Big. It is a word which fits well with the notion of what Western Australia is all about.
It might sound obvious. As a State, a place, this is big. That’s no idle boast. Just look at a map of the world. We are bigger than most countries, with a spread of latitude and longitude lines to prove it.
We have it all. Cool karri forests, vast sweeping paddocks of wheat, Instagram-perfect sandy bays and storm-pounded limestone coast, vast swathes of breathtaking red pindan, kilometres of shrublands.
Tropical in the north, dry and temperate as you head south, hot and hotter as the flat road stetches ever east towards the land of the t’othersiders.
But as we consider how we have changed since STM first hit Sunday breakfast tables in 2004, that notion of WA’s size — of land, of growth and influence, of ideas and audacity — continues to be inescapable.
In the early days of the State’s history, here on the edge of the continent, WA was ignored or disparaged. Or sometimes both.
But something big changed everything — this time vast seams of gold, discovered in the 1890s in the eastern goldfields.
Fortune seekers flocked west. The population of what had been a small agriculture-based economy exploded from about 48,000 to 180,000 in just 10 years.
Money from government charges flowed into the WA treasury as fast as beer was poured on the parched Goldfields.
With money came new buildings. Major projects. Railways expanded. Fremantle harbour, designed by engineer C.Y. O’Connor, opened in 1897. Work began on O’Connor’s water pipeline to the Goldfields in 1898; completed in 1903, it was a game-changer.
The city of Perth, tucked alongside the Swan River, grew up and out.
It was symbolic of WA’s big ideas. And ambitious developments, sometimes in the face of cries of “impossible”.
Someone who has been in the position to see that early theme replicated in the STM era is Colin Barnett, premier from 2008 to 2017.
Barnett says the Goldfields pipeline, begun under John Forrest as premier, was “an enormous achievement against the odds”.
“It was a combination of political leadership and strength, and incredible intellect and courage,” he says, pointing out similarities to the 1960s, when the leadership of Charles Court and the redevelopment of Japan fuelled progress in the Pilbara.
Barnett remembers feeling “acutely conscious” upon his election that he “happened to be the guy in the seat with the emergence of modern China”.
It is a trading relationship that underpins WA to this day.
Barnett says he moved away from the social focus of the preceding Labor governments to take a more pro-development agenda, citing the development of the Wheatstone and Gorgon gas projects in WA’s north-west and the Ord River irrigation project stage two construction as milestones he’s proud of.
He also highlights his focus on the central city, including Elizabeth Quay, and the signing of a native title agreement in 2015, which covered about 200,000sqkm and allowed for $1.3 billion compensation for the Noongar traditional owners.
Many projects were possible courtesy of the voracious appetite of China for our steel-making iron ore, which filled coffers, both public and private.
Numbers provided by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry tell the story. In 2004, when STM launched, iron ore generated $6.19 billion of WA exports, about 18 per cent; in 2024, it was 55 per cent, worth a whopping $128.13 billion.
In 2004, China was taking just 14.3 per cent of WA’s exports; last year, it was closing in on 53 per cent.
Mines sprang up, and railways and ports. And as the resource-laden ships steamed north to their markets, they left behind the ringing of WA Treasury cash registers awash with royalties.
There was money. And buildings. And projects. The city’s first tertiary public hospital in 50 years, named for trailblazing scientist Fiona Stanley, opened in Perth’s southern suburb of Murdoch in 2014. In 2018, a new children’s hospital, to replace the ageing Princess Margaret facility.
The physical transformation of the city also got underway. After decades of fruitless debate about how to better connect the CBD and the river, Barnett spearheaded the drive for Elizabeth Quay — a waterfront precinct with ferries, hotels and public spaces — which he opened in 2016, after four years of construction.
And in 2014, plans were drawn up for Yagan Square, a cosmopolitan public space with restaurants, bars and events connecting the CBD with Northbridge, made possible by the sinking of the city’s rail lines. But it was Mark McGowan who was in the premier’s chair to open it in 2018, the year after he swept to victory in a landslide election, ending the Barnett era.
McGowan was also the one to open perhaps the most beloved project of Barnett-the-builder’s tenure, at least among sports-mad West Australians: the new stadium, officially opened in January 2018 to replace Subiaco Oval.
The first AFL game played there pitted West Coast against the Sydney Swans. And WA-raised superstar Lance Franklin spoiled opening celebrations, stealing the show with an eight-goal haul to inspire Sydney to a 29-point victory.
Optus Stadium would even host a grand final in 2021, after a strange virus appeared out of nowhere in 2020 and sent the world into meltdown. Melbourne endured long COVID-19 lockdowns that put the MCG off-limits but WA still enjoyed relative freedom, after McGowan took a go hard, go early approach to the pandemic.
McGowan declared the State “an island within an island”. He shut the borders, instituted strict quarantine and vaccination measures, social distancing and lockdown rules. Critically, the resources sector pivoted to keep its workforce virus-free and still producing the goods.
As the pandemic passed, McGowan’s government worked on its key infrastructure project, Metronet: a rail network branching out across Perth’s sprawling suburbs. Transport minister Rita Saffioti opened the final line last month, meaning passengers can now travel more than 80km by train, from Byford in Perth’s south-east, to the northern coastal suburb of Yanchep.
That urban sprawl has been a point of debate throughout STM’s history; historian Jenny Gregory explains that during the period the magazine has been publishing, WA became the fastest-growing State in Australia, as its population grew from 1.9m in 2004 to 3m in 2024.
