X-Nico

98 unusual facts about Western Australia


1983 America's Cup

Prime Minister Bob Hawke was interviewed at the dawn celebration in Claremont, Western Australia, and said, "Any boss who sacks anyone for not turning up today is a bum".

2006–07 Australian bushfire season

A home in Kalamunda was completely gutted and several were damaged by flying embers.

2008 Men's Asia Pacific Floorball Championships

It was held from August 25 to August 29, 2008 in the suburb of Leederville in Perth, Australia.

Adam Caporn

Born in Baldivis, Western Australia, he had spent six seasons in the National Basketball League, three with the Wollongong Hawks and three for the Perth Wildcats.

Adam Said Galore

Adam Said Galore were formed in 1994, by Michael Lake on guitar, Matt Maguire on drums, Andrew Ryan on guitar and lead vocals, and Simon Struthers on bass guitar, in the Perth suburb of Greenwood.

Albert Edwin Lynch

He returned to Western Australia where he was appointed curate of Palmyra in October 1935.

Alec Trendall

He is known for his work in mapping the island of South Georgia and for surveying the geology of Western Australia.

Alexis Bouvard

Bouvard is also a semi-rural residential suburb, while Port Bouvard is a major residential development in the same region.

Alfred Carson

Carson was born at Upper Swan in Western Australia to wheelwright George Carson and Charlotte, née Hadley.

Anthony Wager

He suffered a heart attack and, due to the weather, Wager made the move to Perth, Western Australia.

Arthur Bagot

Returning to Australia, he took up a mixed farming property near Piawaning, Western Australia, during 1925.

Arthur Baker-Clack

He was a journalist the The Register before moving to the Perth Morning Herald covering the Western Australian goldfields.

Bandyup Women's Prison

Bandyup Women's Prison is located in the northeastern rural Perth suburb of West Swan, Western Australia.

Banksia cuneata

Ironically, given its conservation status, Kingsley Dixon of Kings Park and Botanic Garden suggested that it may have weed potential: the species was trialled as a cut flower crop on land north of Moore River, and seedlings were noted afterwards.

Ben Folds and WASO Live in Perth

Filmed over two nights on March 12 & 13, 2005 at Kings Park and Botanical Gardens in Perth, Australia - a venue Folds jokingly refers to as a "luminous green petri dish" - the DVD offers 14 songs from the three major Ben Folds Five albums and Folds' debut solo album Rockin' the Suburbs.

Black Swan

In the south west the range ecompasses an area between North West Cape, Cape Leeuwin and Eucla; while in the east it covers are large region bounded by the Atherton Tableland, the Eyre Peninsula and Tasmania, with the Murray Darling Basin supporting very large populations of Black Swans.

Black-stripe minnow

The black-stripe minnow is found in the South West region of Western Australia between the towns of Augusta and Albany, and from three separate populations near Bunbury, at Melaleuca Park just north of Perth, and at Lake Chandala north of Muchea.

Boronia Pre-release Centre for Women

Boronia Pre-release Centre for Women, opened in May 2004, is a correctional facility located in Bentley, Western Australia.

Brenden Abbott

Brenden James Abbott escaped from jail twice, and he also fled from police in 1986 during questioning at Nollamara Police Station.

Building Revival Campaign

These became two of the first houses built in the new suburb of Floreat Park (now Floreat).

Capo d'Orlando

Capo d'Orlando has a twin city relationship with the City of Fremantle in Western Australia, established due to the cultural and historical links between the cities, and to maintain family associations, trade and tourism.

Carlton Draught

Carlton Draught is a pale lager which is sold on tap in its home state of Victoria as well as in New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory, the Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania and Western Australia, and is one of Australia's most popular selling tap beers.

Charles Crowther

Between 1855 and 1857 he worked for Robert Habgood, before returning to Shenton's employment as manager of his Geraldton business.

Clifford Sadlier

They settled at Subiaco, Western Australia from where Sadlier, then employed as a commercial traveller, enlisted on 26 May 1915.

