WAY 1979

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WAY 1979, also referred to as WAY 79 and WAY '79, was the official 1979 sesquicentennial (150th anniversary) celebration of the establishment of the Swan River Colony, the first permanent European settlement in Western Australia.

Western Australia had celebrated its centenary fifty years earlier. The state's population was then considerably smaller; the city was still the central place within the metropolitan area and state; and the variations between the 'ideals' of the celebrations and actual events were as colourful as those mentioned later for the 1979 event. A significant component of the 1929 event was the number of citizens who were still alive who had been born in the mid 19th century and knew the state in the context of a pre-federation and convict colony. One of the structures constructed at the WA Showgrounds in Claremont, the Centenary Pavilion, is currently (2006) being flagged to be removed for new developments. It is possible that it is one of the few structures that remains as a significant building of the 1929 events. Significant portions of Perth recognisable in photos from 1929 no longer exist, except for small precincts in King Street and a few other locations. Perhaps the best-known outcome of the 1929 centenary celebrations is George Pitt Morison's painting of The Foundation of Perth 1829, an historical reconstruction of the ceremony by which the city of Perth was declared.

The Perth of 1979 had significant changes which the government of the day was able to exploit as signs of "development" of the state. The city was no longer a "central place" within the metropolitan area of Perth, with growing numbers of suburban shopping centres developed which forced change in the traditional services and facilities in Perth. The state was also well into further developments of the oil and mineral industries, transformation of its transport infrastructure, and population growth was fuelling new spreads of the metropolitan area across the length and breadth of the Swan coast plain. By this stage the state had more than one university, and many other significant indicators of a larger more complex community than it had been in 1929.

Preliminary planning for WAY '79 began shortly after the March 1971 celebrations of Western Australia's population passing one million. The success of this celebration prompted the Perth Chamber of Commerce to begin planning for Western Australia's sequicentenary. Planning proceeded slowly at first, and it was not until January 1974 that the State Government became involved. When Charles Court became Premier of Western Australia in April of that year, the government took over planning, and preparations began in earnest. The following year the WAY 1979 concept was officially launched by the premier. S. W. Dallymore was initially appointed executive officer for the celebrations, but he resigned after two years, and Slade Drake-Brockman was appointed in his place. According to Bolton (1989), "It would be fair to assume that Court and Drake-Brockman played the most significant roles in determining the character of WAY 1979."

The inaugural WAY '79 event was a New Years Eve concert on the Perth Esplanade, attended by about 60,000 people. Performers included Rolf Harris, Fat Cat and Percy Penguin. A controversial moment occurred when the Indigenous activist Ken Colbung, who had been invited to perform on the didgeridoo, handed an eviction notice to the Governor of Western Australia, Sir Wallace Kyle. Colbung claimed to be serving the notice on the white people on behalf of Western Australia's Aboriginal people. The notice was pointedly in the same form as the eviction notices given to Aboriginal tenants by the State Housing Commission. Thus the act was both a reminder of Aboriginal land rights and dispossession, and a reference to the contemporary plight of the State's indigenous people. Court was furious at the act, calling it "a cheap and ill-conceived stunt".

One of the main events held under the patronage of WAY 1979 was the 1979 Miss Universe pageant, which was held in Perth. It is best remembered for the collapse of a catwalk shortly after the announcement of the winner, Maritza Sayalero. Eight contestants and two media representatives were plunged to the ground, but there were no major injuries.

Another major event was the visit of Prince Charles in March. Among his many engagements was officially opening the Avondale Agricultural Research Station Museum by planting a tree near the entrance.

Numerous other events were staged under the WAY '79 banner, from yacht races to family reunions and street parties. A twenty cent postage stamp was issued, and a range of merchandise were produced, from books to tea-towels. Among the books released were the WAY '79 Series, a fourteen volume series of academic publications on a range of Western Australian topics.

Historical analysis of the celebrations has focused on its perpetuation of the "pioneer myth", which "saw progress in terms of mineral development rather than social justice or environmental amenity". In the analysis by Bolton (1989), the WAY '79 celebrations "offered a sanitised version of the past.... Nobody tried to replicate the heat, the insects, the dysentery, the alcoholism, the boredom and the discomfort which were so intimate a part of daily life in the Swan River Colony."

The subsequent anniversary event celebrated by the state of Western Australia was the 175 celebrations in 2004 during the premiership of Geoff Gallop.

[edit] References

• Bolton, G. C. (1989). "WAY 1979: Whose Celebration?", in Layman, Lenore and Stannage, Tom: Celebrations in Western Australian History (Studies in Western Australian History X). Nedlands, Western Australia: University of Western Australia Press, 14–20.