Perth, Western Australia

Perth is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth largest city in Australia, with a population of 1,477,818 in June 2005, making up almost 75% of Western Australia's population. It is a coastal city, located beside the Indian Ocean, and situated on the Swan River in the lower south-western portion of the Australian continent.

History

The Foundation of Perth 1829 by George Pitt Morison is a historically accurate reconstruction of the official ceremony by which Perth was founded.

See also: History of Perth, Western Australia and Swan River Colony

Whadjuk Noongar people are known to have lived in the area around the Swan River for about forty thousand years, as evidenced by archaeological findings at Upper Swan. Although the British Army had established a base at King George Sound (later Albany) on the south coast of Western Australia in 1826 — to forestall rumoured annexation by France — Perth was the first full scale settlement by Europeans in the "western third" of the continent. The town was established in 1829, as the capital of the Swan River Colony, a free settler colony. In 1850, as Western Australia, it became host to convicts, at the request of farming and business people who wanted cheap labour. A Brief History www.perth.wa.gov.au

Naming and founding

The name Perth was chosen in 1829 by James Stirling, who would have been unable to understand the indigenous Nyungar or Noongar people's name for the area, Boorloo. Stirling, a Scot, implemented the wish of Sir George Murray, Secretary of State for War and the Colonies, that the Swan River Colony settlement be named after Perthshire, which was his birthplace as well as his parliamentary seat in the British House of Commons. On 1 June 1829, the colonists had their first view of the mainland and Western Australian's Foundation Day has since been recognised by a public holiday on the first Monday in June each year. James said that Perth was "as beautiful as anything of this kind I had ever witnessed." On August 12 that year, Mrs Helen Dance, wife of the Captain of the ship Sulphur, cut down a tree to mark the day of the founding of the town. Queen Victoria announced the city status of Perth in 1856. History of Perth worldfacts.us

Swans on the Swan River.

After a referendum in 1900, Western Australia joined the Federation of Australia in 1901. WA was the last of the Australian colonies to agree to join, and did so only after the other colonies offered several concessions, including the construction of a rail line to Perth (via Kalgoorlie) from the Eastern States. In 1933 Western Australia voted in a referendum to leave the Commonwealth with a majority of two to one in favor of independence, but the election held at the time overturned the incumbent "pro-independence" government, replacing it with a government who did not support the independence movement.[1] www.ccentre.wa.gov.au When the new government petitioned the United Kingdom for independence, the United Kingdom refused to act against the wishes of the government of the day.

South Perth's skyline

Perth has prospered by becoming a key service centre for the natural resource industries, being the closest city to huge reserves of gold, iron ore, nickel, alumina, diamonds, mineral sands, coal, oil and natural gas.Geoscience Australia - Australia's identified mineral resources, 2002. www.ga.gov.au (PDF 2MB) Most of the world's major resource and engineering companies have offices in Perth.

Pre colonisation

The first documented European sighting of the land region which now bears the city of Perth was made by the Flemish sea captain Willem de Vlamingh and his team on January 10 1697. Subsequent sightings between this date and 1829 took place by other European fleets, but, much like the sighting and observation by Vlamingh himself, the region was considered to be inhospitable and unsuitable for agriculture that would be needed to sustain a settlement.

However, for tens of thousands of years before the establishment of the Swan River Colony, the indigenous Noongar people occupied the southwest corner of Western Australia, hunting and gathering. The lakes on the coastal plain were particularly important to the Aboriginal people, providing them with both spiritual and physical sustenance.

Noongar interaction

At the time of the first European contact in 1827, the area in which Perth now stands was called Boorloo. Boorloo formed part of Mooro, the tribal lands of Yellagonga, whose group was one of several based around the Swan River, known collectively as the Whadjuk. The Whadjuk was a part of the greater group of 13 or so tribes which formed the south west socio-linguistic block still known today as Noongar (The People), or sometimes by the name Bibbulmun.

From 1831, hostile encounters between European settlers and Noongars â€" both large-scale land users with conflicting land value systems â€" increased considerably. This phase of violence culminated in events such as the execution of Whadjuk tribal chief Midgegooroo, the murder of his son Yagan in 1833 and the Battle of Pinjarra in 1834.

