'Perth' is the
capital of the
Australian
state of
Western Australia. A population of 1,507,900
[1] (December 2006 estimate) makes Perth by far the largest city in Western Australia and home to three-quarters of the state's residents. The city is also the
fourth most populous urban area in Australia, and with a growth rate of 2.1% (2006) is currently the fastest growing major city in Australia. It is expected that Perth's population will grow at 2.5% per annum in 2007, due primarily to the booming Western Australian economy. State Final Demand, for instance, is growing at 10.2%, 12 months to March 2007 (ABS).
Perth was founded on
11 June 1829 by
Captain James Stirling as the political centre of the free settler
Swan River Colony. It has continued to serve as the seat of Government for Western Australia to the present day.
The
metropolitan area is located in the south west of the continent between the
Indian Ocean and a low coastal escarpment known as the
Darling Range. The
central business district and suburbs of Perth are situated on the Swan River. The nearest city to Perth with a population over 1 million is
Adelaide in
South Australia, which is 2,104 kilometres (1,307 mi) away, making Perth the most isolated
city(of over 1 million people) in the
world (thus leading to the nickname ''The Lonely City'').
History
Main articles: History of Perth, Western Australia
Founded in
1829 by
Captain James Stirling as the political centre of the free
settler Swan River Colony, Perth has continued to serve as the seat of government for Western Australia to the present day.
Prehistory
Rottnest and Garden Islands
Prior to
European settlement the area had been inhabited by the
Whadjuk Noongar people for over 40,000 years, as evidenced by archaeological findings on the Upper Swan River.
[2] These
Aborigines occupied the southwest corner of Western Australia, living as hunter-gatherers. The lakes on the coastal plain were particularly important to them, providing both spiritual and physical sustenance.
Rottnest,
Carnac and
Garden Islands were also important to the Noongar. About 5,000 years ago the sea levels were low enough that they could walk to the limestone outcrops.
The area where Perth now stands was called Boorloo by the Aboriginals living there at the time of their first contact with Europeans in 1827. Boorloo formed part of Mooro, the tribal lands of the Yellagonga, one of several groups based around the Swan River and known collectively as the Whadjuk. The Whadjuk were part of a larger group of thirteen or more tribes which formed the south west socio-linguistic block known as the Noongar (''The People''), also sometimes called the ''
Bibbulmun''.
Early European sightings
The first documented European sighting of the region was made by the Dutch Captain
Willem de Vlamingh and his crew on
10 January 1697. Subsequent sightings between this date and 1829 were made by other Europeans, but as in the case of the sighting and observations made by Vlamingh, the area was considered to be inhospitable and unsuitable for the agriculture which would be needed to sustain a settlement.
The
Round House built in 1830 is the oldest remaining building in Western Australia
The Swan River Colony
:''See also:
Swan River Colony''
Although the
British Army had established a base at
King George Sound (later Albany) on the south coast of western Australia in 1826 in response to rumours that the area would be annexed by
France, Perth was the first full scale settlement by Europeans in the western third of the continent. The colony itself would be officially designated Western Australia in 1832, but was known informally for many years as the Swan River Colony after the area's major watercourse.
Government House, Western Australia
On
4 June 1829, newly arriving colonists had their first view of the mainland and Western Australia's Foundation Day has since been recognised by a public holiday on the first Monday in June each year. Captain James Stirling, aboard the
''Parmelia'', said that Perth was "as beautiful as anything of this kind I had ever witnessed." On 12 August that year, Mrs. Helen Dance, wife of the Captain of the second ship ''Sulphur'', cut down a tree to mark the founding of the town.
The name ''Perth'' was chosen by James Stirling for the new town. Stirling, a Scot, acted in accordance with the wish of
Sir George Murray,
Secretary of State for War and the Colonies, that the town be named after
Perth,
Scotland, which was Murray's birthplace and
parliamentary seat in the
British House of Commons.
Beginning in 1831, hostile encounters between European settlers and Aborigines of the local Noongar tribe – both large-scale land users with conflicting land value systems – increased considerably as the colony grew. This violent phase of the region's history culminated in a series of events in which the Europeans overcame the indigenous people, including the execution of Whadjuk tribal chief Midgegooroo, the murder of his son
Yagan in 1833, and the one-sided
Battle of Pinjarra in 1834.
By 1843, when the tribal chief Yellagonga died, his tribe had begun to disintegrate after having been dispossessed of the land around the main settlement area of Perth. They retreated to the swamps and lakes north of the settlement area including Third Swamp, known to them as Boodjamooling. The oral history of the area as related by a Noongar elder,
Fred Collard, likens Boodjamooling prior to white settlement to a supermarket for the aboriginal people, where there was a bountiful, self-sustaining, and varied supply of food.
