Living in Sydney

**Big Dave** · 22nd May 2007, 01:17

Originally Posted by Speedie

You missed Macquarie Fields..another place not to live.. and it has a train station too!

Ahh the good ol Transit Police, I been nailed by them one time for jumping trains.

And a river up north.

**Hillbilly** · 22nd May 2007, 03:40

Originally Posted by Milky

Trains that are worse than in Auckland? I don't believe it.

Macquarie seems to be everywhere in Sydney - Macquarie train station, Macquarie University, Macquarie St and now Lake Macquarie. Are they really that much of an institution, or is there some other reason why things are called macquarie?

Here's Lake Macquarie: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Macquarie

I used to live not far from where the first photo was taken. It was Brightwaters, directly opposite Vales Point power station. Our closest town is
Morisset Don't forget about Macquarie Bank either! BTW, Commonwealth Bank Australia own ASB!! You can use your ASB card at any CWB branch. I bank with Westpac, (separate from Westpac Trust) as they seem pretty good with only a $5 a month account fee. Banking is years behind though. You still have to wait a week to get your new cashcard in the mail! No walking into a branch to get one issued. Nothing is centralised either! A branch manager hasn't got the authority to grant an overdraught for example. That has to be done over the phone with someone else. Stay away from ANZ. Oh, and you only get statements every 3 months. If you ask CWB for a statement, the'll charge $6 per page. Westpac just give you a printout over the counter.

Gas at the moment is between $1.35 and $1.39 for unleaded 91 depending on where you buy it. There's a 68c Govt tax in that price. Also, GST isn't charged on everything. Food for example is exempt. There's also the dreaded stamp duty, which is 5% of the purchase price of house, cars, and yes, bikes. However, it's possible to get massive tax refunds, and you do your tax online with the ATO's eTax program. There are tax rebates for all sorts of things too.

Be sure to apply for a Medicare card. You'll be covered by the SCV or Special Category Visa too. This allows you to live and work in Aussie undefinitely. However, you cannot apply for Govt jobs or go on the dole.