Joseph Poprzeczny

LAST Sunday I called an acquaintance who lives in a house offering exquisite Swan River views.Nearby are some of WA’s best-situated residences, including Rose Hancock-Porteous’ Prix d’Amour.

ALTHOUGH Prime Minister John Howard returned from battered Washington without promises for a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the USA, the odds are that one will be signed in the near future.

ELECTORAL distribution remains a difficult issue whichever political side is in power in WA.The over-arching reason is that WA is one third of Australia – about three times the size of Texas – and unevenly populated.

THERE are several ways of viewing WA’s latest mini-political extravaganza, last week’s talkfest, the Drug Summit.

WA has four State-owned universities and one private campus.All offer fee-paying places to overseas students, thereby boosting WA’s foreign exchange earnings.

LIKE Aussie Rules, politics is a fast-moving activity and can be played deadly seriously.Usually there are only the numerically astute and the politically redundant, especially during party pre-selection season.

IF Labor leader Kim Beazley wins this year’s federal election, a WA-born Prime Minister and WA-born Premier will, at the same time for the first time, govern Western Australians.

PERTH political consultant Noel Crichton-Browne is in the fortunate position of his work being his hobby.Politics has been his pastime since he made his stockmarket fortune in his 20s while working in the State’s north-west.

DOES the second Blair Labour electoral landslide hold any lessons for Western Australia, or Australia, for that matter?