Boodjamooling 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 gold-rush days of the 1890s they were joined by miners who were en-route to the goldfields.
[3]
In 1850, Western Australia was opened to
convicts at the request of farming and business people looking for cheap labour.
[4] Queen Victoria announced the city status of Perth in 1856.
[5]
After a referendum in 1900, Western Australia joined the
Federation of Australia in 1901. It was the last of the Australian colonies to agree to join the Federation, and did so only after the other colonies had 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 Australian union, with a majority of two to one in favour of independence. However, an election held shortly before the referendum had turned out the incumbent "pro-independence" government, replacing it with a government which did not support the independence movement.
[6] Respecting the result of the referendum, the new government nonetheless petitioned the United Kingdom for independence, where the request was simply ignored.
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,
manganese,
diamonds,
mineral sands,
coal,
oil, and
natural gas.
[7] Most of the world's major resource and engineering companies have offices in Perth. Partially as a result of this influx, Perth has become highly ethnically diverse, with over 27% of inhabitants having been born overseas (495,240 persons) and a further 414,000 having an overseas born parent (2001 census). 11% speak a language other than English at home. Perth also has a larger alternative sexuality community than would have been expected from a town of its traditional roots. Two thirds of the Perth population are of the
Christian faith, with other major religions including
Buddhism and
Islam. The proportion of the population that has no religious affiliation has remained consistent since 1991.
Swans on the Swan River
View of Barrack Square and Jetties from Kings Park
South Perth's skyline
Geography
Location
Perth is one of the most isolated metropolitan areas on Earth. The nearest city to Perth with a population over 1 million is
Adelaide in
South Australia, which is away as the crow flies. Perth is physically closer to
East Timor and
Jakarta,
Indonesia, than it is to
Sydney,
Melbourne, and
Brisbane. It is the
antipode of
Hamilton, Bermuda.
Perth, Western Australia (Jan 2005)
City skyline
Traditionally, Perth and the Swan River have usually been viewed and photographed from
Kings Park, situated on Mount Eliza to the near south-west of the city centre 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. The tallest building in the city is
Central Park, which is the sixth tallest building in Australia.
[World's tallest skyscrapers by country]
Central Business District
The central business district of Perth is bounded by the Swan River to the south and east, with Kings Park on the western end, while the railway lines form a northern border.
St George's Terrace is the prominent street of the area with more than two thirds of the 1.3 million m² of office space in the CBD.
[8] Hay Street and
Murray Street have most of the retail and entertainment facilities.
Satellite imagery of Perth
Sand plain setting
Perth is set on the Swan River, so named because of the native
Black Swans. Traditionally, this water body has been known by local inhabitants as ''Derbal Yerrigan''.
[9] A Dutch expedition in 1697 captained by Willem de Vlamingh led to Vlamingh naming the river after the
black swans.
[10] 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 soils of this area are quite infertile. 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. This means that the area of Perth is over 1.5 million acres (6,100 km²).
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. This abundance of sand has resulted in West Australians' being given the nickname
sandgropers by the rest of the country. The Perth metropolitan area has two major river systems; the first is made up of the Swan and
Canning Rivers. The second is that of the
Serpentine and Murray Rivers, which discharge into the Peel Estuary at Mandurah.
Climate
Perth's climate is a classic example of a
Mediterranean climate and receives moderate though highly seasonal rainfall. Summers are generally hot and dry, lasting from late December to late March, with February generally being the hottest month of the year. Summer is not completely devoid of rain with sporadic rainfall in the form of short-lived thunderstorms, weak cold fronts and on very rare occasions decaying tropical cyclones which can bring significant falls. The hottest ever recorded temperature in Perth was 46.2 °
C (115 °
F) on
23 February 1991. Winters are relatively cool and rather moist, though winter rainfall has been declining in recent years. The coldest temperature recorded was -0.7 °C (30.7 °F) on
17 June 2006, and the only temperature ever recorded below the
freezing point. Even in mid-winter, maximum daytime temperatures only occasionally fall below 16 °C (60 °F). Though most rainfall occurs during winter, the wettest day ever was unusually on
9 February 1992 when 121 millimetres (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 by up to 15°C.
'Climatic 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 houses the Parliament of Western Australia, and the Governor of Western Australia. The metropolitan area is divided into over 30 local government bodies.
