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Pinny

Aussie Speedway Season

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Just dropped my eldest at Heathrow ,he's travelling up the east coast with a mate who's already out there and has just got approval to stay and work for a second year.apparently he doesn't think there's any chance he will be allowed to stay after that.my sons going to suss out if he would have a better quality of life if he moved over there.hes a gas engineer which apparently gives him a good chance of being accepted.whats not to like about this country anymore!!!!!!!!

 

Btw he asked me to go with him but I have a pathological fear of snakes bordering on the ridiculous so no chance!!!!!!

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Is batchelor competing? Rumour that he's had a motocross accident!!?

Confirmed that Batchelor is out. Badly broken arm in recreational MX accident. Will not interfere with his British league commitments, but will see him out of the gp qualifiers for 2016. The first step for Australian riders being the Aussie title in early January.

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Go to Australia and try to get a work permit.

Australian visa requirements are fairly straight forward imo. Foreign workers can be sponsored by a business, employer or State government agency for specific skills which meet a need in the Australian economy. Alternatively they can apply under independent visa requirements, same conditions without a sponsor. There is a 457 visa which enables foreigners long term employment(4 years) with a view to permanent residency. There is some debate about misuse of 457 visas. I dont think they are popular with Aussie workers.

 

A 421 visa is for sports people (none of the complicated tier requirements like in the UK). You can train, compete, manage or judge in your chosen sport.

There are no other qualifying requirements, however i dont know if particular Australian sporting groups set certain skill levels. No specific skill requirements or qualification for speedway riders.

 

The debate in Australia, as is the case in many nations, is about refugees, illegal arrivals and others trying to circumvent the process.

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Just dropped my eldest at Heathrow ,he's travelling up the east coast with a mate who's already out there and has just got approval to stay and work for a second year.apparently he doesn't think there's any chance he will be allowed to stay after that.my sons going to suss out if he would have a better quality of life if he moved over there.hes a gas engineer which apparently gives him a good chance of being accepted.whats not to like about this country anymore!!!!!!!!

 

Btw he asked me to go with him but I have a pathological fear of snakes bordering on the ridiculous so no chance!!!!!!

Your boy wants to get searching for a company who will sponsor him then, if hes any good at his job then it wont be a problem.

 

The construction industry here is booming, and brits , at least in melbourne and sydney, are welcomed by construction bosses with open arms. The typical aussie is nothing but a whinging lazy waste of space (that coming from many older aussie guys who i or mates have worked for).

 

The irish in particular are always welcomed on sites as they work like animals, although they come with a bit of baggage.

 

I know my boss (im a concrete formwork and shuttering carpenter) loves us brits and europeans.

 

Anyone who says getting in here is easy though is wrong. Its a very complicated, time consuming and expensive process!

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Your boy wants to get searching for a company who will sponsor him then, if hes any good at his job then it wont be a problem.

 

The construction industry here is booming, and brits , at least in melbourne and sydney, are welcomed by construction bosses with open arms. The typical aussie is nothing but a whinging lazy waste of space (that coming from many older aussie guys who i or mates have worked for).

 

The irish in particular are always welcomed on sites as they work like animals, although they come with a bit of baggage.

 

I know my boss (im a concrete formwork and shuttering carpenter) loves us brits and europeans.

 

Anyone who says getting in here is easy though is wrong. Its a very complicated, time consuming and expensive process!

There is, ordinary short term and working visas available, which most young Brits would have no problem acquiring. Short term because we know most will return home when they have finished working here. Unless of course, they like Aussies so much, they decide to stay. Those ones can become Australian citizens.

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Yes there is the working holiday visa you get for a year, and if you complete three months of regional work during that time your entitled to apply for a second year.

 

Not many come on those visas here and end up staying legally though , i was lucky. So many friends ive made here have had to return home due to not finding a boss willing to sponsor or, even more commonly, being led on for ages by their boss with promises of a sponsorship visa, only to be let down last minute.

 

Im going through sponsorship now, its a lot of hassle let me tell you.

