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Second edition - March 2004

Australia is often referred to as the "Lucky Country", with its spacious surroundings, high standard of living, excellent health and education system, temperate climate, wide and varied landscape, political and economic stability, and a general quality of life envied by many around the world.

The appeal of Australia is evident in the large number of people who migrate under the Department of Immigration & Multicultural & Indigenous Affairs (DIMIA) Migration Program every year. Over 100,000 people will migrate to Australia every year for the next four years, further enhancing the existing multicultural population.

Based on figures supplied by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) from their 2002 census and an extrapolation of the current trends, this means that by the end of 2004, there will be an approximate 100,000 South Africans living and working in Australia.

Our aim is to provide these guys and girls with information, advice, access to quality services and a sense of community here in Australia. We have made great progress in compiling new information to meet these objectives, and want to invite you to enjoy the fruits of our labour. Check the updates to the website.
And then lastly, I want to thank you for your support, emails and contributions to date. The response has been rather over- whelming at times, proving that we are providing a valuable service. This keeps us motivated! We have had an average of over 80 unique sessions per day since our launch in January, with over 1000 registered hits per day! Thank you. 
Regards, 
Mark Cumming

 

So what's new?
We have tried to keep things simple, while covering an ever increasing field of topics. The main areas updated are:
 
THE BASICS: we have included a map of the information structure to facilitate the navigation of this section.
  Before you leave home section with Checklists | Australian visas
  As you arrive in Oz section with updates to Property | Services | Transport
  Finance section with Tax | More on Tax
  What things cost with Public Transport | Second-hand Cars
  Legal section with Links to the respective Courts' websites
 
AUSTRALIA: this section is rapidly growing with tons of useful and interesting information.
  Australia section with Maps | Ozzie Slang | Australian Animals | Australian Songs
  New South Wales with Political, Geographic, Climate, and Economical facts | Major cities 
  Sydney with detailed  tourism information | pictures of famous places


ABOUT US: this section only had minor updates. Because we have been investigating buying a franchise, we are offering you some more detailed info.
 
OUR COMMUNITY: Sadly no updates. Come on people!
 
ARTICLES: Alice has written an article for the launch and first edition of " SA Link" (a local newspaper targeting the South African community in Oz, previously known as the SA Independent). This is the first part of a 12 part series called, "The Migration Series". Click here to read this entertaining and insightful article titled "Waltzing Matilda vs Shoshaloza". 

Stay abreast of developments
A totally voluntary registration of your email address on the website will enable us to keep you informed of changes to the site. We will be sending out monthly newsletters very much like this one with some highlights and indexes into the information. Register if you want to receive the newsletter again. Otherwise just pop in every now and then and see the "what's new" section.

Our contact details
Email  
mark@beluba.com.au
alice@beluba.com.au		 Web  
www.beluba.com.au/ww3

© MAC 2004