It’s little known that the heritage movement in Perth preceded the birth of similar movements and organisations in the majority of Australian capital cities. This was largely in response to the wholesale destruction of most of the older built environment of St Georges Terrace and the surrounding areas (so that, according to historian Jenny Gregory, by the 1980s only six percent of the Terrace’s built fabric remained), and the automobile-centric Stephenson-Hepburn plan initiated in 1955, which led to the filling-in of Mounts Bay and the construction of the Narrows Bridge, and the building of a freeway through the western end of the city. In particular, the plan called for the demolishment of the Richard Roach Jewell designed Pensioner Barracks, which was done despite fierce opposition, although the Barracks Arches were saved when Premier Brand’s own party members crossed the floor. This was followed by major protests centred on the demolishing of the Palace Hotel by tycoon Alan Bond, despite his promises to preserve it, and the protests centred on the sale of the Swan Brewery to entrepreneur Yosse Goldberg in the 1980s.

An Aboriginal land rights protest in the centre of a modern city was unusual, and although the protests didn’t stop the state government sale proceeding, with the coming of the Mabo decision in the 1990s, the federal government was to rule in 2006 that native title continued to exist in Perth, the first time such a claim had been upheld in a capital city. The aesthetic and social damage done to the city by the removal of its period architecture and urban population, and the bankrupting of the state during the WA Inc. period, was ameliorated to some extent by the fact that, as elsewhere, this was also a period of great cultural change, with the birth of Perth’s Gay and Transgender movements, and the growing impact of some significant Perth artists and writers, and bands such as The Triffids, The Scientists and the Stems. This was the heyday of Perth’s live music scene, alongside the continued popularity of Australia’s oldest international arts festival, the Perth International Arts Festival, which originated in 1953. Perth’s two AFL clubs – the West Coast Eagles and the Fremantle Dockers, were also born during this period, and continue to attract significant membership.