Hamersley is a residential suburb fourteen kilometres north-northwest of the
central business district of
Perth, the capital of
Western Australia, and six kilometres from the
Indian Ocean. The suburb adjoins two major arterial roads —
Mitchell Freeway to the west and
Reid Highway to the south — and is within the
City of Stirling local government area. It was built during the late 1960s and 1970s as part of the
Government of Western Australia's response to rapidly increasing land prices across the metropolitan area. Prior to development, Hamersley was a remote district covered in
jarrah,
marri,
banksia and other vegetation typical of the
Swan Coastal Plain, with small areas having been cleared for small-scale agriculture such as
market gardening and poultry farming. Rapid growth in areas further north removed the focus from Hamersley, which was completed in 1981, remaining relatively stable since. Significant reserves of remnant bushland are retained in parts of the suburb. The
guyed tower was constructed in 1939 and is a landmark in the region, although it has become a local political issue over the past decade.
Banksia epica is a
shrub that grows on the south coast of
Western Australia. A spreading bush with wedge-shaped serrated leaves and large creamy-yellow flower spikes, it grows up to 3½ metres (11½ ft) high. It is known only from two isolated populations in the remote south east of the
state, near the western edge of the
Great Australian Bight. Both populations occur amongst coastal
heath on
cliff-top dunes of
siliceous sand. One of the most recently described
Banksia species, it was probably seen by
Edward John Eyre in 1841, but was not collected until 1973, and was only recognised as a distinct
species in 1988. There has been very little research on the species since then, so knowledge of its ecology and cultivation potential is limited. It is placed in
Banksia ser. Cyrtostylis, alongside its close relative, the well-known and widely cultivated
B. media (Southern Plains Banksia).
Fremantle Prison is a former
Australian prison located in The Terrace,
Fremantle, in
Western Australia. The 60,000 m² site includes the prison, gatehouse, perimeter walls, cottages, tunnels, and prisoner art. The prison was built by
convict labour in the 1850s, and transferred to the colonial government in 1886 for use as a gaol for locally-sentenced prisoners. During
World War I and
World War II, the
Australian Army took over part of the prison and used it as a military prison. The
gallows room was the only legal place of
execution in Western Australia between 1888 and 1984, with 43 men and one woman hanged in this period. It closed as a prison in 1991 and reopened as a historic site and is now a public museum, managed by the
Government of Western Australia. One of the notable features of the history is the preservation of art and graffiti on the walls in some cells.
Perth is the
capital of the
Australian state of
Western Australia. A population of 1,507,900 (2006 estimate) makes Perth 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% is currently the fastest growing major city in Australia. Perth was founded on
June 11,
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
Dryandra Woodland is a nature conservation area in
Western Australia within the Shires of
Cuballing,
Williams and
Wandering, about 164 kilometres (100 mi) south-east of
Perth and 22 kilometres (14 mi) north-west of the town of
Narrogin. It is a complex of 17 distinct blocks managed by the Western Australian
Department of Environment and Conservation and spread over approximately 50 kilometres (30 mi) separated by areas of agricultural land. The area is considered to be one of the state's major conservation areas, and although it is far from pristine due to its history of logging operations, a number of species of threatened fauna are rebuilding populations through the removal of introduced predators such as
foxes and
feral cats. The combined area of the Woodland is 28,066 hectares (108 mi²), with individual blocks ranging in size from 87 hectares (0.3 mi²) to 12,283 hectares (47.5 mi²). Part of Dryandra Woodland is listed on the
Register of the National Estate by the
Australian Heritage Council.
Yagan (c. 1795–
11 July 1833) was a
Noongar warrior who played a key part in early
indigenous Australian resistance to
European settlement and rule in the area of
Perth, Western Australia. After he led a series of attacks in which white settlers were killed, a
bounty was offered for his capture dead or alive, and he was shot dead by a young settler. Yagan's death has passed into
Western Australian folklore as a symbol of the unjust and sometimes brutal treatment of the indigenous peoples of
Australia by colonial settlers. Yagan's head was removed and brought to
London, where it was exhibited as an "
anthropological curiosity". It spent over a century in storage at a museum before being buried in an unmarked grave in 1964. In 1993 its location was identified, and four years later
it was exhumed and repatriated to Australia. Since then, the issue of its proper reburial has become a source of great controversy and conflict amongst the indigenous people of the Perth area. To date, the head remains unburied.