By 1843, when Yellagonga died, his tribe had begun to disintegrate after having been dispossessed of their land around the main settlement area of Perth. They retreated to the swamps and lakes north of the settlement area including Third Swamp, formerly known by them as Boodjamooling. Oral History of the area related by a Noongar elder, Fred Collard, compares Boodjamooling prior to white settlement to an aboriginal supermarket; there was plenty of food in the wetland there, and people would come to find their healthy, organic and sustainable food.

Third Swamp continued to be a main campsite for the remaining Noongar people in the Perth region and was also used by travellers, itinerants and homeless people. By the goldrush days in the 1890s they were joined by many miners en-route to the goldfields.

[Adapted from 'History of the Town of Vincent', from Town of Vincent 2001 Annual Report, p.52 (possibly based on J. Gentili and others) ]

Geography

Sand plain setting

Aerial photograph of Perth

Location of Perth in relation to other major cities

Perth is set on the Swan River, so named because of the native black swans. Traditionally, this water body has always been known by local inhabitants as Derbal Yerrigan (Indigenous Affairs 2006, for example) p.4. A Dutch expedition in 1697 captained by Willem de Vlamingh led to Vlamingh naming the river after the black swans. Heritage Icons: The Swan River www.175anniversary.wa.gov.au The city centre and most of the suburbs are located on the sandy and relatively flat Swan Coastal Plain, which lies between the Darling Scarp and the Indian Ocean. The metropolitan area extends to Yanchep in the north, Mandurah in the south, total distance of approximately 125 kilometres (78 mi) by road. From the Coast in the west to Mundaring in the east, a total distance of approximately 50 kilometres (30 mi) by road.

The coastal suburbs take advantage of Perth's oceanside location and clean beaches. To the east, the city is bordered by a low escarpment called the Darling Scarp. Perth is on generally flat, rolling land - largely due to the high amount of sandy soils and deep bedrock. Perth metropolitan area has two major river systems, the first being the Swan and Canning Rivers. The second is that of the Serpentine and Murray Rivers, which discharge into the Peel Estuary at Mandurah.

Water supply

Reduced rainfall in the region in recent years has reduced inflow into dams by two thirds over the last 30 years. The lower runoff into Perth's dams and groundwater supplies, coupled with Perth's relatively high population growth, has caused concerns that Perth will be "out of water" within ten years. The Western Australian State Government has responded by introducing mandatory household sprinkler restrictions in the city. The State Government has also begun the process of constructing a sea water desalination plant in Kwinana (expected to be finished in late 2006 Media Release, July 2004, "Desalination plant to become a vital source for State's water supply" www.watercorporation.com.au). Due to the emission of large volumes of greenhouse gases involved in sea water desalination, this plan has been criticised by some as environmentally unfriendly. The state government considered piping water from the Kimberley region, however this proposal was rejected in May 2006 due mostly to the high cost.State Water Strategy, May 2006, "Kimberley Water Source Project" www.statewaterstrategy.wa.gov.au Other proposals under serious consideration are extracting 45 gigalitres (11.9 billion U.S. gallons) per year from the Yarragadee aquifer in the south-west or constructing another desalination plant.

City skyline

Perth city skyline viewed from the Swan Bells

Traditionally, Perth and Perth's Swan River have usually been viewed and photographed from Kings Park, situated on a hill to the south-west of the city or from the South Perth foreshore. The historical record of the view shows clear river banks close to the city and a low skyline through to the 1960s. Since then, the filling in of the northern side of Perth Water and crowding of the skyline have continued unabated.Perth's city skyline displays the economic prosperity the city currently enjoys. Its tallest building, Central Park, is by some measures the sixth tallest building in Australia. Worlds tallest skyscrapers by country

Perth is a relatively small city in comparison with Sydney and Melbourne, the capitals of New South Wales and Victoria respectively, but it is still the fourth largest city in Australia. The Central Business District is the financial centre of Perth, and while a hive of activity during the work week, is relatively quiet and deserted during weekends. Despite Perth's CBD being quite small Perth has many large suburbs which have shopping centres, supermarkets, cinemas, takeaways and many other amenities.