Australia's
High Court holds regular sittings in Perth, with permanent Federal Court operations. The highest court under Western Australian law, the
Supreme Court is based in Perth, along with the
District,
Family and
Magistrates' Courts.
Demographics
'Perth Metropolitan Area
'Population by year (ABS) |
| 1850 | 1,400 |
| 1861 | 3,507 |
| 1871 | 5,007 |
| 1881 | 5,044 |
| 1891 | 8,447 |
| 1901 | 27,553 |
| 1911 | 106,792 |
| 1921 | 154,873 |
| 1933 | 207,440 |
| 1947 | 272,528 |
| 1961 | 420,133 |
| 1971 | 641,800 |
| 1981 | 809,036 |
| 1991 | 1,142,646 |
| 2001 | 1,325,392 |
| 2006 | 1,507,900 |
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-20th 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,
Serbs,
Czechs,
Russians and
Macedonians and many others. The names of many of these migrants are listed on the honour board outside the Maritime Museum.
Perth also has a sizable and vibrant
Jewish community who emigrated primarily from
eastern Europe and more recently from
South Africa.
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.
[11]
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.
[12]
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.
Area of the Perth Metropolitan Region Scheme
In the last three decades, South East Asia has become an increasingly important source of migrants, with communities from
Malaysia,
Vietnam,
Singapore,
Hong Kong, Indonesia,
China,
Afghanistan,
India and
Sri Lanka all now well-established. The Indian community includes a substantial number of
Parsees who emigrated from
Bombay — Perth being the closest Australian city to India.
Another more recent source has been
Southern Africa. Many white
South Africans and
Zimbabweans settling in Perth in the 1980s and 90s, to the extent that the city has been described as "the Australian capital of South Africans in exile".
[13] One of the state's
Senators,
Andrew Murray, emigrated from Zimbabwe in
1989.
Perth nowadays also has the largest population of
Anglo-Burmese in the world, in addition to a substantial
Anglo-Indian and
Eurasian community.
Metropolitan Region Scheme
Main articles: Metropolitan Region Scheme
The Metropolitan Region Scheme (MRS) is the legal land plan covering the Perth metropolitan region.
It is a large town planning scheme for land use in the Perth metropolitan area which defines the future use of land, dividing it into broad zones and reservations. It requires local government town planning schemes to provide detailed plans for their part of the region. These schemes must be consistent with the MRS.
Deriving from the Stephenson-Hepburn ''Plan for the Metropolitan Region, Perth and Fremantle'' (1955), the MRS has been in operation since 1963 and provides the legal basis for planning in the Perth metropolitan region.
Education
:''See also:
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.
UWA is located at Crawley
The University of Western Australia, which was founded in 1911,
[14] 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 by student population, and was known from its founding in 1966 until 1986 as the
Western Australian Institute of Technology (''WAIT'') and had amalgamated with
The WA School of Mines Kalgoorlie and the
Muresk Agricultural College Northam.
Murdoch University was established in the 1970s, and is Australia's geographically largest campus (2.27 square kilometres), necessary to accommodate
Western Australia's only veterinary school.
Edith Cowan University was established in the early 1990s from the existing
Western Australian College of Advanced Education (WACAE) which itself was formed in the 1970s from the existing
Teachers Colleges at Claremont, Churchlands, and Mount Lawley. It incorporates the
Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA).
The
University of Notre Dame was established in 1990. Notre Dame was established as a
Catholic university with its lead campus in
Fremantle and a large campus in
Sydney. It is the only Western Australian University with a campus in another major Australian city. Its campus in
Fremantle is set in the west end of
Fremantle within historic port buildings built in the 1890's giving Notre Dame a distinct European University atmosphere. Notre Dame is affiliated with the
University of Notre Dame in
Indiana USA. It is also the fastest growing University in Australia.
Colleges of TAFE (Technical and Further Education) provide trade and vocational training, including Diploma level courses. TAFE was formed in the 1970s to provide technical courses previously offered by WACAE.
Culture
Visual Art
The West Australian Art Gallery houses the states premier art collection and hosts numerous impressive visiting exhibitions, like 2006
Norman Lindsay exhibition. Additional exhibits occur at
Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts and many other smaller venues on a regularly across Perth.
Performing Arts
The
Perth Concert Hall is the city's main concert venue and hosts theatre, ballet, opera and orchestral performances. Other theatres include an auditorium at the
Perth Convention Exhibition Centre (completed in 2005), the historic
His Majesty's Theatre and
Burswood Dome, which hosts rock and popular music concerts. Outdoor concerts are held in
King's Park and
Subiaco Oval and the
New Convention Centre on the foreshore replaces the Burswood Dome until a more satisfactory building is established.
