A new poll by the Centre for Independent Studies brought out the alarming attitude of West Australians.

The poll canvased the loyalties of citizens to their country vs their state.

NSW 94% Australia first, 6% state first

Vic 80% Australia first, 20% state first

SA 81% Australia first, 19% state first

Qld 78% Australia first, 22% state first

WA 46% Australia first, 54% state first.

Good on them: let alone why would anyone want to be ruled by others, but why would anyone prefer to be ruled by others that live 1000's of kilometers away?

Western Australia is far away. It's isolated,
and over a 3 hour flight to reach the nearest
Australian city - Adelaide.

However it is less touristy, and much more
laid back. Has the best climate - the highest
average daily sunshine hours at a bonza 8.8 hours.

It has easy access to beaches, islands, and nature
reserves.

Supposedly it has a fast growing economy particularly
in tech due to its proximity to Asia. It's our largest
exporter of iron ore. I guess it is an acquired
taste. For most people it would be too isolated
with not enough to do - but each to their own.

ttbn- I would think a better question would be whether their allegance is to the the state, the country, the world. Interesting point though.

I would have left for WA today on a wildflower tour had it not been for Covid and Mad McGowan's erratic behaviour and sudden closing of the border at the drop of a hat. Perth is a nice city, as is the Stirling range. The Quokkas on Rottnest Island are worth seeing, and the wildflowers are spectacular. The problem is, the sandgropers have the idea that the the rest of Australia owes them, and they resent us. The government also gets along with China better than it does with the rest of Australia.

I haven't been to WA since my jet flying training at RAAF Pearce, in 1959. Perth was a was a nice city then.

I guess the West Ozzies are getting sick of having to prop up the 2 failed states, SA & Tasmania, both of whom have contributed to their impecunious state with crazy economy busting laws.

Losing most of their GST payment, & paying our foreign exchange deficit with their iron ore & gas exports could get a bit tiring after a while.

Dear Hasbeen,

Wait a second, the Eastern states propped up the West for most of the time since federation. At one stage over 20% of the royalties from Bass Strait oil and gas was supporting WA to the tune of then $30,000 per person just to keep the joint running.

It hasn't been WA industry, or smarts, or human capital which has given them a surplus but rather minerals pulled from the ground mostly by overseas companies and fly in workers. Why should they just keep it to themselves rather than help supporting the country with some of it?

Hasbeen,

I know you have never liked SA, but I'm very pleased that I live there instead of Queensland or the other eastern states. We don’t have the Covid problems; we have a police Commissioner who questions any nutty decisions made by public servants and what is practical and reasonable to police; we don’t have 'diversity' problems, radicals and gender weirdos, and people don't want to come here - which is the best thing of all.

South Australia is also home not only to Aboriginal
people but people from more than 200 culturally,
linguistically, and religiously diverse backgrounds.

Hi Excellency the Hon. Hieu Van Le AC, was the first
Vietnamese Governor of South Australia (from 2014 to
31 Aug. 2021).

Taken from the link given below:

" Our home reflects the state government's commitment
to enrich South Australia's wonderfully diverse community
and invest in projects that foster greater engagement,
build social harmony, expand economic capacity and
celebrate the unique riches of our culturally
diverse state."

http://dpc.sa.gov.au/news/watch-our-home-a-unique-look-at-cultural-diversity-in-south-australia

And of course there's the rich German heritage that
should also be mentioned. Anyone been to Hahndorf?
It's worth a visit. It's about 30ks out of Adelaide.

Hasbeen,
What "crazy economy busting laws" do you imagine SA has?

SR talks rubbish as usual.

For decades we had import duties. Those duties meant that we paid a huge extra cost 30 & 40% for imported goods. These import duties were solely to make the industries of NSW & Victoria viable, they could not compete on a level playing field.

The rest, Queensland, Western Australia. South Australia & Tasmania paid a huge cost for the privilege of providing industry & jobs to the 2 largest population states. The small states were subsidising the large 2.

Any subsidies to these other states were just a very minor return of some of that extra wealth thus "donated" to Vic & NSW. It was still a very large net loss to the rest of the commonwealth citizens. Perhaps that contributed to both SA & Tasmania not being self sufficient today.

So no winging about past payments. They were a very small return of the rip off with the rest of the country subsidising the wages of factory workers in the 2 southeastern states. Without the exports of Queensland & WA, the rest would sink into total poverty, with no money to pay for their imports.

I have nothing against SA ttbn, the couple of times I've been there I have found it & the folk quite pleasant. I simply talk fact. SA does not provide the standard of living it enjoys. This even after the billions injected to build lousy submarines there. I object to Queensland having to support the SA standard of living, while it refuses to harvest much of it's own wealth to allow virtue signaling.

SA could be very wealthy if it so chose to harvest more of it's own resourses, that is my only bitch about the place.

Hasbeen,

SA has:

Primary industry
Uranium mining
Defence manufacturing and research
Space
Steel making
Technology
Education
Forestry
Health and medicine
Arts & Craft
Film industry
Fashion design and festivals

that I can think of off the top of my head. I can’t bring to mind what we owe Queensland.

Dear Hasbeen,

What a load of sanctimonious gibberish. So Western Australians paid more than $30,000 per person not per worker mind you, in Tarriffs?

God mate you do try it on don't you. What nonsense.

Both Queensland and South Australia are great states and relatively self sufficient. It's interesting that SA was considered Australia's bread basket in the 1800's due to their many innovations and great "British ex-patriots". I have to admit that I have at times questioned the viability of the ASC. But the standoff with China has renewed my belief in the project and the necessity to control our own defense requirements.

Early German immigrants were instrumental in the
creation of the South Australian wine industry.
By the 1840s the German community in South Australia
became large enough to warrant its own German
language newspaper.

The Germans moved into Western Australia, the
Barossa Valley, the Riverina, and S. E. Queensland
where they found the regions suitable for wheat and
dairy farming, the planting of vineyards and wine
making. They formed close communities transforming
the dry marginal environment into good farming land.