[Ian Robinson]

I'd love to move to Darwin , but only if I had a permanent residential job up there to go to .... the new gas plant might produce that .... engineers get great money in the north .... I would expect around a package of $160k at my level.

I'd also love to move permanently to the north Queensland or the Pilbara or Kimberly (the Kimberly is wonderful country), similar $ , but add subsidised company housing , subsidised power and subsidised water and airconditioning costs (and it's all pretty good there).

I wouldn't mind living out my retirement in northern Queensland, the Kimberley (Broome or Kununarra) or in Darwin either .... great climate, great fishing, lots of great places to go on 4x4 safari to , very dark and clear skies in easy reach for most of the year - it's not rainy or cloudy all the time in the wet season BTW.

NSW sucks but I am stuck here until I get that job. And Sydney is a cesspit , you probably couldn't pay me enough to move there to live, yet alone go to work there. I HATE DRIVING IN SYDNEY.


Eric : the nature of the beast is that most the people who go to Darwin to help build the gas plant will be itinerant (FIFO) and will be put up in motels or shared apartments or camps (on site) , there will likely only be a few hundred permanent workers once the plant is commissioned so the impact on home availability will not be that great in Darwin and most people who go there to work will be on BIG $s.