Comocrus behri

Comocrus behri (Angas, 1847) aka 'Mistletoe Moth', is widely distributed in southern Australia from Perth to Melbourne and adjacent to Bass Strait, occurring as far north as Derby, Western Australia, and Clermont and Rockhampton in Queensland.

Cripps Pink

PLFOG99 (known as Pink Belle) was discovered in late 1999/early 2000 in Kirup, Western Australia and is a chance limb mutation/sport of Cripps Pink.

Cyclorana vagitus

No threats have been identified and the species is located within a protected area.

Dajarra, Queensland

Cattle drovers on horseback would bring cattle from as far away as Western Australia to put them on the train at Dajarra.

Darkzone

Perth, Western Australia has three stores, a store in Willetton called Darkzone, a store in Northbridge called Zone 3 and a store in Malaga called Darkzone.

Dugite

The last death attributed to a dugite was in 1993 after an elderly woman died in Spearwood, Perth.

Edward William Davies

His obituary mentioned only his business successes, his election to public office, and that he died at his residence in Beaconsfield on 25 January after a long illness.

Ernie Hannigan

He then spent one season with Eastern Hong Kong before emigrating to Perth, Western Australia joining Stirling City.

Extra Virginity

Mueller's overview of the modern olive oil industry includes a visit to a Bertolli plant in Inveruno; family growers in Puglia, Cyprus, and California; and the monastery of New Norcia, Western Australia, founded by Spanish monks, which also produces olive oil.

Frederick Irwin

In 1948 the Irwin Army Barracks in Karrakatta were named after him, in recognition of his place in Western Australia's military history.

Gametraders

As of May 2013, there are 17 Gametraders stores across Australia in all states except the Northern Territory, Tasmania, and Western Australia.

Heavy Weight Champ

Beginning with the few post "Grey Filters" tracks that had been written, the band proceeded to work on album material at an upstairs studio in the central Perth suburb of Subiaco.

Hobart Brown

During northern hemisphere winters until 2006, Hobart migrated to Australia, where he was first artist-in-residence at Happ's Winery, later at Leeuwin Wine Estates in Margaret River, Western Australia where his public welding studio on their patio and display of his art in the winery itself were popular stops on the hourly tours.

Hughesdale, Victoria

Sacred Heart Girls' College was opened in 1957 by the Sisters of Our Lady of the Missions, who came from the convent in Highgate, Perth, Western Australia.

Innocent Bystanders

In 1983 the band released a cassette entitled Live at the Subi, recorded at the Subiaco Hotel with a mobile recording truck.

Ivor Crapp

In 1906 Crapp was enticed to move to Kalgoorlie, Western Australia on the promise of employment and a contract from the Goldfields Football Association.

Crapp found that no job existed for him and departed by train to Perth intending to return to Melbourne.

Jack Kilfoyle

Kilfoyle died of emphysema and bronchitis on 26 May 1962 in Perth and was buried in a cemetery in Karrakatta, Western Australia.

Jammer keyboard

It was coined by Jim Plamondon, founder of Thumtronics, and first used when the "Thummer(tm)-brand jammer" was publicly announced on December 15, 2005, in Perth, Western Australia.

Jean-Pierre, Count of Montalivet

Montalivet Street in Paris, a Montalivet Square in Valence, Montalivet Avenue in Caen, Comte de Montalivet Street in Sarreguemines and the Montalivet Islands in Western Australia, are all named after him.

José Guillermo Hay

Hay founded the Gould League of Bird Protection in Western Australia in about 1906 and was a natural environment campaigner, lobbying for the creation of Western Australia’s first flora and fauna reserve at North Dandalup in 1910.

Joseph Leonard Burley

His collection of early football photographs are housed in the J S Battye Library in Western Australia.

Ju Ju Wilson

Mother of six, Ju Ju comes from the Miriwung-Gajerrong group of the Kimberley region and was educated at Beagle Bay.

Juror's oath

In Western Australia each jury has a choice to either "swear by Almighty God" or "solemnly and sincerely declare and affirm" to "give a true verdict according to the evidence upon the issue(s) to be tried by me."

