Alannah Mactiernan (Perth, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Today is WA Day, a day on which we celebrate the great land of opportunity that our state has been for so many for generations. We acknowledge that this opportunity came at a huge cost for the Aboriginal peoples of the state and recognise that we have a deep obligation to close the gap on access to health, education and employment. At the same time we can be very proud that we have created a very inclusive and optimistic culture. Western Australians readily embrace new arrivals, be it eastern staters or those from Europe, Asia, Africa or America. Thirty-seven per cent of Western Australians were born overseas and more than half of the population has at least one parent born overseas.

The community is aspirational and in general enjoys the economic prosperity that has come with the boom. We enjoy the highest average wages and the lowest unemployment of all the states. But we are also a community that loves its natural environment. West Australians strongly back stopping of logging in old-growth forests, the World Heritage listing for the Ningaloo Reef and the protection of the Kimberley coast. We have long punched above our weight in music and the arts and have in WAAPA an educational institution that is ranked in the top 25 of its class in the world. I like to think we have a community that is practical about development we need to secure our prospects but prepared to hold the line to ensure that we protect the future. (Time expired)