I noticed part of the Labor campaign was to scrap the Elizabeth Quay development and turn it into a nice and traditional Perth park. I imagine this will save the state a few dollars, but is this really an insightful outlook in to the future of our “city”?

I find political spiel like this depressive and regressive. Labor are encouraging people to vote for them with that old Perth-small-town-mentality chestnut, which, knowing the people of Perth, will sway many of them. Perth has changed rapidly in the last ten to twenty years and will continue to change over the next decade and beyond. It’s inevitable. It’s a wealthy city and attracts many a ferengi, both for work and pleasure. As much as die-hard country bumpkins try then can’t stop Perth from being sucked in to the now. Besides, most of those bumpkins live away from the city where the change is less prominent. I can’t see Armadale, York, Guildford, or Balga changing much over the coming years, so the people who live there are relatively safe from the city cranes and construction.

So what of Elizabeth Quay? Yes, it’s costing a lot, but Perth is wealthy. Perth needs such attractions as we all know it doesn’t have many. Sydney has that big bridge, the toilet-tiled Opera House, and a pretty little harbour surrounded by bars and Abo’s playing didj to drum ‘n’ bass. Melbourne has trams and a funky square with wacky buildings that would never have been seen in Perth until the arena was built. Brisvegas has… well, fun rides and surfers paradise, not to mention a beach in the city. Perth has parks, parks, and a few more parks.

Is scrapping the Elizabeth Quay harbour and making it a park a good idea? Let’s take a visual look at Perth CBD waterfront:

Parks on Perth CBD Waterfront

Doesn’t that say it all? There are no end of parks along the waterfront. Before the Elizabeth Quay development was started, it too was a park. I remember it well as I worked up the hill in the AMP building and would occasionally stroll down to the park to eat my lunch. I was always surprised how mundane a park it actually was. Even during the lunch hour it would be a park devoid of human presence. I believe I once saw a few people attempting yoga, and on one special day a few people were kicking a soccer ball around. Most of the time it was pretty much deserted. Prime real-estate land right in the middle of the city, being enjoyed by an internet geek and his sandwich, some yogis, and a few  bogans and a soccer ball. Go for it Labor, turn it back in to a park! Fantastic!

Don’t get me and my sarcasm wrong, I’m merely pointing out my view on the “Regress Elizabeth Quay to Perth’s 10,000th Park” subject. By no means am I trying to persuade people not to vote Labor – that’s entirely up to you. I went to a John Butler concert in Freo last weekend and learnt Colin Barnett supports the mass murder of whales in the Kimberly, so that can’t be good either. All you can do is humour the political spin and hope for the best.