Leopard whipray

Apparently widespread in the tropical Indo-Pacific region, the leopard whipray has been reported from off KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, eastern India and Sri Lanka, throughout Southeast Asia including the Philippines, southern Japan and Taiwan, New Guinea, and northern Australia from Coral Bay to the Cape York Peninsula.

Lophocorona astiptica

It was described by Common in 1973, and is endemic to Western Australia.

Marji Armstrong

In 1986, Armstrong opened an equestrian centre dedicated to Classical Equestrian Arts in Forrestfield, Perth which she ran until moving it back to Cranbrook in 1999.

Martin Copley

In 1991 he purchased a property containing a large area of natural bushland at Chidlow, Western Australia, now the Karakamia Sanctuary, for conservation purposes, effectively founding what was to become the AWC.

Moondyne Joe

He then found work on a farm in Kelmscott, but in January 1865 a neighbour's steer was killed and eaten, and Johns was accused of having done the deed.

Mucky Duck Bush Band

The band was founded by Stan Hastings, who ran the folk club The Stables in Northbridge, and his son Greg Hastings.

Municipality of Leichhardt

He later famously vanished without trace on his attempt to cross the continent from the Darling Downs to the Swan River Colony on the Western Australia coast.

MV True North

MV True North is an expedition yacht operating predominantly in Western Australia's north west.

Napa Declaration on Place

The list of signatories to the agreement expanded in March 2007 when Sonoma County, Paso Robles, Chianti Classico, Tokay, Victoria, Australia and Western Australia signed the Declaration at a ceremony in Washington, DC.

Newbridge, Victoria

It is the birthplace of Arthur Wellesley Bayley who, with William Ford discovered the goldfields of Coolgardie in September 1892, Coolgardie being a town in the vicinity of Kalgoorlie in Western Australia.

No. 1 Radar Surveillance Unit RAAF

While 1RSU's headquarters are located at RAAF Base Edinburgh the unit also has personnel stationed at the JORN sites near Longreach in Queensland, Alice Springs in the Northern Territory and Laverton in Western Australia.

No. 322 Expeditionary Combat Support Squadron RAAF

In addition to providing support services at RAAF Tindal, it also has responsibilities for the three RAAF bare bases at RAAF Scherger near Weipa, Queensland, RAAF Curtin near Derby, Western Australia and RAAF Learmonth near Exmouth, Western Australia.

Pacific Trim

The CD release contained three tracks with a fourth song, "I Love Perth", included only on the vinyl edition, which references the city of Perth in Western Australia.

Paige Butcher

Born Jacinta Paige Butcher on 10 June 1979 in Perth, Western Australia and grew up in the Perth suburb of Attadale.

Paul Barry

He also wrote the book The Rise and Fall of Alan Bond and a TV report on the Wittenoom industrial disaster, "Blue Death".

Pel-Air

In January 1989 it commenced scheduled passenger-carrying operations in Western Australia via subsidiary company Qwestair, initially with a leased Beech 200 Super King Air flying between Perth and Telfer.

Pilbara Regiment

It is responsible for an area of 1.3 million square kilometres from Port Hedland to Carnarvon in Western Australia, and from the coast to the border with the Northern Territory; being approximately one-sixth of the total Australia mass.

Pinjarra to Narrogin railway

Pinjarra and Narrogin are located on the WAGR South Western and Great Southern main lines respectively, and as such the Pinjarra to Narrogin railway provided an important link between the two, providing a rail transport link to towns and mills along the way, such as Dwellingup and Boddington, both of which continue to be significant settlements in the region.

Point Walter

Point Walter is located in the suburb of Bicton and is on the opposite side of the river to the suburbs of Mosman Park, Peppermint Grove, and Dalkeith.

PowerTel

In 2002, PowerTel secured fifteen-year access agreements for fibre-optic network capacity, linking their Eastern State network to South Australia and Western Australia.

PS Decoy

Decoy is powered by a 1905 Ransome Sims and Jefferies twin cylinder steam engine, which was salvaged and restored from Bunnings engineering workshops in Manjimup.

Ringer Edwards

Edwards later returned to Western Australia and settled at Gingin, where he died in 2000.