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There are "programs" going on, or at least were, where you apply and if approved, you are set for maybe a year to live and work in Australia. The "program" has sorted all the red tape, you just need to pay the flights or similar. Never applied myself (it was for a certain age group) but some friends of friends have and then come back after three weeks of lamb manure... LOL

Kilroy travels

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With 4 qualis and 4 finals thats 8? tracks. How many of them had/will have an APD installed for the Aussie title racing?

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There is, ordinary short term and working visas available, which most young Brits would have no problem acquiring.

As Pinny says, it's not that straightforward to get a visa beyond the working holiday thing. You either need a sponsor and/or need to be in an approved occupation plus have all sorts of qualifications.

 

With respect to the sports visa, there's far fewer opportunities for professional employment in Australia than the UK, whether speedway or otherwise. You could probably make a full-time living in English football down to the 7th to 8th tier, whereas there's really only about 40 full-time professional teams across all sports in Australia.

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In fairness with my visa - they didnt ask for qualifications just proof of expierience of at least 3 years in the trade.

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My interest in speedway stems from my father and uncle racing what we called TQs (Three Quarter Midgets), which in those days shared the track and the pits with the bikes and sidecars. The only common ground being TQs ran motorcycle engines 500 cc. I grew to like the bikes better, and have been an avid supporter ever since. I work for a social research company and i am fortunate to talk to many people from all sorts of backgrounds, and so hear their opinions about many different issues.

 

Even though i have not seen a live speedway meeting outside of Australia, as an Australian speedway supporter i am well aware of the importance of the British leagues in the professional careers of Australian riders. It is still seen in Australia as a privilege for riders to be accepted to ride in Britain. There remains a strong link between British and Australian speedway, and a relationship in which Australia remains the lesser contributor.

 

On this site there is always a lot of talk about the sad state of British speedway, (that i read with interest), which has to be alarming for any true speedway supporter, Australian or otherwise. Naturally it is even more alarming to Aussie supporters, if access to the British leagues was made more difficult for Australian riders.

 

Not necessarily from any selfish point, but simply because the fate of professional riders and speedway in Australia is so closely linked to the ongoing success of British speedway. I know Britain is trying to increase the depth and quality of their riders (among other things).

So are the visa/points criteria placed on international riders aimed at aiding this outcome for British speedway?

 

Imo, British speedway holds a unique position in world speedway with it's preparedness to give young international riders an opportunity to ride professionally; far more than the other major leagues in Poland, Sweden or Denmark. For me that adds to the interest and strength of British speedway, or is it in fact seen as a negative in Britain?

 

Hope that clears a few things, and explains my slant on questioning the visa qualifications stipulated by your immigration bureau.

 

No offence meant.

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Not necessarily from any selfish point, but simply because the fate of professional riders and speedway in Australia is so closely linked to the ongoing success of British speedway. I know Britain is trying to increase the depth and quality of their riders (among other things).

So are the visa/points criteria placed on international riders aimed at aiding this outcome for British speedway?

The bottom line is that the rise of anti-immigration sentiment in the UK means that every industry sector has come under scrutiny from a government that has promised to cut the number of immigrants. Speedway is of course very small beer in terms of the handful of professional riders involved, but it also has little case to be exempted either as it has virtually no impact on the national economy in the way (say) the English Premier League does. If an Australian rider is depriving a British rider of employment, then it's arguably no different than if they were a chef or car mechanic.

 

Added to this, the BSPA (or at least some members of it) were for years abusing the existing immigration rules for speedway riders, which is what led to the clampdown earlier in the year. I doubt the BSPA think far enough ahead to consider the state of the developing rider pool, and I suspect would generally prefer to have a free-for-all rather than a restricted choice of riders, so I'm sure the immigration rules for speedway are largely determined by the responsible government department.

 

I think we all understand the historic importance of Australian riders in British speedway, but I think the regulations are already quite generous for Australians compared to other countries in the sense of allowing qualification through state titles, some of which are little more than glorified open meetings.

