When Australian officials launched a humorous effort to “steal” 31,000 British physicians, police officers, and teachers, modern-day “Ten Pound Poms” have opened up about their varied experiences living there.
With higher pay and an idyllic lifestyle, the Western Australian government claims that hard-working Britons may “have it all.” Yet, today some travelers warned that living in Oz “isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.”
A sex trainer from Glastonbury named Mangala Holland relocated to Melbourne in 2015. Although she enjoyed the “easy way of life” and made many friends, she told MailOnline that after five years she decided to return to the UK since it never felt like “home.”
She missed many aspects of living in the old country, especially the ‘cosy, attractive’ neighborhood pubs and the nation’s lush and pleasant surroundings.
Others cautioned against traveling to Australia due to its harsh weather, exorbitant rentals, high costs, and habitual inclination of its drivers to “crawl all over your bumper the minute you get on the road.”
Cassie Lansdell, a Love Island Australia contestant, was born in London and has lived in Sydney for more than five years.
She originally planned to stay for a year, but she ended up staying permanently because she loved it here.
The influencer frequently posts images of her luxurious lifestyle, including beach sunbathing and dining out in Sydney.
Ms. Lansdell claimed that she signed up for Love Island because she admires Aussies and wanted to meet some of them.
I’ve reached the point where I kind of get sick of going out every weekend to party. I want to find someone to settle down with, so that’s why,” she told Who Magazine.
Ritchie Neville, a member of the boy band Five, resides in Australia as well.
He routinely posts selfies of his sunny escapades and has expressed how much he “loves” Australia’s breathtaking natural beauty.
From a village in south-east England, Ben and Maz—better known on YouTube as The BAM Famalam—moved to Australia.
While they frequently expressed their love for the nation, they also mentioned a number of negative aspects, such as the harsh weather, exorbitant rentals, and expensive grocery prices.
Mangala Holland, a fellow Brit who is known as a “international orgasm expert” and who teaches women sexual confidence online, made Melbourne her home in 2015 after spending several years traveling.
She told MailOnline, “I felt it was amazing and I’d be able to live there as soon as I moved there.
With so much room and expansive skies, life is pretty simple. Many workers finish at 3pm on Fridays in order to enjoy the weekend.
I was able to work on my business while also pursuing my education because I was on a student visa. They have a strong sense of initiative.
“I was pretty happy there for a while, and I developed a really strong network of friends.”
The 50-year-old described Melbourne’s summers as “wonderful,” but said that the city’s winters were much harder.
“No one truly knows that a winter in Melbourne is as awful as a winter in England.” Also, the homes lack central heating and double glazing, making them poorly constructed.
When it’s 37C outside at Christmas, there are plastic snowmen. Also, it is spring in October—the month of my birthday—which felt quite weird.
A trip back to England in 2018, according to Ms. Holland, “laid a seed” that perhaps it was time to go back.
It’s difficult to describe what it’s like to be back on English soil and in this society.
There is a sense of belonging here that I hadn’t experienced over there, plus it’s so green here. Australia has many beautiful locations, yet it feels extremely different overall.
I don’t drink much, but the pubs seemed a little lifeless.
These are large, grey-painted structures filled with slot machines, bit screens, and drive-through restaurants.
I missed the cozy English charm and how central they are to the neighborhood.
In March 2020, Mr. Holland made an attempt to leave the UK, but Covid postponed her plans by six months.
She claimed that her decision to go back was partly influenced by her family and friends.
“My parents were becoming older, so it was obvious that it would take two days and a few thousand dollars to travel back if anything happened to my mom and dad.
There is also something special about long-time friends and acquaintances.
I cherished my Australian friends, but I often struggled to understand their discussions of their early years and cultural allusions.
Even though I felt really welcome there, it never felt like home.
For Britons who have emigrated to Australia, there is a sizable online community that includes a number of forums where people may discuss their experiences.
