Perth of Today

So, where are you from? 

Oh Australia? 

We love Australians! 

You must be from Sydney or Melbourne!

Oh Where is Perth? Is it nice there?

Next time we'll definitely visit!


Just a typical conversation for us Perthlings when we travel overseas, unless you're in Bali of course, but Perth as a city is largely off the radar to the average global citizen, and it's not their fault, because we are in fact the forgotten cousin on the other side of the country and we have a lot of catch up to do to become more relevant.

So, where is Perth?

Perth /ˈpɜrθ/ is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia, with an estimated population of 1.97 million (as of 30 June 2013) living in Greater Perth.

Sitting on the Swan River or traditional known as the Derbarl Yerrigan in the native tongue, Perth is scenic and multicultural city with a population of laid back people enjoying a high quality of life. The average Perthling will probably have a whine about how coffee or beer is overpriced or the sun isn't out, but that just goes to show how good life is here - we really have little of substance to complain about, on most days.

But, amidst all the beauty and riches that embodies Perth of today, there are looming threats on the horizon. Two decades of mining investment boom have left us in a complacent state of mind, the attitude of "if we don't change anything, tomorrow will be just as good as yesterday" has spread through our society like a plague. Perhaps the latest borderline austerity policies the federal and state governments have proposed are the alarm bells which we've been waiting for, because post-GFC Greece and Ireland are not where we want to be, not today, not ever.

Perth is a beautiful city, yesterday and today, and it has the potential to flourish even more tomorrow.But to get there, we need a plan, and we need to act, today.