The
Argyle diamond mine is a
diamond mine located in the north-east of
Western Australia and was commissioned in December 1985. The
Argyle mine is the largest diamond producer in the world by volume, although due to the low proportion of gem-quality diamonds, is not the leader by value. It is the only known significant source of pink diamonds, producing 90 to 95% of the world's supply. The Argyle diamond mine is also notable for being the first commercial diamond mine exploiting a
volcanic pipe of
lamproite, rather than the more usual
kimberlite pipe. The mine is owned by the
Rio Tinto Group, a diversified mining company which also owns the
Diavik Diamond Mine in
Canada and the
Murowa diamond mine in
Zimbabwe.
"Bon" Scott (
July 9,
1946 –
February 19,
1980) was a
Scottish born
Australian rock musician. He was born in
Kirriemuir,
Scotland, and immigrated to
Melbourne,
Australia with his family in 1952 at the age of six. Scott is most well-known for being the
lead singer and
co-lyricist of
hard rock band
AC/DC from 1974 until his death in 1980.
In 1956, the family moved to Fremantle, Western Australia. He dropped out of school at the age of 15 and spent a short time in Fremantle Prison in the assessment center and nine months at the Riverbank Juvenile Institution relating to charges of giving a false name and address to the police, having escaped legal custody, having unlawful carnal knowledge and stealing twelve gallons of petrol. In 1964 he joined his first band, The Spektors, as drummer and occasional lead singer.
Paddy Hannan, (
1840 –
November 4,
1925) was a
gold prospector whose discovery on
June 17,
1893 near
Kalgoorlie,
Western Australia set off a
gold rush in the area. After registering his claim an estimated 700 men were prospecting in the area with three days. Hannan, Tom Flanagan and Daniel Shea discovered gold near Mount Charlotte less than 40 kilometres from the
Coolgardie Goldfields.
After registering his claim an estimated 700 men were prospecting in the area with three days.
Banksia brownii is a
species of
shrub that occurs in
southwest Western Australia. An attractive plant with fine feathery leaves and large red-brown flower spikes, it usually grows as an upright bush around two metres (7 ft) high, but can also occur as a small tree or a low spreading shrub. First collected in 1829 and published the following year, it is placed in
Banksia subg. Banksia,
section Oncostylis,
series Spicigerae. It occurs naturally only in two population clusters, between
Albany and the
Stirling Range. In the Stirling Range it occurs among
heath on rocky mountain slopes; further south it occurs among
Jarrah woodland in shallow nutrient-poor sand. It is
rare and
endangered in its natural
habitat, with all known populations currently threatened by
Phytophthora cinnamomi dieback, a disease to which the species is highly susceptible. Other threats include loss of habitat, commercial exploitation and changes to the fire regime. B. brownii is highly valued by
Australia's horticultural and
cut flower industries.
C. Y. O'Connor (
11 January 1843 –
10 March 1902), full name
Charles Yelverton O'Connor, was an
Irish engineer who is best-known for his work in
Australia, especially the
Goldfields Water Supply Scheme. He was born in Gravelmount, Castletown,
County Meath. In 1864, at the age of 21 he migrated to
New Zealand, and was appointed assistant engineer for
Canterbury Province on
6 September 1866. After holding other positions, O'Connor became inspecting engineer for the whole of the mid-
South Island. In 1883 he was appointed Under-Secretary of Public Works in New Zealand and in 1890 he was appointed
Marine Engineer for the whole
colony. O'Connor had much experience in harbour and dock construction by April 1891, when he resigned his position to become Engineer-in-Chief of
Western Australia. There he was responsible for the construction of
Fremantle Harbour and the
Goldfields Water Supply Scheme project that supplied water to the
Eastern Goldfields. He was the inaugural Engineer in Chief of the
Public Works Department. O'Connor took his own life on
10 March 1902 by shooting himself, while riding his horse into the water at a beach south of Fremantle.
Moondyne Joe (born
Joseph Bolitho Johns, c. 1826–
August 13,
1900) was
Western Australia's best known
bushranger.