In 2005, the construction of the Convention Centre completed, and is now an integral feature of Perth city.
Sport
Main articles: Sport in Western Australia
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 the most popular spectator sport in Perth - some 1,030,000 people attended
WAFL or
AFL matches in 2005.
[15] Perth has the strongest regional (State/County/Province) field hockey competition in the world. There are many field hockey clubs for children, men, women and veterans (over 40 year of age). Western Australia (especially given it only has 10% of Australia's population) hugely contributes to the national Australian men's and ladies' hockey teams which have both been winners of Olympic Gold Medals.
Perth is home to several elite sporting teams from various sports:
★ Australian rules football: The
West Coast Eagles and the
Fremantle Dockers
★ Cricket: The
Retravision Warriors
★ Football (soccer): The
Perth Glory FC
★ Basketball: The
Perth Wildcats
★ Rugby Union: The
Western Force
★ Netball: The
Perth Orioles
Perth also has and is currently home to numerous state and international sporting events such as:
★ In 2002, Perth hosted the World Lacrosse Games,
[16] which included the World Lacrosse Championships (won by the United States), the Australian Youth Lacrosse Championship, a Masters (35+ year old), Grandmasters (45+), and International Open Championships.
★ The 1991 and 1998
FINA World Championships were held in Perth.
[17]
★ Every year Perth hosts the
Hopman Cup, an international
tennis tournament, generally in the first week of January. This is held at the
Burswood Dome, and is broadcast internationally.
★ Perth is the terminus for the annual
Avon Descent, a two-day, 134 kilometre
white water race.
[18]
★ Until 2006, Perth hosted the annual
Rally Australia.
★ From 2007, Perth is now host to the final leg of the
Red Bull Air Race held on a stretch of the Swan River called
Perth Water.
★ Every summer the
Australian cricket team plays a
test match, a
one day international and an International Twenty20 match at the WACA Ground. Of the two touring teams for the one day internationals one will play two games the other will play once.
★ Perth hosts the
Gravity Games, an international
Surface Water Sport competition, annually in summer.
Perth also boasts a large river with expansive ski zones which has led to the popularisation of many
Surface Water Sports such as
Skurfing,
Wakeboarding,
Kiteboarding,
Skiing,
Biscuiting to name just a few.
His Majesty's Theatre
Music
Bon Scott (of
AC/DC) grew up in Fremantle and following his death his ashes were scattered across Fremantle Cemetery, which used to contain his headstone, until it was stolen in late 2006. Other notable music acts from Perth include
Cristian Alexanda,
Selwyn,
Supernaut, The Farriss Brothers (
INXS),
The Dugites,
The Scientists (including three founding
Hoodoo Gurus members),
The Manikins,
Johnny Diesel,
Baby Animals,
Eurogliders,
Dave Warner,
The Triffids,
The Stems,
The Chevelles,
The Someloves,
Jebediah,
Eskimo Joe,
End of Fashion,
John Butler Trio,
Little Birdy,
The Panics,
Gyroscope,
The Sleepy Jackson,
Bob Evans, and
Karnivool.
Perth is relatively isolated from other Australian cities so overseas artists often exclude it from their tour schedules. This isolation however has often been cited as the cause of Perth's original and alternative music. It is also for this reason that Perth is frequently called the "new Seattle", as it was
Seattle's isolation from the rest of the United States that contributed to it spawning the ground breaking
grunge sound of the early 1990s. 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 has a very changeable and, at times, energetic
Folk music culture. Bands such as The Settlers regularly played at Clancy's Fish Pub in Fremantle and the earlier line ups of the Mucky Duck Bush Band that now has regular bush dances in
Whiteman Park. A favourite spot was the Hayloft in West Perth - home of WA Folk music in the 1970s and later moving to the Peninsula Hotel in
Maylands. Perth is also home to a vibrant alternative sexuality music scene, focused especially around such nightclubs as "The Court" and "Connections". It also has a large growing electro indie scene through such nightclubs as "The Amplifier Bar", "The Manor" and "Cassette".
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. The
Perth International Arts Festival also includes music in its schedule. Opera is provided by West Australian Opera.
WA Youth Musicallows young musicians in Perth to gain performance opportunities by playing in a musical ensemble. The Western Australian Youth Orchestra is WA Youth Music's premier and flagship ensemble, however the organisation offers several other ensembles including the WA Youth Symphonic Band and the WA Youth Chorale. Acceptance is granted to amateur players under the age of 25 years. Auditions are held in November of each year.
