Western Australia
The first inhabitants of Australia arrived from the north approximately 40,000 to 60,000 years ago. Over thousands of years they eventually spread across the whole landmass. These
Indigenous Australians were well established throughout Western Australia by the time European ships started accidentally arriving en-route to Batavia (now
Jakarta) in the early seventeenth century.
The first European to visit Western Australia was a
Dutch explorer,
Dirk Hartog who on
26 October 1616 landed at (what is now known as) Cape Inscription, Dirk Hartog Island. For the rest of the 17th century there were many other Dutch travellers who also, usually unintentionally, encountered the coast. By the late 1700s, English and French sailors had also begun to explore the Western Australian coast.
The present state has its origins in the expropriation of Aboriginal land by the British settlement known as the
Swan River Colony, founded at Perth in
1829 (although the first British settlement occurred in Albany in 1826).
Population growth was very slow until significant discoveries of
gold were made in the 1890s around
Kalgoorlie.
The colony eventually became a state of Australia on
1 January 1901.
Since the settlement in
1829 of the
Swan River Colony by the British, many immigrants have continued to be of British origin, outnumbered only by arrivals from other Australian states. Today Australian Aboriginal people today number over 1.5% of the population and are rapidly growing despite having mean average
life expectancy rates more than 20 years less than the average white Australian.
There has also been significant immigration from
New Zealand and
South Africa. Small numbers of
Southeast Asian (especially
ethnic Chinese) immigrants began to arrive in Western Australia in the mid to late
19th century, attracted to the goldfields. Western Australia was the last colony which accepted convicts, and the natives of Russia deported from England during the following years would arrive only there. Immigration restrictions (the
White Australia Policy) caused non-white immigration to cease in the
1890s. Unlike most other parts of Australia, Western Australia received many migrants from Italy in the 1920's, a time when many Italian immigrants were choosing to go to the United States. Following
World War II, immigration to all of Australia from
Europe increased, especially from
Italy,
Yugoslavia,
Russia, and
Greece.
In the
1970s, a new wave of Asian immigrants, mostly ethnic Chinese and
Vietnamese began to arrive in Western Australia. Perth, in particular, paralleled the multicultural experience of other large Australian cities and has become home to people from most of the countries in the world. Presently, 11.9% of Western Australian residents were born in the United Kingdom or Ireland, while 5.3% were born in Asia. In recent years, Western Australia has had the highest overseas migration rates in the nation. Western Australia now has the highest proportion of overseas born citizens in Australia. Interestingly, Perth has developed a significant Japanese population and now has more Japanese nationals with Australian permanent residency than any other city in Australia
Perth's metropolitan area had an estimated population of 1.47 million in 2005 which was almost three quarters of the state's population. The Perth metropolitan area has grown to include the port of
Fremantle and the town of
Rockingham. Other important or well-known centres include
Mandurah (pop. 54,000),
Bunbury,
Kalgoorlie,
Albany,
Geraldton,
Port Hedland and
Broome, but these are all relatively small cities or towns.
Western Australia has the highest per capita output of any Australian state, with an economy that has been largely based on the extraction and export of mining and petroleum commodities, especially
iron ore,
alumina,
natural gas,
nickel and
gold. Western Australia is a leading alumina extractor, producing more than 20% of the world's
aluminium. It is also the world's third-largest iron ore producer, producing around 15% of the world's total iron ore output. Western Australia also extracts up to 75% of Australia's 240 tonnes of gold.
Western Australia's economy recently has benefited from an unprecedented amount of foreign demand for resources, particularly from
China. This has contributed to
GSP growth of 4.8%, 7.5% and 2.7% for the 2002/03, 2003/04 and 2004/05
financial years respectively. [
1] [
2] Perth has emerged as a significant administration centre for businesses in the mineral and oil and gas industries.
