Australia invites 16m Britons to work ‘down under’ after extending working holiday visa age limit to 35

Published

12 months ago

June 30, 2023

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Millions of Britons are being given a chance to work down under after Australia extended its working holiday visa age limit.

A long-awaited amendment coming into force on Saturday, 1 July, will see the work visa offered to people aged 18-35 – a five-year increase on the original limit of 30.

It is the first change to the visa since it was introduced in 1975, under the UK-Australia Free Trade Agreement (UKFTA).

Further changes to the working holiday visa are expected exactly one year later on 1 July, 2024, when Britons will be able to apply to live and work in Australia for up to three years without any specified work requirements.

The offer is likely to be considered by many young people living in the UK – as new research reveals how 45% of 25 to 34-year-olds regret not taking a gap year when they had the chance.

The data, published by Tourism Australia, the nation’s tourist board, also found that almost one in 10 people surveyed believed they were too old to start again.

Some 43% of people aged 25 to 34 are considering working abroad in the hope of advancing their careers, the figures revealed.

The offer could prove tempting as it emerged the UK jobs market had more candidates going for fewer jobs last month – with wages stagnant and redundancies rising.

A survey of 400 recruitment and employment consultancies said May saw the biggest spike in jobseekers for the past two-and-a-half years.

Australia, which basks in 2,800 hours of sunshine every year, is an attractive option thanks to having a higher minimum wage than the UK, together with one of the lowest unemployment rates in almost 50 years.

Tourism Australia’s regional general manager for UK & Northern Europe, Sally Cope, said the five-year extension would “present a world of openings to young professionals”, as well as an “incredible lifestyle”, with Australia “ready to welcome them”.

In January, Australia announced a review of its entire visa and immigration system after the COVID pandemic left the nation grappling with a shortage of workers.

Meanwhile in the UK, visa rules in the UK were amended last October to allow farmers to hire foreign poultry workers ahead of Christmas turkey rush.

The president of the National Farmers’ Union told Sky News that Brexit and the loss of freedom of movement have contributed to a higher cost for the EU’s seasonal workers.

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UK

Beaming Kate returns to royal events at Trooping the Colour – her first public appearance since cancer diagnosis

Published

9 hours ago

June 15, 2024

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Beaming Kate returns to royal events at Trooping the Colour - her first public appearance since cancer diagnosis

The Princess of Wales joined the Royal Family on the balcony of Buckingham Palace for the Trooping the Colour flypast – after making her first public appearance since the announcement of her cancer diagnosis.

Kate, 42, wearing a pale outfit, was earlier pictured arriving at Buckingham Palace in a car sat alongside her children and her husband the Prince of Wales ahead of the event to celebrate the King’s official birthday.

The princess, who has been receiving treatment for an undisclosed form of cancer since late February, and her three children Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis, were cheered by crowds along The Mall as they left the palace in a carriage for the ceremony.

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The future queen looked relaxed as she travelled along one of London’s most famous thoroughfares with her family in a carriage.

She could be seen smiling and talking to her children in the carriage before they arrived at Horse Guards Parade in Whitehall.

William rode on horseback for the procession, alongside the Princess Royal, and the Duke of Edinburgh.

The King, who is also undergoing cancer treatment, rode in a carriage with the Queen, a departure from last year because of his illness, and inspected the officers and guardsmen from the coach rather than from a horse.

When the royal carriages finally came to a stop, Louis was the first to leave, followed by his elder brother George, and sister Charlotte.

Finally, Kate stepped down wearing a Jenny Packham dress, hat by Philip Treacy, and the Irish Guards Regimental Brooch, as she is the regiment’s colonel.

In another change from last year, Kate did not join senior family members on a dais, but watched the military spectacle – also known as the Birthday Parade – from a balcony in the Duke of Wellington’s former office with her children.

Prince Louis, six, at one point seemed to be distracted by a blind cord and was seen yawning while watching the parade before dancing along during the quick march of the Scots Guards to Highland Laddie.

Heavy rain began to fall as the royal procession made its way back to Buckingham Palace but the King and Queen, as well as Kate and her children, were protected from the downpour in their covered carriage.

Princess Charlotte, nine, smiled and waved enthusiastically to the crowds who braved the weather, while her brothers also smiled and waved to the sea of umbrellas along The Mall.

A 41-gun salute was then fired by the King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery in nearby Green Park before Kate and her family joined the King and Queen, as well as other royals, on the Buckingham Palace balcony to watch the RAF flypast.

They smiled and waved to the cheering crowds before standing proudly as the national anthem was played, with the flypast ending with the Red Arrows trailing their trademark red, white and blue colours.

