Greg

One of the dearest suburbs in perth. 4 bed $1.5 million plus. But accordingly very nice

I can assure you I have known a few.

The bit bit that always gets forgotten is when you buy a home one day you will pay off the loan and the debt is fixed in time, rent never ends and continues to rise.

Have to take issue with you on two points, firstly the last mine site I was on was mothballed overnight, having spent billions of Chinese money developing ready for full scale production. Nothing to do with overstaffing, which incidentally I didn't see much evidence of on the 5 projects I worked on, but I am mostly talking about mining infrastructure, not operations. Secondly, I earned good money, but didn't save much, part of that was down to arriving in 2008, the height of the boom and paying top dollar for everything, so there was never much of an opportunity to put money away, as for the newer arrivals you needed that money to live and get re established. Probably a different story for those who moved over pre boom, $3 to £1 and cheap houses etc?

Hi Neil. from the table below, up to last year population growth had diminished to almost flat, I wouldn't be surprised if 2015 goes into negative territory.

Whilst living in Perth and having property I was always worried what would happen to my biggest investment when the trend of the 1000 people a week arriving would stop, or even reverse as the mining boom inevitably slowed. That trend had begun in the mid 2000's and continued until a year or two ago. Given that property price is generally driven by demand plus a little bit of hype, with the hype having turned to negativity and the supply well exceeding demand it can only go one way, in my opinion. Add to that Perth is extremely isolated it puts it in an even more vulnerable position. You only had to look at how poor Perth was prior to the boom, the evidence was all around to observe, and the exponential increase in property value over the last ten years to see there has to be a massive correction. I miss Perth, miss my house, but don't miss the economic vulnerability and employment insecurity I felt during my six years living there, and having become very reliant on the resources sector for my livelihood.

OZ is on a slowdown. Construction, as in mining infrastructure (NPI), is all but dead (this is where the boom was), housing is booming but very market reactive, commercial is a bit quiet. The big metro projects people refer to are not that big (collectively), in the scheme of things when you are taking it into context of a city of over 2 million people. I left for the UK in early Feb, I was very apprehensive about the future, not necessarily fearing unemployment, but the downward pressure on wages / packages and greater competition. Perth isn't cheap and most people cant survive very long away from the treadmill. In my network I know an awful lot of established high level people "seeking new opportunities" many of whom are now entering 3 - 4 months of unemployment. None of that means you won't find a job, it just isn't what it was by any stretch of the imagination.

Don't rely on fifo, there are far more experienced people in the labour market than positions available, as a consequence site allowances (pay uplifts) are being diminished and rosters far less family friendly , commonly 3 on 1 off for white collar and 4 on 1 off for blue collar. When the money and rosters were good it was at least justifiable, it really shouldn't be first choice for a family person, it is very disruptive and destructive to family life.

Have you been opening my mail again?

As six years in I'm still suffering PTSD I have to be in a very stable state of mind before allowing myself a trip down memory lane. Freo does remind me of my beloved Southampton, if I had about another couple of million I could afford to live there and probably wouldn't feel so far from civilisation as I know it.

Always ate those things back home, but my life has changed since the discovery of party pies, all the major food groups in one mouth Sized parcel, meat, gravy and pastry. Have to say I had never had eggs benndict with salmon, which is a firm brekky favourite now.

Tripple j isn't really a Perth radio, it's syndicated nationally with a time delay. There are some broadcasts from the perth studio. The presenters make me cringe, but they all do. It's the best place for new Aussie music and some of that genre blows me away, they also support a lot of fledgling bands. For me, triple j when I want to be kept upto date, 96.1 when I want something more rocky, 6pr for sports an general local talkbac. Probably listen to talk radio the most. Abc national is a great listen, very much in the vein of NBC radio4 but it isn't a perth station,so doesn't really qualify.

Its a serious business Pea, but, taking the positives, you can have the butt you always dreamed of...

Nothing works on the " dunnie adder " anyway, as they spend a lot of time in the water, only seeing daylight once in a while, you never see them, just when your settling down with the newspaper ... Wham... Too late, rarely fatal but can result in amputations.

The resounding favourite of indigenous folk up north I believe

Hi Rob, you can get most ales here, a couple of pubs even have them on draft. As for Aussie beers, I get through a fair bit of Boags, I also like Hahn premium full strength, which isn't always easy to find

Elfie, this isn't a dating site!

NOR - I'd look at Cottesloe, Nedlands, Subiaco, Osbourne Park, Leederville, Mt Lawley, Maylands, Bayswater. But then I like being close to the city, and places with the old suburb feel. So will I if win lotto

Indeed it is, home invasion is when they break in and while you are there and normally associated with violence.

Nearly six years and still have no Great affection for Perth / WA at all, never got beyond tollerating it. Why am I still here, children's educational commitments, the crippling cost of a second big move, the opportunity to earn good money ( at a high personal cost) and the Missus likes it. Plus the gfc hit blighty hard just after we departed which seems to have permanently changed the UK landscape

Me, I guess the original poster also. I would assume tens of thousands of others, but thanks for sharing your considered view.

It was probably the wrong choice of destination if you were looking for wide open spaces and good weather.

On a serious note, if they are all here sunning themselves, who is working in the mills and manning the pits. Action needs to be taken before the wool and coal industries fall I not decline!

Carlton mid, Four n twenty pie & chips, cos I, as always, will be there! Freeeeeeeoooooo

Having political discussion on this forum is the best way for us all to fall out. In my humble opinion:frown: