Perth Culture
Social structure
The “Western Suburbs” between Perth and the Indian Ocean, contain the highest income suburbs notably the locations of homes of the wealthiest individuals becoming landmarks and tourist attractions.
The “Eastern Suburbs” around the airport are less desirable suburbs, many light industry and main roads co-exist with the residential areas. Crime rates are higher in the “Eastern Suburbs” than the “Western Suburbs”.
The “Northern Suburbs” extend from Northbridge to Joondalup and are mostly based along the coast, contain a lot of new housing, new developments & many new migrants especially from the UK decide to live here.
The “Southern Suburbs” are where the bulk of Perth residents live, extending from Kwinana in the South West, Armadale in the South East, Fremantle in the West & Belmont in the East. Most houses in the “Southern Suburbs”, including Fremantle, were built before 1970 and they are established suburbs with most residents being Australian Citizens.
The majority of industry and jobs in Perth, outside of the CBD, are based in the Southern Suburbs.
The outer suburbs, well away from the city to the north and south, are referred to as “Mortgage Belt” suburbs, where the low to middle income population of Perth are often commented about during Federal and State Elections as to their collective responses to government policies that might affect their well-being.
Isolation and attitudes
Western Australia, or specifically Perth was the most reluctant participant in the Commonwealth. Residents of Kalgoorlie and Albany voted to join the Commonwealth, and the proposal of these areas being admitted separately was considered
The 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 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. Prominent Perth business people continue to raise the possibility of secession.
Almost all the stereotypes of an Australian (‘rough and tumble’, friendly, athletic, etc.) exist in Perth and are very much an integral part of Perth’s culture. When one thinks of a typical Australian stereotype, it came out of Western Australia.
Perth Ethnicity
Because Fremantle was the first landfall in Australia for migrant ships coming from Europe in the 1950s and ’60s, Perth experienced an influx of Croatian, British, Macedonian, Italian, Dutch and Greek migrants. The name of quite a few migrants who arrived during this period are listed on an honour board outside the Maritime Museum. More recently, large-scale immigration to Perth by air from the UK has continued, giving Perth the highest-proportion of British-born residents of any Australian city. In some areas in the far south of Perth (Rockingham) and the far north of Perth (Joondalup) the populations are higher than 20 per cent British by birthplace.
Perth also has substantial immigrant communities from South East Asia such as Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Indonesia, China, India and Sri Lanka (Many of whom emigrate from their home countries for educational purposes). The Indian community includes a substantial number of Parsees who emigrated from Mumbai. Another source of immigration has been Southern Africa, with many white South Africans and Zimbabweans settling in the city.
Many migrants 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.
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So before I even begin to tackle this sensitive subject, let me give you a little context behind the purpose of this article.
It’s been a while since I’ve written a decent sized blog entry so I thought I’d spend a little time writing this one.