Robert Menli Lyon

In June 1833, a meeting was called at Guildford in response to continued calls for punitive action against the Aborigines.

Ron Boucher

During the first five years at Bassendean Boucher was regarded as a gentle giant who rarely used his strength to his advantage and after a disappointing 8 game season he left the club in 1976 to play football in the Swan Valley.

Ronan's Escape

The film set in the rural wheat belt of Western Australia, provides a candid insight into the life of Ronan, a 14 year old boy who gets bullied at school and decides to make his escape.

Rupert Byron, 11th Baron Byron

He married Pauline Augusta Cornwall, daughter of T. J. Cornwall of Wagin, Western Australia, in 1931, and they had one daughter, the Hon.

Byron was the elder son of Colonel Wilfrid Byron, of Perth, Western Australia, and of Sylvia Mary Byron née Moore, of Winchester, England, the only daughter of the Reverend C. T. Moore.

Sea lion

In a highly unusual attack in 2007 in Western Australia, a sea lion leapt from the water and seriously mauled a 13-year-old girl surfing behind a speedboat.

Sir Frank Newnes, 2nd Baronet

His second wife was Dorothy (née Darlot), the widow of Stephen Delmar-Morgan, who was originally from Perth, Western Australia.

Southern Scrub Robin

It is endemic to Australia, where it occurs in mallee and heathland in the semi-arid southern parts of the continent, extending from the Little Desert in the east though South Australia to the west coast between Kalbarri and the Pinnacles.

Stanley Awramik

In 1983, he discovered what was then considered to be the oldest evidence of life on earth, located in Western Australia.

Subiaco-Floreat Cricket Club

The club's main ground is Floreat Oval, on the corner of Oceanic Drive and Ulster Road, Floreat.

The Stems

The Stems played at local venues such as The Wizbah, The Old Melbourne and The Shenton Park Hotel on a regular basis, the group built up a substantial following in Perth, at a time otherwise dominated by cover bands.

The Vines

The Vines, Western Australia, a golf course and residential estate in Western Australia

Timeline of the 2007–08 Australian region cyclone season

:0000 UTC – The Tropical Cyclone Warning Center in Darwin reports that a tropical low has formed to the northeast of Wyndham.

:2100 UTC – The Joint Typhoon Warning Center designates the Tropical Low previously located to the northeast of Wyndham as Tropical Cyclone 10S and issues its first advisory.

Tronado Machine

After Holt's retirement the clinic moved to Claremont where a research institute was established alongside the clinic.

Tropical cyclone basins

According to the Australian Bureau of Meteorology, the most frequently hit portion of Australia is between Exmouth and Broome in Western Australia.

Vincent Serventy

Born in Armadale, Western Australia, the youngest of eight children of migrant Croatian parents, he graduated from the University of Western Australia in geology and psychology.

WAGR Z class

In November 1953 three diesel-hydraulic locomotives commenced operating at Albany, Bunbury and Esperance yards.

Wannamal, Western Australia

In 1892 the Midland railway was extended as far as Wannamal and a siding was opened in the townsite in 1895.

West Australian

West Australian is an adjective commonly referring to people or things from the Australian state of Western Australia.

Western Lewin's Rail

The rail had a restricted distribution in the far south-west of Western Australia, from Margaret River to Albany, and inland as far as Bridgetown.

Western Rufous Bristlebird

The bristlebird was discovered on 12 October 1901 at Ellensbrook, some 10 km north-west of Margaret River, by Alexander William Milligan.

Westralia

Westralia is a common contraction of Western Australia.

William Grant Milne

Milne, the discoverer of several plants, including the rare New Caledonian tree Meryta denhamii which he found growing on the Isle of Pines in 1853 and sent to the Royal Botanical Gardens in Kew, had botanist Berthold Carl Seemann name the plant Meryta denhamii after Captain Denham (for whom the town of Denham, Western Australia was also named).

William Locke Brockman

He named his grant Herne Hill, and this name survives today as the name of the Perth suburb of Herne Hill.

William Loton

It was also involved in a number of agricultural and pastoral developments, with extensive property holdings in the north west and also at Perth, Guildford and Northam.