One member called her experience a “horror” and “the biggest mistake of my life” in the “Poms in Aus” thread.
She explained that she and her Australian husband had been living in Sydney, close to the Blue Mountains, for eight months and that the city was “overpriced and overdone.”
The “unreliable” weather and aggressive drivers who “crawl all over your bumper the minute you arrive on the road” were two other complaints she made.
Life in Oz “isn’t all it’s chalked up to be,” as one poster on another site cautioned.
Later this month, a group of government and industry executives will travel to the UK in an effort to recruit workers to fill more than 31,000 openings, paying homage to the post-secondary Ten Pound Poms program.
They are also looking for plumbers, mechanics, builders, and miners.
– up to £2,600 this year – will be almost half as expensive in Australia. With the money saved, one could buy 500 jars of Marmite, 110 roast meals, or 183 pints of beer.
Paul Papalia, minister of police and defense, also emphasized Western Australia’s “wine areas,” “coral reefs,” and “culinary scene.”
Our salaries are higher, and our cost of living is cheaper, he declared. Our healthcare system is first-rate. You’ll be looked after.
Several of our ancestors were transported as prisoners from the UK to Australia. Now, failing to act would be criminal.
But the proposal has raised questions because of the staffing crisis in the UK’s public sector.
‘Any country is undoubtedly able to import health care personnel – as we do in the UK from elsewhere – but there’s nothing to indicate our people have to go,’ said Steve Brine MP, head of the Commons health and social care select committee.
Paul Bristow, a Tory MP and another committee member, called the Australians’ use of the word “steal” “unfortunate,” adding, “We need to show them the advantages of working in the UK to help them stay.”
It demonstrates the need for us to step up efforts to find new nurses and doctors as well as highlight the advantages of pursuing a career in the UK.
The Police Federation’s national chairman, Steve Hartshorn, stated: “In this moment of crisis, we need every officer we have.”
“The impact of these experienced and trained officers leaving will also influence the ability of those younger to the service to grow and develop, and to offer the greatest service possible to the public,” the speaker continued.
The Federation issued a warning because as many as nine police officers a day are already submitting requests to join a force overseas.
The initiative, according to Robin Walker, MP, the chair of the education select committee, shows that the United States is “competing” with the rest of the world.
The best way to address this is by making it appealing to stay, he said, adding that it is obvious that we should be concerned about the loss of any good teachers trained in the English system.
The British public sector is currently experiencing acute staff shortages and debilitating strikes.
The NHS is struggling with a shortage of more than 50,000 nurses and midwives and 12,000 hospital doctors.
Before Christmas, the British Medical Association reported that a third of junior physicians intended to leave the UK, with the majority choosing to relocate to Australia or New Zealand.
The NHS is “perilously exposed to these kinds of techniques from other countries at a time when doctors and healthcare personnel are in critical need across the globe,” according to Professor Phil Banfield, chair of the British Medical Association council.
In May 2022 alone, 900 doctors will move to Australia to practice, according to Dr. Billy Palmer, Senior Fellow at the Nuffield Trust, who warned that there is a “risk it will escalate further.”
It’s understandable that NHS employees might be enticed to leave for a health system that pays better, according to Rachel Harrison, national secretary of the GMB.
“The UK Government has allowed NHS staff’ wages to lag, which is a significant contributor to the record 133,000 job openings and unmet performance standards in the health service.”
“Ministers need to talk pay immediately if they want to keep the biggest asset of the health service—the staff.”
The majority of doctors and nurses with UK training, according to the Department of Health, are employed by the NHS.
The team will organize events and go to job fairs in London, Edinburgh, Bristol, and Dublin after arriving on February 25 in an effort to promote the Australian way of life to workers in the UK and Ireland.
‘The culinary scene is world class, the tiny bars are plentiful, we have pubs and live music and theatre of all kinds,’ the new advertising campaign promises.
It even bragged that the trade agreement between the UK and Australia, which takes effect this year, will make workers transferring even simpler.
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