In 2004, Benenden Avenue in Butler was considered the northernmost frontier of Perth; today, the city stretches to Two Rocks, some 20km further on, as well as south to Mandurah.
In 2007, STM ran a cover story titled The Big Squeeze, positing that given Perth’s resident numbers would hit three million in 2050, should we “spread them or stack them”?
Now, the population of greater Perth is predicted to hit more than 3.5 million by 2050, and the city is grappling with a housing crisis.
Many of those who flocked to WA were seeking a share of the economic good times. Those slogging away on mine sites miles from Perth building the boom were paid well and four letters — FIFO — became entrenched in WA vocabulary.
The influx to the State was focused in Perth, rather than regional cities, and as city planners attempted to address the metropolitan area’s already sprawling footprint, rezoning encouraged infill and high-rise apartment blocks, especially along transport routes.
“The size of suburban blocks was squeezed, leaving little room for trees in a capital city with the lowest tree canopy of all,” says Gregory, a University of WA emeritus professor.
And the shortages in housing supply caused skyrocketing prices to buy or to rent, turning the housing dream into a nightmare for those squeezed out of the market, Gregory says.
WA became “a lucky country for many”, she points out, but not for all, as workers outside the mining sector faced boom-town costs without necessarily getting a boom-town pay packet.
For those who got in at the right time, Real Estate Institute of WA president Suzanne Brown says that buying a home has been an effective way to build long-term wealth; data shows that over the past 21 years, the median house sale price in Perth has gone from $250,000 to $810,000.
There are also signs that Perth might finally be moving away from the sprawl-inducing dream of the quarter acre block, whether by choice or through simple economic reality.
“In the past year, sale price growth in units, townhouses and villas has outstripped established homes and we believe this trend to smaller homes, and a variety of housing types in neighbourhoods, will continue,” Brown says.
Away from the suburbs, in the city itself, Perth had been battling a more existential problem when STM hit the streets in 2004.
Were we . . . boring?
In 2000, a disparaging article in Lonely Planet led to a front page headline in The West Australian and a nickname that stuck: Dullsville. Depending on who you talked to, it was either a slap in the face or a long overdue wake-up call.
But whether or not the moniker was accurate at the time, there is no doubt that the cultural transformation of Perth since then has been marked.
Since 2004, STM was tied closely to Perth Fashion Festival, a star-studded and glamorous annual event that showcased national and local designers, including Flannel, Wheels & Dollbaby and Ae’lkemi. The festival celebrated 20 years in 2018 but collapsed at the end of 2019, going into voluntary administration with debts to creditors and suppliers.
The era around STM’s launch was also a time of frequent quips about “something in the water” in WA, such was the State’s propensity to produce top-tier models; Gemma Ward, Nicole Trunfio, Megan Gale, Jessica Gomes and more all featured in the magazine and went on to international careers.
In 2007, so-called “small bar laws” led to a proliferation of boutique drinking holes and, dare we say it, a more sophisticated drinking culture away from the beer barns which had previously dominated.
From early adopters including 1907, 399 Bar, Ezra Pound and Helvetica, Perth’s laneways and corners became home to the cocktails and small plates that have paved the way for today’s plethora of places to eat and drink.
The liberalisation trend went further in 2017 when it finally became legal to pop in for a drink without ordering food at small and medium-sized restaurants.
As the fashion industry thrived and small bars bustled, the arts and culture scene in the city also blossomed.
Plans for a new performing arts venue were started under Geoff Gallop’s government in 2004, after a study showed that in 2002, WA had the second-highest State attendance in Australia for theatre performances and other performing arts events.
It was 2011 by the time the State Theatre Centre, including the Heath Ledger Theatre, opened. Black Swan State Theatre Company moved straight in; its first production was Rising Water, the debut work for the stage by beloved WA author Tim Winton.
The following year, the $550 million Perth Arena (later RAC Arena), opened with a performance by Sir Elton John; it has since hosted names including Ed Sheeran, Bruce Springsteen, Kiss, Neil Diamond, Pink, Robbie Williams, Beyonce, Kylie Minogue, The Rolling Stones, Prince, Phil Collins, Hugh Jackman, Billie Eilish, Midnight Oil and The Wiggles.
In 2010, STM ran a cover story with newly appointed WA Museum chief executive Alec Coles. He had been tasked with driving a new museum project for the State, seven years after the Francis Street building was closed due to asbestos and safety fears.
In 2020, he featured again under the headline “Magic Man”, telling the tale of his $400 million, 10-year mission that had just seen the doors swing open on the new WA Museum Boola Bardip (many stories in Noongar language).
Coles says the museum was part of the transformation of Northbridge into a thriving hub and credible cultural centre, which also houses the Art Gallery of Western Australia and the State Library and plays host to Perth Festival and Fringe World.
Major exhibitions at the museum, from the A Day in Pompeii exhibition early in Coles’ tenure through to the Terracotta Warriors this year, “proved the appetite for big cultural events”.
“People always used to talk about the cultural cringe and the like, but I think we have got well beyond that,” Coles says. “When we look at the impact and the significance of some of the things we are doing here in WA, we should be very optimistic.”
In terms of scale, impact, ambition and modern illustration of that “we can do it” mentality, perhaps the biggest cultural event of the period was The Incredible and Phenomenal Journey of The Giants, the centrepiece of the 2015 Perth International Arts Festival.
The Giants were two marionettes, a six-metre tall girl and an 11-metre tall diver, who spent two days “searching for each other” across the central business district.
It was estimated that about one million people turned out to see them.
There’s that WA word again — big.