Yellow-throated Miner

M. f. obscura is native to south-western Western Australia, and M. f. wayensis is native to the rest of Western Australia.

Zuytdorp

Their fate was unknown until the 20th century when the wreck site was discovered on a remote part of the Western Australian coast between Kalbarri and Shark Bay, approximately 40 km north of the Murchison River.


Adenanthos dobagii

Specimens of this species were collected in 1972 and 1973 by Irish botanist Ernest Charles Nelson, from the vicinity of Quoin Head in the Fitzgerald River National Park on the south coast of Western Australia.

Amphibolis antarctica

The species is generally reported as occurring from Exmouth Gulf on the north-west coast of Western Australia, south along the west coast and east along the south coast as far as Wilsons Promontory in Victoria.

Andrew Vlahov

While still on the playing roster with the Wildcats, Vlahov teamed up with ex-NBA player and fellow Western Australian Luc Longley to purchase the Wildcats franchise from owner Kerry Stokes.

Anthony O'Grady Lefroy

Anthony O'Grady Lefroy CMG (14 March 1816–21 January 1897), often known as O'Grady Lefroy, was an important government official in Western Australia before the advent of responsible government.

Australian angelshark

The Australian angelshark (Squatina australis) is a species of angel shark, family Squatinidae, found in the subtropical waters of southern Australia from Western Australia to New South Wales between latitudes 18°S and 41°S, at depths down to 255 m (840 ft).

Australian heritage law

Australian heritage laws exist at the national (Commonwealth) level, and at each of Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, Western Australia state levels.

Australian Protective Service

Protection of sensitive defence establishments, including Defence Headquarters at Russell Offices in Canberra; the joint Australian/US communications facility at Pine Gap in the Northern Territory; the former atomic testing site at Maralinga in South Australia; the Australian Defence Signals facility at Geraldton and the naval communications station at Exmouth, both in Western Australia

Carinotrachia admirale

The type locality of Carinotrachia admirale is Middle Osborn Island, Bonaparte Archipelago in north-western Kimberley, Western Australia.

Common galaxias

Common galaxias are one of the most widely distributed freshwater fish in the world and can be found around throughout New Zealand; in coastal streams in south eastern Australia, Tasmania and some parts of south west Western Australia; in Chile (From 35°S to 55S°), Patagonia, Argentina; in the Falkland Islands; and, in some Pacific Islands such as New Caledonia.

David Brand

A member of the Liberal Party, he was a Member of the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia from 1945 to 1975, and also the 19th and longest-serving Premier of Western Australia, serving four terms from the 1959 to the 1971 elections.

Dilute budgerigar mutation

In 1896, George Keartland of the Calvert Expedition to the Great Sandy Desert of Western Australia, observed a yellow budgerigar flying wild in a flock on three occasions.

Dryandra ser. Plumosae

In addition, all three are restricted to western parts of the Esperance Plains region of Western Australia, between the Stirling Range and the Fitzgerald River region.

Eremophila alternifolia

alternifolia occurs in arid areas of Western Australia, South Australia, Northern Territory and the Barrier Range in New South Wales, in many different habitats with stony or red soil.

Fairbridge, Western Australia

Fairbridge, Western Australia is a locality and former farm school near Pinjarra in south west Western Australia.

General view of the botany of the vicinity of Swan River

It discusses the vegetation of the Swan River Colony (in what is now Western Australia), and comments on its affinities with other regions.

Geographe Channel

The Geographe Channel is an arm of the Indian Ocean between Bernier Island and Dorre Island (to the west) and the mainland of Western Australia (to the east).

Geological Survey of Western Australia

The Geological Survey of Western Australia is an authority within the Department of Mines and Petroleum of the Government of Western Australia that is responsible for surveying and exploration of Western Australia's geological resources.

Grand Cinemas

The Movie Masters Cinema Group, Grand Cinemas is also a Cinema Chain, operating under parent company Movie Masters, in Western Australia.

Greenbushes, Western Australia

Greenbushes is a timber and mining town located in the South West region of Western Australia.