Climate

Perth summers are hot and dry, summer lasts from late December to late February, with February generally being the hottest month of the year. The hottest ever recorded temperature in Perth was 46.2 Â°C (115 Â°F) on 23 February 1991. Winters are cool and moist, though winter rainfall has been declining in recent years. The coldest temperature recorded was -0.7 Â°C (30.7 Â°F) on 17 June 2006, and the only temperature ever recorded below freezing point. Even in mid-winter, maximum daytime temperatures only occasionally fall below 16 Â°C (60 Â°F). Though most rainfall occurs during winter, the wettest ever day was on 9 February 1992 when 121 milimetres (4.75 in) fell. On most summer afternoons a sea breeze, also known as "The Fremantle Doctor", blows from the south-west cooling the city.

Climate Table

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Mean daily maximum temperature	29.7°C 85.5°F	30.0°C 86.0°F	28.0°C 82.4°F	24.6°C 76.3°F	20.9°C 69.6°F	18.3°C 64.9°F	17.4°C 63.3°F	18.0°C 64.4°F	19.5°C 67.1°F	21.4°C 70.5°F	24.6°C 76.3°F	27.4°C 81.3°F	23.3°C 73.9°F
Mean daily minimum temperature	17.9°C 64.2°F	18.1°C 64.6°F	16.8°C 62.2°F	14.3°C 57.7°F	11.7°C 53.1°F	10.1°C 50.2°F	9.0°C 48.2°F	9.2°C 48.6°F	10.3°C 50.5°F	11.7°C 53.1°F	14.0°C 57.2°F	16.3°C 61.3°F	13.3°C 55.9°F
Mean total rainfall	8.6 mm 0.34 in	13.3 mm 0.52 in	19.3 mm 0.76 in	45.5 mm 1.79 in	122.7 mm 4.83 in	182.4 mm 7.18 in	172.9 mm 6.81 in	134.6 mm 5.30 in	79.9 mm 3.14 in	54.5 mm 2.15 in	21.7 mm 0.85 in	13.9 mm 0.55 in	869.4 mm 34.23 in
Mean number of rain days	2.9	2.7	4.3	7.6	13.8	17.2	18.2	17.2	14.0	11.1	6.5	4.2	119.6
Source: Bureau of Meteorology

Governance

Perth CBD and Swan River from the air

The Perth metropolitan area includes over thirty local government bodies (cities, towns and shires). These include Melville, South Perth,Fremantle, Bayswater,Cockburn, Canning, Stirling, Gosnells, Nedlands, Subiaco, Peppermint Grove, Claremont, Victoria Park, Joondalup, Wanneroo, Armadale and the original City of Perth.

Demographics

Perth's earliest European settlers were British and Irish, and Britain and Ireland remained the city's primary source countries for the first century of its existence. However, by the mid-twentieth century significant numbers of Italians and Greeks had settled. As Fremantle was the first landfall in Australia for many migrant ships coming from Europe in the 1950s and 1960s, Perth started to experience a diverse influx which included Dutch, Germans, Croats and Macedonians and many others. The names of many of these migrants are listed on the honour board outside the Maritime Museum.

More recently, large-scale immigration to Perth by air from Britain has continued, giving Perth the highest-proportion of British-born residents of any Australian city — according to the 2001 census, 23.5 per cent of residents in the Joondalup North statistical subdivision in the north of the city were born in Britain, closely followed by Rockingham in the south with 19.8 per cent. The proportion of British-born in the Perth metropolitan area as a whole in 2001 was 12.4 per cent, or 164,488 persons. This is significantly higher than the national proportion of 5.5 per cent. Australian Bureau of Statistics - 2001 Census Data Joondalup (C) - North (Statistical Local Area) www.abs.gov.au/ausstats

Whilst no other community approaches the demographic weight of those born in Britain, many migrants — 32,544 or 2.5 per cent in 2001 — are from New Zealand, due to the fact that New Zealanders, unlike other foreign nationals, are eligible for 'special category' visas, which allow them to live and work in Australia with little restriction. For this reason, the New Zealand-born community in Perth is increasing proportionately faster than any other birthplace group. [2]

Perth also has substantial immigrant communities from Europe — Italians are the third largest migrant group, numbering 20,611 or 1.6 per cent in 2001. Irish and Croats are also well represented. [3]

In the last three decades, South East Asia has became an increasingly important source of migrants, with communities from Malaysia, Vietnam, Singapore, Hong Kong, Indonesia, China, India and Sri Lanka all now well-established (many of whom emigrate from their home countries for educational purposes). The Indian community includes a substantial number of Parsees who emigrated from Mumbai — Perth being the closest Australian city to India.

