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December 18, 2003

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They want me back

Apparently Australia is already begging for us to come back.

As more and more of our best and brightest leave to work or study overseas, Australia must reach out to them and encourage their eventual return, a new report urges. Permanent departures of the Australian-born have jumped by 146 per cent since the early 1990s, with Britain, the US and New Zealand the most popular destinations.

Nearly one million are living and working overseas - about 4.3 per cent of the national population.

...

The report canvasses a number of measures, including setting up a register of expatriates to maintain contact while they are overseas, and tax breaks so they won't be disadvantaged on their return.

Those working abroad still had a strong attachment to the homeland, however, with more than 80 per cent calling Australia home and half intending to return some day, the report found.

Aussies are great travellers, but having 4.3% of the population overseas is larger than I expected. I can't think of too many countries that would go close to that figure, even in Europe. Of course most Aussie expats will return one day. The lifestyle is unbeatable. When we were in Sydney I lived 20 minutes drive from work (in peak hour) and a 10 minute walk to Bondi Beach. In summer I could finish work and still get an hour of beach time in, before having a dinner on the grass looking out over it all. It is truly the lucky country. Most people work overseas because Australia is small and yet it produces some of the best talent in the world. And real estate is horrendously expensive so it can be a good way to build up some money for the eventual return. But many of the expat Aussies I know (and indeed many expat Brits and Yanks too) realise that sometime in the future they will face a choice between career/wealth and lifestyle; and more often than not, if it comes down on the lifestyle side, Australia is the destination.

Now if they just could get the income tax rate down from 48.5% to somewhere closer to Hong Kong's 16% we might be in business.

 posted by Simon on 12.18.03 at 01:21 PM in the




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Comments:

... Portugal. The most western country in Europe. Don´t know the actual figure but we all go expat, at some point. Good blog. MSD.
P. S. - everyday stranger helen sent me... and yes, I will vote.

 posted by: msd on 12.18.03 at 05:58 PM [permalink]




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