most spectacular thing ever 
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Jun 10, 2015 17:03
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What's the deal with Wilcannia?
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Jun 11, 2015 12:13
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Hey i was wondering if anyone knew the best way for me, someone with no experience but who is athletic, to play aussie rules?
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Jun 12, 2015 00:51
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Sneaky Fast posted:Hey i was wondering if anyone knew the best way for me, someone with no experience but who is athletic, to play aussie rules? Join a local club? There's an AFL thread you can check out: http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3703031
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Jun 12, 2015 03:10
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Octy posted:What's the deal with Wilcannia? I drove Perth - Brisbane and I remember this poo poo hole. Literal bars on every single window and loving no one when we (my dad and I) drove through the town. We were going to stop there over night (IIRC it's between Broken Hill and Cobar?), but decided gently caress it and drove to Cobar (like another couple of hours). Pro tip for anyone: don't drive Perth to Brisbane in 3 days. I drove Brisbane to Perth in 4 and it was a lot more comfortable.
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Jun 14, 2015 11:05
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Wilcannia has pretty bad poverty issues from memory.
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Jun 14, 2015 11:51
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Lizard Combatant posted:Wilcannia has pretty bad poverty issues from memory. Back in the day, Aboriginal people from a large variety of different tribal groups were dumped there because no one gave a poo poo that they did not speak the same language/s or have anything at all in common. The problems stemming from this total clusterfuck still continue today. Poverty, violence, substance abuse are all huge problems in Wilcannia. There are signs on the fuel pumps reminding you to lock your vehicle's fuel cap carefully and secure external fuel supplies before leaving your vehicle. It's really sad. Also the groce white guy behind the counter in the servo stared at my tits so hard I thought he was actually going to drool from his slavering maw.
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Jun 14, 2015 19:21
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Yikes. What a creep
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Jun 15, 2015 03:10
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jjack229 posted:Awesome. Thanks for all the great information and recommendations. Does anyone have suggestions for car rentals from Sydney to Melbourne (and also within Tasmania)? Any particular companies that are good or bad? Anything to watch out for (I know I need to look out for restricted mileage)? So far EastCoast and Europcar seem to have the best prices. Below is my itinerary so far for the mainland portion of my trip (distance and times from Google Maps). If anyone has any recommendations on routes to take or things to see along the way, I'd be interested. Day 1 - Sydney to Blackheath 125 km, 2 hr Hike in the Blue Mountains Day 2 - Blackheath Hike in the Blue Mountains Day 3 - Blackheath to Cobar 600 km, 6.5 hr Day 4 - Cobar to Broken Hill 460 km, 4.5 hr Possibly short hike in Mount Grenfall Historic Site and/or Mutawintji National Park See Silverton Day 5 - Broken Hill to Halls Gap 680 km, 8 hr Hike in Grampians Day 6 - Halls Gap to Nirranda 200 km, 2.5 hr Hike in Grampians Day 7 - Nirranda to Melbourne 325 km, 5 hr Drive the Great Ocean Road Short hike in Great Otway National Park 
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Jun 16, 2015 03:04
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vroomvroomvroom.com.au is what I always use to get the best price. Also it works the same in the USA but be aware that excess reduction will be a lot more expensive (included excess is around $2500-$3000, depending on the company). Also you're generally not covered on unpaved roads. I THINK you might be ok since all the roads you're going to be on lead to actual places and not just the middle of nowhere, but just be aware of that if you start driving in the dirt. Also every day that you want to spend in a National Park will cost you $27 so be aware of that. HookShot fucked around with this message at 05:12 on Jun 16, 2015 |
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Jun 16, 2015 05:09
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I don't think Google maps takes into account time you should spend having breaks. You should spend 10 minutes every two hours stopped and go for a small walk or do some stretches or something.
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Jun 16, 2015 09:20
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jjack229 posted:Does anyone have suggestions for car rentals from Sydney to Melbourne (and also within Tasmania)? Any particular companies that are good or bad? Anything to watch out for (I know I need to look out for restricted mileage)? So far EastCoast and Europcar seem to have the best prices. Roos, wallabies, wombats, etc (especially around dusk/at night). I did a 100km loop on my bicycle from Hobart down to Cygnet/Huonville and probably spotted ~25-30 dead wallabies that had been struck by cars. A decent-sized wallaby can seriously mess up a car, a full-sized kangaroo can do deer levels of damage. In Hobart at least, if you want a manual you'll probably get stuck with an auto. I think that's pretty standard countrywide though, most companies are phasing them out of their fleets.
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Jun 16, 2015 09:32
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I saw a big fuzzy wombat with its head flattened. Even though it's only 2 seconds, I am still horrified. Any particular reason for driving between the 2 cities? Driving is extremely fun, it's just that renting locally might be a tad more cost effective.
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Jun 16, 2015 10:28
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Frogmanv2 posted:I don't think Google maps takes into account time you should spend having breaks. You should spend 10 minutes every two hours stopped and go for a small walk or do some stretches or something. Yeah but Google Maps also doesn't factor in the fact that you can do like 160 along a lot of those roads without breaking a sweat. But yeah, what Pompous Rhombus said. Dawn as well is a big time for them to be all on the road. I always find it sad to drive past the bodies of dead animals
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Jun 16, 2015 19:54
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