Ahead of the event, Kate said: “I’m looking forward to attending the King’s Birthday Parade this weekend with my family and hope to join a few public engagements over the summer, but equally knowing I am not out of the woods yet.

“I am learning how to be patient, especially with uncertainty.

“Taking each day as it comes, listening to my body, and allowing myself to take this much needed time to heal.”

Her appearance was in doubt after she missed the final Trooping rehearsal last weekend.

This is Kate’s first official outing of 2024 after she missed engagements at the start of the year when she was admitted to hospital for abdominal treatment.

At the time her condition was thought to be non-cancerous, but tests after the successful operation found the disease, and Kate disclosed the diagnosis in March.

A time frame has not yet been set for Kate’s return to a full schedule of public engagements.

UK

General election: Voters annoyed at government’s broken promises, admits minister

Published

9 hours ago

June 15, 2024

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General election: Voters annoyed at government's broken promises, admits minister

People are “really annoyed” the government has not always kept its promises, a Tory minister has said as he acknowledged the election was “tough” after 14 years in power.

Speaking to Sky News Johnny Mercer admitted the campaign had been “up and down”, but insisted the polls showing the party lagging behind were not reflected on the doorstep.

He warned voters against giving Labour “unchecked power” by backing Nigel Farage’s Reform UK, after a poll put his party one percentage point above the Conservatives.

It comes after a survey by YouGov for The Times put Reform UK at 19%, compared to the Conservatives at 18%.

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The veterans minister and former army officer, who is battling to be re-elected to the Devon seat of Plymouth Moor View, also disputed the findings of an IPSOS survey that indicated six in 10 people would accept higher taxes if it meant more money for the NHS.

He made his comments as Rishi Sunak remained away from the campaign trail for another day after attending the G7 summit in Italy.

The prime minister was also due to attend the Trooping the Colour ceremony to celebrate the official birthday of the King before jetting off again to attend a Ukraine Peace summit in Switzerland.

Mr Mercer told Sky News: “I’ve never found six out of ten people on the doors who want to pay more in tax in Plymouth.

“I respect all these surveys. I respect all the polls. There’s one poll that matters on 4 July.

“I don’t find six out of 10 people want to pay more tax. I find they want to bring their taxes down.

“They want better public services. They understand the challenge in the NHS.

“They also understand it’s got record funding and record numbers of doctors and nurses. But we’re up against a huge rise in demand, particularly under the pandemic, which is really, really difficult.”

He added: “Of course, people are annoyed. People are really annoyed that we’ve made promises and that we haven’t always met them.

“I think we’ve got a job of work to get over how hard the prime minister works on this, how difficult government is.

“But, no, I think people want to pay less tax. You have a clear choice in this election now, haven’t you.

“You have got the Conservatives clearly saying we’re going to reduce and continue to reduce tax… and a Labour government coming in, who is clearly going to raise taxes.”

Mr Mercer went on: “This election is tough, right? And it was always going to be tough after 14 years in power, and clearly the campaign’s been up and down as well.”

But insisting the Tories had a “bold plan”, he warned: “If you vote for Reform, you’re going to get a Labour government, you’ll get unchecked power from a Labour government to come in and change the face of this country into something that I don’t believe it is, I don’t think it is a left-wing country.”

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Mr Mercer rejected the Tory brand was “toxic” as he defended the absence of Conservative branding in his election literature.

He said: “Anyone looking at those leaflets can see that I’m in the Conservative Party and everybody has always known I’m in the Conservative Party.”

He added: “It’s blue… It’s got me on there talking about my record in government. So which part of it is not clear that I’m in the Conservative Party?

“I think it does say on the back who I’m campaigning for. “

Meanwhile, Labour’s shadow work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall defended her party’s claim NHS waiting lists could rise to 10 million despite a thinktank saying it was “highly unlikely”.

Responding to the Institute for Fiscal Studies’ criticism, Ms Kendall told Sky News: “We’re saying that if there’s another five years of the Conservatives, you could see 10 million people waiting in pain or feeling they have to try and pay to go private to deal with their problem.”

She said it was a “reasonable assumption” that was based on what had already happened under the Conservatives and “if the trend continues in the future, as it has done in the past, that’s what we’re likely to see”.

The Tories have dismissed the Labour attack as “scaremongering”.

Elsewhere, Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey is on the campaign trail in Surrey as he continues his party’s efforts to chip away at the “blue wall”, a collection of typically safe Conservative seats in southern England.

Other candidates in Plymouth Moor View are:

Shaun Hooper, Reform UK
Sarah Martin, Liberal Democrat
Georgia Nelson, Greens
Fred Thomas, Labour

UK

Beaming Kate returns to royal events at Trooping the Colour – her first public appearance since cancer diagnosis

Published

12 hours ago