On 15 November 1848, Johns and an associate named John Williams were arrested near Chepstow for stealing "three loaves of bread, one piece of bacon, several cheeses, and other goods". Johns was sent to the British penal colony of Western Australia on board the Pyrenees in the early 1950s. In reward for good behaviour, Johns was issued with a ticket of leave on arrival. After stealing a horse and serving another prison sentence, Johns found work on a farm, but in January 1865 a neighbour's steer was killed and eaten, and Johns was accused and sentenced to ten years' penal servitude. In early November, he and another prisoner absconded from a work party and were on the run for nearly a month, during which time they committed a number of small robberies. They were finally caught 37 kilometres east of York by a party of policemen that included the Aboriginal tracker Tommy Windich. In August 1865, he escaped again and met up with three other escapees, who together roamed the bush around Perth, committing a number of robberies. Moondyne Joe formulated a plan to escape by travelling to South Australia, and on 5 September Moondyne Joe equipped his company by committing the biggest robbery of his career. Their tracks east were discovered by police on 26 September, and a team of police set out after them. They were captured on 29 September, about 300 kilometres north east of Perth.
The
Red-winged Fairy-wren (
Malurus elegans) is a species of
passerine bird in the
Maluridae family. It is sedentary and
endemic to the southwestern corner of
Western Australia. Exhibiting a high degree of
sexual dimorphism, the male adopts a brilliantly coloured breeding plumage, with an iridescent silvery-blue crown, ear coverts and upper back, red shoulders, contrasting with a black throat, grey-brown tail and wings and pale underparts. Non-breeding males, females and juveniles have predominantly grey-brown plumage, though males may bear isolated blue and black feathers. No separate subspecies are recognised. Similar in appearance and closely related to the
Variegated Fairy-wren (
M. lamberti) and the
Blue-breasted Fairy-wren (
M. pulcherrimus), it is regarded as a separate species as no intermediate forms have been recorded where ranges overlap. Though the Red-winged Fairy-wren is locally common, there is evidence of a decline in numbers.
Cyclone Inigo is tied for the most intense
cyclone in the
Australian cyclone region on record. It developed from a tropical disturbance that crossed eastern
Indonesia in late
March 2003. Becoming a named tropical cyclone on
April 1, Inigo
rapidly intensified as it tracked southwestward, reaching a minimum central pressure of 900
hPa on
April 4. An approaching
trough weakened the cyclone and turned it to the southeast, and on
April 8 Inigo dissipated after making
landfall on
Western Australia as a minimal tropical storm.
Aquinas College is a
Catholic independent,
day and
boarding school for boys, located in
Salter Point,
Western Australia. The
college was founded in 1938 as the child-school of
Christian Brothers' College (CBC Perth) and is a member of the
Public Schools Association and the
Junior School Heads Association of Australia. CBC Perth was founded in 1894, located in the
centre of Perth, it was one of the first boarding schools in Western Australia. In 1937, it was decided that a more suitable location was needed to cater for boarding students; Aquinas opened in the following year.
The college is located on a 62 hectare (153 acre) campus, with 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) of water frontage on the Canning River. The campus consists of a high school for Years 8–12 and a junior school for Years 4–7, sporting grounds, and boarding facilities for 210 students.
Secessionism has been a recurring feature of
Western Australia's political landscape since shortly after
European settlement in 1829. The idea of self governance or
secession has often been discussed through local newspaper articles and editorials and on a number of occasions has surfaced as very public events including a State
referendum in 1933. Organised groups have been established to agitate when the timing has been to their advantage.
Arguments in favour of secession are based on the assumption that a Federal government based in Canberra will favour the business and popular interests of the larger population centres. It has been said that Western Australia is a forgotten or Cinderella State, which contributes more to federal funds than it gets back, and is discriminated against by the more populous states.
In the modern economy, in per capita terms, Western Australia is the most productive State in terms of per capita income of $45,277 in 2003-04 compared with the national figure of $39,234.[1]
Portal:Western Australia/Selected article/September 2008
Portal:Western Australia/Selected article/October 2008
Portal:Western Australia/Selected article/November 2008