 

Personally I'd like to see total freedom of movement between the UK and Australia (and New Zealand) for qualified citizens, but it's not going to happen in the current climate. Brits also get no real special privileges over anyone else in terms of Australian work permits, notwithstanding very part-time speedway participation, so it's a two-way thing.

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The bottom line is that the rise of anti-immigration sentiment in the UK means that every industry sector has come under scrutiny from a government that has promised to cut the number of immigrants. Speedway is of course very small beer in terms of the handful of professional riders involved, but it also has little case to be exempted either as it has virtually no impact on the national economy in the way (say) the English Premier League does. If an Australian rider is depriving a British rider of employment, then it's arguably no different than if they were a chef or car mechanic.

 

Added to this, the BSPA (or at least some members of it) were for years abusing the existing immigration rules for speedway riders, which is what led to the clampdown earlier in the year. I doubt the BSPA think far enough ahead to consider the state of the developing rider pool, and I suspect would generally prefer to have a free-for-all rather than a restricted choice of riders, so I'm sure the immigration rules for speedway are largely determined by the responsible government department.

 

I think we all understand the historic importance of Australian riders in British speedway, but I think the regulations are already quite generous for Australians compared to other countries in the sense of allowing qualification through state titles, some of which are little more than glorified open meetings.

 

Personally I'd like to see total freedom of movement between the UK and Australia (and New Zealand) for qualified citizens, but it's not going to happen in the current climate. Brits also get no real special privileges over anyone else in terms of Australian work permits, notwithstanding very part-time speedway participation, so it's a two-way thing.

Yes, there are similar sentiments here regarding immigration and certain visas being used in a manner for which they were not intended.

So i understand the clamp down, and if i were honest it probably has not had a great effect on most speedway riders (yet). But there is a possibility this could have a big impact on those riders and British league racing in the future.

 

Once again, thank you HA for your response, clear and informative, however it seems Brits are still looked on quite favorably in the immigration application process in this country as well, which is a good thing, and a situation that would not draw much argument from Aussies at the moment. But we are far removed from what is going on elsewhere.

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It seems to me, the Aussies biggest concern is the amount of Chinese coming in. As well as vietnamese, koreans, etc.

 

Although most developers who our company work for are owned by asians, so in a sense the aussies have them to thank for the boom in construction work (in Melbourne at least).

 

Their buying deserted land everywhere here and building six-twelve storey high apartment blocks.

 

If it wasnt for them, we wouldnt have half as much work as we have on at the moment.

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It seems to me, the Aussies biggest concern is the amount of Chinese coming in. As well as vietnamese, koreans, etc.

 

Although most developers who our company work for are owned by asians, so in a sense the aussies have them to thank for the boom in construction work (in Melbourne at least).

 

Their buying deserted land everywhere here and building six-twelve storey high apartment blocks.

 

If it wasnt for them, we wouldnt have half as much work as we have on at the moment.

It isn't Asian immigration that is the problem, for the most part Asians have assimilated quietly into Australia, bringing with them different cuisine, new festive and cultural occassions, a strong work ethic and a different approach to family that have all contributed to enhance Australian society.

So long as the Chinese developers are not abusing the visa system, by flooding our workplaces with cheap foreign labour, then Chinese investment is a good short term boost for our economy.

 

However we have to be careful in the long term about the amount of foreign ownership we allow. Look what Chinese investment and ownership has done to the mining sector in this country. Imo, Iron ore and coal prices have crashed, because they can now dictate through ownership of the process, the demand, and therefore the price.

 

There are strong government regulations in place to control both foreign investment and ownership in Australia, and i know they have had trouble following the money trail to determine ownership, and where the money is comming from, as corruption is still a problem in Communist China.

So i hope Australian finance and government agencies continue to regulate/legislate the situation where necessary to get on top of it. We don't want to sell the wheels off the train, so to speak.

 

Good luck to you Pinny and hope you continue to get droves of work. Maybe next time with an Australian developer.

 

Anyway, i am way off subject here and looking forward to more discussion about the current Australian speedway season.

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