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Western Australian cities, towns, settlements and road network |
Agricultural exports are also important, especially
wheat,
barley and
sheep products such as
wool and meat. In recent years,
tourism has grown in importance, with the majority of visitors coming from the
United Kingdom and
Ireland,
Singapore,
Japan and
Malaysia.
Western Australia, with about 10% of Australia's population, generates over 25% of Australia's export revenues. Western Australians argue that this justifies a higher than per capita share of Commonwealth government revenues, a fact contested by residents of New South Wales and Victoria who express some resentment against "subsidising" the less populous states.
Western Australia is also unique in that retail trade is tightly regulated and there are strict restrictions on the hours that stores are allowed to open. Major stores are restricted to open between 8:00am and 6:00 p.m. weekdays except Thursdays where closing time is 9:00pm. Saturdays stores are open from 8:00 am to 5:00pm. A
referendum was held on
26 February 2005 on the issue of allowing weekday trading to 9pm and 6 hours of trade on Sundays; the referendum was defeated. Exemptions to this are granted for designated tourist precincts of the Perth city centre, Fremantle and major regional centres: these are allowed to trade on Sundays from 11:00am until 5:00pm. The Perth City area has Friday night trading until 9:00pm.
Western Australia was granted self-government in 1889 with a bicameral House of Parliament, located in Perth, consisting of the
Legislative Assembly (or
lower house), and the
Legislative Council (or
upper house). Suffrage is universal and compulsory for Australian citizens residing in Western Australia over 18 years of age.
With the federation of the Australian colonies in 1901, Western Australia became a State within Australia's
federal structure; this involved ceding certain powers to the Commonwealth (or Federal) government in accordance with the Constitution; all powers not specifically granted to the Commonwealth remained solely with the State, however over time the Commonwealth has effectively expanded its powers through increasing control of taxation and financial distribution.
Whilst the sovereign of Western Australia is the Queen of Australia (
Queen Elizabeth II), and executive power nominally vested in her State representative the
Governor (currently
Ken Michael), executive power is effectively administered by the premier and ministers. The premier is
Alan Carpenter and ministers are drawn from the party or coalition of parties holding a majority of seats in the lower house of Parliament, (currently Labor).
Secession
Secessionism has been a recurring feature of Western Australia's political landscape since shortly after European settlement in 1829. Western Australia was the most reluctant participant in the
Commonwealth of Australia.
[Review Essay, New Federation History, Melbourne University Law Review www.austlii.edu.au ]. Residents of
Kalgoorlie and
Albany voted to join the Commonwealth, and the proposal of these areas being admitted separately was considered.
In a
referendum in April
1933, 68% of voters voted for the state to leave the Commonwealth of Australia with the aim of returning to the
British Empire as an autonomous territory. The State Government sent a delegation to
Westminster, but the British Government refused to intervene and therefore no action was taken to implement this decision.
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The Black Swan is the state bird of Western Australia |
Fauna
Birds
(see
List of Western Australian birds)
WA is home to around 540 species of birds (depending on the taxonomy you choose to adopt). Of these around 15 are endemic to the state. The best areas for birds are the south-western corner of the state and the area around Broome and the Kimberley.
Flora
(see
Flora of Western Australia)
Western Australia, in its south west region has some of the largest numbers of plant species for its area in the world. Prior to European settlers expanding agriculture, it is speculated that there were significant numbers of flower and plant species that were never described before they became extinct.
Algae
William Henry Harvey (1811 - 1866) published his magnificent five-volume
Phycologia Australia which was issued in parts between 1858 and 1863. He earned the title of
father of Australian Phycology. His maim collection is in the herbarium of
Trinity College Dublin (TCD)., there is also a large collection of his specimens in the
Ulster Museum (BEL), Belfast.
Education in Western Australia consists of one year of pre-school at age 5, followed by seven years of primary school education, ie Years 1 through 7. Students move into Year 8 at age 13 and five years of secondary education. The final two years of secondary education are currently changing to compulsory. All students who completed Year 10 in 2005 are now required to undertake further studies in yr 11. Students are required to complete the year in which they turn 16 (usually yr 11).
