Aboriginal heritage has had significant protections removed in Western Australia. Following principles of respect and consultation would be a huge step forward for Aboriginal cultural management.
Adult corals need a good developmental start to establish themselves on the reef.
Anders Poulsen/Wikimedia Commons
Guy Grey-Smith’s painting showcases the insistent rhythms of the indigenous vegetation and the rolling, flowing movements that take our eye meandering across the landscape and back towards the horizon.
The land may be dry, but Western Australia’s waters are full of life.
Russ Babcock
The Great Barrier Reef might get all the attention, but what about our western coral reefs? Warmer waters and human impacts mean these reefs are in trouble.
The remote rivers of northern Australia could be home to untold numbers of new and threatened fish.
Matthew Le Feuvre
Why do people still die in bushfires? Recent fires have triggered a debate about emergency warnings.
More than 3,000 Aboriginal sites have lost registration status as part of sweeping changes in classifications in the Aboriginal Heritage Register.
Domes of Purnululu, Western Australia. Pic: David Denicolò
More than 3,000 Aboriginal heritage sites in Western Australia have lost registration status as part of sweeping changes in classifications in the Aboriginal Heritage Register. That needs to change.
Fires in Esperance killed four people last week.
AAP Image/Michael Sainty
Four people have died in catastrophic fires in Western Australia. Long-term data show more females and people leaving their homes late are dying in fires.
The vivid pink pools of Western Australia’s Hutt Lagoon are the world’s largest algae farm.
Steve Back (used with permission)
We have the technology to make oil from algae, rather than digging up crude oil from organisms that lived billions of years ago. But bringing it to market will take a force of economic and political will.
Exhibitions such as HERE NOW at the Lawrence Wilson Gallery show how local art museums can engage with the arts community in which they are based.
Lawrence Wilson Gallery
In a crowded and competitive market, how does an art museum located far from major centres of population – say, in Perth – make its mark? One obvious answer is to focus on what is distinctive about your…
Broadcaster Derryn Hinch is a prominent campaigner for US-style sex offender registries, but it is important to be aware of their limitations.
AAP/Dan Peled
Western Australia was the first state in the nation to allow public access to a sex offender register online. The public needs to understand how it works to avoid a false sense of security.
Premier Colin Barnett addresses a rally outside Parliament House, the latest in a long history of protests at Indigenous deaths in custody and high rates of incarceration.
AAP/Newzulu/Jesse Roberts
Indigenous people are jailed at a rate 18 times that of non-Aboriginal Western Australian adults, but the overall rate is high too. The great costs of this punitive approach yield few clear benefits.
Western Australian Premier Colin Barnett has not responded happily to hints by federal government ministers that his state must privatise assets if they want a larger slice of the GST pie.
AAP Image/Sarah Motherwell
Western Australia should not be bullied into microeconomic reform and privatisation by the federal government while their slice of the GST is held to ransom.
In comedy timing is everything. So, too, in politics. In good times governing is – or ought to be – pretty straightforward. How hard can it be to divide up the windfall gains from a mining boom, for example…
University of Canberra Vice-Chancellor Stephen Parker and Michelle Grattan discuss the week in politics, including why Western Australia is wild about a possible cut in its share of GST revenue.
Wealth and privilege have long enabled better access to water in Perth.
jimmy_ray
What is the future of Australia’s wealthiest state? The Conversation, in conjunction with Griffith REVIEW and Curtin University, is publishing a series of articles exploring the unique issues facing Western…
Water in Western Australia is one of the Academy’s examples of where climate is having an impact, and where communities are already adapting.
Bram Souffreau/Wikimedia Commons
The Australian Academy of Sciences today released the new The Science of Climate Change: Questions and Answers. This is an extensively revised update of a similar publication in 2010. Its stated purpose…
Cities are always much more complex than their popular perceptions.
Daniel Lee
What is the future of Australia’s wealthiest state? The Conversation, in conjunction with Griffith REVIEW and Curtin University, is publishing a series of articles exploring the unique issues facing Western…
It’s all fun and games until someone loses a motza.
Jarrad Seng/Sydney Festival
Perth’s Fringe World 2015 is currently sauntering through the Western Australian capital. Featuring more than 2,000 performers, the annual festival has perfected a blend of cabaret, circus, theatre, film…