Infrastructure
Aerial view of
Fremantle looking east towards Perth
Transport
Main articles: Transport in Perth
Perth is served by
Perth Airport in the city's east for regional, domestic and international flights and
Jandakot Airport in the city's southern suburbs for general aviation and charter flights.
Perth has a road network with three freeways, nine metropolitan highways and no toll roads.
The Northbridge tunnel, part of the
Graham Farmer Freeway is the only significant road tunnel in Perth.
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 rail system is currently undergoing significant redevelopment, to be completed in 2007.
Recent initiatives include progressive replacement of the bus fleet and the
SmartRider contactless
smartcard ticketing system.
Perth provides
zero-fare bus and train trips around the city centre (the "Free Transit Zone"), including three high-frequency
CAT bus routes. 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, while the
Transwa Australind connects to
Bunbury, and the
Transwa Avonlink connects to
Northam.
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.
[19] A second port complex is being developed in
Cockburn Sound primarily for the export of bulk commodities.
Water supply
Reduced rainfall in the region in recent years has lowered inflow to reservoirs by two-thirds over the last 30 years, and affected groundwater levels. Coupled with the city's relatively high growth rate, this had led to concerns that Perth could run out of water in the near future.
[20] The Western Australian State Government has responded by introducing mandatory household
sprinkler restrictions in the city. In November 2006, a
sea water desalination plant was opened in
Kwinana, able to supply over 45
gigalitres (1.0×10
10 imperial or 1.2×10
10 U.S. gallons) of potable water per year;
[21][22] it is powered by electricity produced at the
Emu Downs Wind Farm near
Cervantes.
[23] Consideration was given to piping water from the
Kimberley region, however the idea was rejected in May 2006 due primarily to its high cost.
[24] Other proposals under consideration included the controversial extraction of an extra 45 gigalitres of water a year from the
Yarragadee aquifer in the south-west of the state. However in May 2007, the state government announced that a second desalination plant will be built at
Binningup, on the coast between Mandurah and Bunbury.
[2]
Native title
On
19 September 2006, the
Federal Court of Australia brought down a judgment recognising Noongar
native title over the Perth metropolitan area, in the case of ''Bennell v State of Western Australia'' [2006] FCA 1243.
[25]
This is the first judgment giving a positive determination of native title over a capital city and its surrounds. Justice Wilcox found that native title continues to exist within an area in and around Perth; this is part of a larger area included in the Single Noongar Claim. It was determined separately by the Federal Court at the request of the Commonwealth and State Government in order to obtain certainty about whether Native Title exists in the Perth metropolitan area.
An appeal was subsequently lodged and was heard in April 2007 (decision currently pending). The remainder of the larger “Single Noongar Claim” remains outstanding; but it will hinge on the outcome of this appeal.
References
1. Regional Population Growth, Australia, 2005-2006
2. The Pleistocene Pacific Sandra Bowdler
3. History of the Town of Vincent Adapted from 'History of the Town of Vincent', from Town of Vincent 2001 Annual Report, p.52 (possibly based on J. Gentili and others)
4. A Brief History www.perth.wa.gov.au
5. History of Perth worldfacts.us
6. [1] www.ccentre.wa.gov.au
7. Geoscience Australia - Australia's identified mineral resources, 2002. www.ga.gov.au (PDF 2 MB)
8. Perth, commercial area information
9. Indigenous Affairs
10. 175th Anniversary of Western Australia - Heritage Icons: January - The Swan River
11. 2001 Census Community Profile Series : Joondalup (C) - North (Statistical Local Area)
12. 2001 Census Community Profile Series : Perth (Statistical Division)
13. Packing for Perth because of the poo!
14. Visitors - History of the University
15. http://www.wafl.com.au/default.aspx?s=newsdisplay&aid=93746
16. Radio National - The Sports Factor - 05/07/2002
17. 'New Era' For Swimming David Marsh
18. Rivalry on the River Heather Ramsay
19.
Port Information
20. Plan for a second desalination plant Eloise Dortch
21. Premier opens Australia's first major desalination plant
22. Kwinana desalination plant open in months
23. Perth Seawater Desalination Project
24. State Water Strategy, May 2006, "Kimberley Water Source Project" www.statewaterstrategy.wa.gov.au
25. ''Bennell v State of Western Australia'' [2006] FCA 1243
External links
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★
City of Perth website
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Perth photos
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