Commencing in 2008 all students will be required to complete 12 years of study before leaving school. Students will have the option to study at a
TAFE college in their eleventh year or continue through high school with a vocational course or a specific University entrance course.
The major universities in Western Australia are the
University of Western Australia,
Edith Cowan University,
Curtin University,
Murdoch University and the
University of Notre Dame.
Print
Western Australia has two daily newspapers: the independent tabloid
The West Australian and
The Kalgoorlie Miner. Also published is one Sunday tabloid newspaper,
News Corporation's
The Sunday Times. However, the interstate broadsheet publication
The Australian is also available, although with sales per capita lagging far behind those in other states. With the advent of the Internet, other online publications from around the world are now easily accessible. Some, like the New South Wales based
The Sydney Morning Herald and
The Australian which provide free access to their sites, are becoming increasingly popular at the expense of
The West Australian which charges for its complete online news service.
Television
Metropolitan Perth has eight broadcast television stations;
*
ABC WA. Produces nightly local news at 7pm.
(digital & analogue) (callsign: ABW-2)*
ABC 2 (digital only) (callsign: )*
SBS WA
(digital & analogue) (callsign: SBS-28)*
SBS World News Channel (digital only) (callsign: )*
Seven Network Perth. Produces weeknightly local news from 6pm - 7pm.
(digital & analogue) (callsign: TVW-7)*
Nine Network Perth. Produces weeknightly local news from 6pm - 6.30pm.
(digital & analogue) (callsign: STW-9)*
Network Ten Perth. Airs weeknightly local news from 5pm - 6pm, however live from
Sydney.
(digital & analogue) (callsign: NEW-10)*
Access 31. Community service channel.
(analogue-only) (callsign: ATW-31)Regional WA has a similar availability of stations, with the exception of Access 31. The metropolitans commercial stations are affiliated with;
*
Golden West Network (GWN). Produces weeknightly local news from 5.30pm - 6pm, also airs Seven Perth news until 7pm)
(analogue only) (callsign: WAW)*
WIN Television WA. Statewide news weeknightly from 5.30pm - 6.30pm, sourced from Network Ten Perth.
(analogue only) (callsign: WOW)Pay TV services are provided by
Foxtel, which acquired many of the assets and all the remaining subscribers of the insolvent
Galaxy Television satellite service in
1998. Some metropolitan suburbs are serviced by Pay TV via cable; however, most of the metropolitan and rural areas can only access Pay TV via satellite.
Radio
The top five radio stations broadcasting in Perth include, (2005 ratings in descending order),
Mix 94.5,
ABC 720AM, 96FM,
NOVA 93.7FM, and
6PR AM. The regional areas of the state have a number of local broadcasters, and the national broadcaster, the
Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC)also has a presence in all regional centres. Across the state, there are over 380 FM broadcast transmitters. (See
FM Online listing for WA).
A number of national or international sporting teams and events are based in the state, including:
* Two teams in the
Australian Football League (AFL): the
West Coast Eagles and the
Fremantle Football Club (the "Fremantle Dockers");
* A state cricket team, known as the Retravision
Western Warriors;
* A
football (soccer) team,
Perth Glory, which plays in the
A-League.
* the
Western Force, which plays in the
Super 14 rugby union competition
* the
Perth Wildcats, which plays in the
National Basketball League.
Events hosted by Western Australia include the
Hopman Cup, the
Perth Cup and the
Telstra Rally Australia.
*
List of Western Australian towns *
List of highways in Western Australia *
List of Statues in Western Australia
*
Official Western Australia site*
Parliament House Western Australia*
Government House Web Site*
OnlineWA*
Historical Encyclopedia of WA*
State Law Publisher*
2001 Census Basic Community Profile and Snapshot free
