Everything is big in Pilbara
The distances travelled, the length of the trains, the depth of the mines, the size of the ships, the equipment, the temperatures, rent for a house, the commute and, of course, pay packets.
And that’s before we even start talking of the wealth generated.
So, with that in mind, it did not surprise The Note to discover that the region has been selected to play host to one of the biggest team events.
In its formative stages, the Red Dog Festival Relay is due to take place at the end of May and will have eight stages, each with a different mode of travel, covering more than 300 kilometres.
Teams of a minimum of four people will run, cycle, walk, swim, paddle and drive - both in a bus and in 4WD - to complete the course, which is set around the Millstream-Chichester National Park.
We can almost imagine Pilbara-raised Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest leading a Fortescue Metals Group team for this, but there’s no horse-riding leg for him to show off those equestrian skills he learned growing up on a pastoral station.
The event is being put together by private Perth business Event Alliance International run by Peter Kay. We hope he likes dust.
Tweet street
Even The Note, which has a mere passing acquaintance with social media, realises that the Twitterverse has emerged as an alternative to traditional media for politicians wishing to communicate to the public.
But even we technophobes can see that direct discussion with the great unwashed is hardly raising the bar when it comes to sounding out the electorate. Instead, we seem to have minor squabbleathons, which really lowers the tone of campaigning - quite a feat in its own right.
Via much younger associates, The Note has been apprised of a bitter little bit of jousting between Labor’s members for Warnbro, Paul Papalia, and West Swan, Rita Saffioti, up against the Liberal’s member for Ocean Reef, Albert Jacob. They certainly gave each other the tweetment.
Around the same time opposition spokesman for transport, finance and the suburbs Ken Travers ended up engaged in a bit of tit-for-tat commentary with some conservative supporters after commenting on a transport announcement from Liberal central.
It really is like the schoolyard.
Also on the transport front, Labor’s member for Perth, John Hyde, highlighted his party’s Metronet commuter rail promise as solution to congestion. That sparked off more little jibes, but we loved that the conversation was closed out in support of Mr Hyde by one Michael Gleeson. Sydney-based Mr Gleeson leads lobbyist Hawker Britton’s government procurement and ICT practice. The Note can’t imagine why he would be interested in a $3.8 billion Perth rail project.