Hardey River

The river was named in 1861 during an expedition by explorer Francis Gregory, after Swan River colonist John Wall Hardey, who was a family friend.

Headingly Station

In 1953 the property was owned by the Peel River Land and mineral Company which took 200 bulls and transferred them by road train to Auvergne Station in the Kimberley region of Western Australia.

Jirrawun Arts

It was notable as the base for major Indigenous Australian artists of the eastern Kimberley region, including Paddy Bedford and Freddie Timms.

Joseph Parsons

Joseph Parsons (1876–1951) was a long-serving principal of Perth Modern School and an influential West Australian educator.

Kutkabubba Community

Kutkabubba is a small Aboriginal community, located 40 km north of Wiluna, Western Australia in the Mid West, within the Shire of Wiluna.

Mertens' water monitor

The monitor is found in coastal and inland waters across much of northern Australia, from the Kimberley region of Western Australia, across the Top End of the Northern Territory and the Gulf Country, to the western side of the Cape York Peninsula in Far North Queensland.

Musk Duck

Musk Ducks are moderately common through the Murray-Darling and Cooper Creek basins, and in the wetter, fertile areas in the south of the continent: the southwest corner of Western Australia, Victoria, and Tasmania.

Pterostylis barbata

Pterostylis barbata is a perennial herb that grows to 30 cm, it was first described by John Lindley from collections made by James Drummond and Georgiana Molloy of the Swan River Colony in Western Australia.

Radio Solar Telescope Network

The USAF/RSTN system is currently being upgraded in frequency to a bandwidth from 25 MHz to 180 MHz by the Solar Radio Spectrometer (SRS) system at Palehua, Hawaii; San Vito dei Normanni, Italy; Sagamore Hill, Massachusetts; and RAAF Learmonth, Western Australia.

Robert Zabica

Zabica represented the Australian national football team 28 times in 'A' international matches and also represented Western Australia.

Roland Hyatt

He took his first Sheffield Shield wicket against Western Australia, dismissing Greg Shipperd with a drifting ball.

Seletar Airport

The Singapore Flying College also conducts its flying training at Jandakot Airport in Perth, Western Australia and at Sunshine Coast Airport in Maroochydore, Queensland.

Terry Budge

Terry Budge is an Australian banking executive and the current Chancellor of Murdoch University, located in the suburb of Murdoch, Western Australia.

Thomas Road

Thomas Road is a major west-east road in the far southern suburbs of Perth, Western Australia, connecting Rockingham Road (part of Highway 1) in Kwinana's industrial area with Kwinana's urban area, before bridging Perth's agricultural fringe to meet the South Western Highway in Byford, just south of Armadale.

Transwa AvonLink

On 19 November 2013, two Wheatbelt region MLAs, Mia Davies and Shane Love, presented petitions to the WA State Parliament calling for the retention of the AvonLink.

Triumfetta clementii

The taxon was first formally described by Czech botanist Karel Domin in 1930 in Bibliotheca Botanica, based on a collection by Emile Clement between the Ashburton and De Grey Rivers.

Wangga

Wangga (sometimes spelt as Wongga) is an indigenous Australian genre of traditional music and ceremony which originated in northern areas of the country from South Alligator River south east towards Ngukurr, south to the Katherine region of Northern Territory and west into the Kimberley of Western Australia.

West Hallam

Sir Francis Newdegate GCMG KStJ (1862–1936), Lord of the Manor until 1914 was Governor of Tasmania (1917–1920) and of Western Australia (1920–1924).

Western Australian state election, 1989

The Labor government, led by Premier Peter Dowding, won a third term in office against the Liberal Party, led by Opposition Leader Barry MacKinnon.

Western Rufous Bristlebird

The bristlebird had a very restricted range, being found only in a stretch of coastal scrub about 50 km long between Cape Naturaliste and Cape Mentelle in south-western Australia.

Wilkes Land crater

However, there are already other suggested candidates for giant impacts at the Permian–Triassic boundary, for example Bedout off the northern coast of Western Australia, although all are equally contentious, and it is currently under debate whether or not an impact played any role in this extinction.