Another more recent source has been Southern Africa, with many white South Africans and Zimbabweans settling in the city in the latter half of the 1990s. Perth nowadays also has the largest population of Anglo-Burmese in the world, in addition to a substantial Anglo-Indian community.

Education

See Western Australia for general information on education in Western Australia

Perth is home to four public universities, and one private university: the University of Western Australia, Murdoch University, Curtin University of Technology, Edith Cowan University, and the University of Notre Dame respectively.

The University of Western Australia, which was founded in 1911 History of the University www.uwa.edu.au, is renowned as one of Australia's leading research institutions. The university's monumental neo-classical architecture, most of which is carved from white limestone, is a notable tourist destination in the city. Curtin University of Technology is Western Australia's largest university, and was known from its founding in 1966 until 1986 as the Western Australian Institute of Technology (WAIT). Murdoch University was created from land held by UWA in the late 1970s. Edith Cowan University was established in the early 1990s to cope with tertiary education needs in the north west metropolitan area of Perth. The University of Notre Dame was established in 1990 and was the first Catholic university in Australia.

Culture

Sport

The climate of Perth allows for extensive outdoor sport activity, and this is reflected in the wide variety of sports available to citizens of the city. Perth was host to the 1962 Commonwealth Games and also the 1987 America's Cup defence (based at Fremantle). Australian rules football is a popular spectator sport in Perth, with over 1,030,000 attending WAFL and AFL matches, more paying spectators than any other sport in the state. [4].

Music

Bon Scott (of AC/DC) grew up in Fremantle and was buried there when he died. Other popular music acts from Perth include Jebediah, Tim Rogers, Eskimo Joe, Little Birdy, The Panics, The Triffids, Gyroscope, End of Fashion, John Butler Trio, the Sleepy Jackson, Greg Packer and Pendulum and Karnivool. Some have called Perth the "new Seattle" of music .

Perth is relatively isolated from other Australian cities so overseas artists often exclude it from their tour schedules. The more popular rock concerts held in Perth are the Big Day Out (nationwide) and Rock-It (Perth only). The city is also the setting to the Pavement song 'I Love Perth'.

Perth is home to the West Australian Symphony Orchestra which performs a regular programme of orchestral music, usually from its base at the Perth Concert Hall; it also tours regional Western Australia. There are a large number of smaller professional, semi-professional and non-professional music groups and choral societies and choirs which perform in a variety of venues in and around Perth. Repertoire ranges from baroque to contemporary. The Perth International Festival of the Arts also includes music in its schedule. Opera is provided by West Australian Opera.

Transport

Perth Railway Station

The Northbridge Tunnel on the Graham Farmer Freeway

Perth is served by Perth Airport in the city's east for domestic and international flights and Jandakot Airport in the city's southern suburbs for light aviation.

Perth has a road network with three freeways, nine metropolitan highways and no toll roads.

Perth metropolitan public transport, including trains, buses and ferries, are provided by Transperth, with links to rural areas provided by Transwa. There are 59 railway stations and 15 bus stations in the metropolitan area.

The Government of Western Australia has significantly increased metropolitan public transport funding in recent years. Initiatives include progressive replacement of the bus fleet and the SmartRider contactless smartcard ticketing system. Additionally, the rail network has been expanded in the northern and southern suburbs as part of the New MetroRail project.

The Indian Pacific passenger rail service connects Perth with Adelaide and Sydney via Kalgoorlie. The Transwa Prospector passenger rail service connects Perth with Kalgoorlie via several wheatbelt towns.

Rail freight terminates at the Kewdale Rail Terminal, 15 kilometres south-east of the city centre.

Perth's main container and passenger port is at Fremantle, 19 kilometres south west at the mouth of the Swan River Fremantle Port Information www.fremantleports.com.au . A second port complex is being developed in Cockburn Sound primarily for the export of bulk commodities.

References

External links

* City of Perth government website