Looking at me now - urbane, Carlton-dwelling, reeking of lattes and astoundingly single (it might be the latte stench) - it's hard to believe that I'm actually originally from Perth, WA. Yes, that Perth. The mysterious city on the other side of the continent that people so often describe as 'beautiful', 'isolated' and 'where?' But it's a funny beast is Perth, and as yet another Melbourne fetishising ex-pat, I tend to heap more shit on the poor city (and the state of WA in general) than is probably strictly necessary. However, over the years I've discovered that one of the better things about WA is its capacity to continually reinforce your negative prejudices about the place in new and exciting ways. And this week has been a doozy.

First there was the case of the 12 year old Aboriginal boy who was taken to court for receiving a stolen 70 cent Freddo Frog. A situation so obviously and profoundly absurd, you might expect it out of a pointed political satire about the criminalisation of the Aboriginal people. But no. It happened. In WA. And hey, maybe there is policy and procedure governing these matters, and perhaps everybody involved was just following the rules, but surely, surely someone at some level must have looked at the situation and gone 'oh boy, this isn't going to look good'. Because, I'll be honest, it doesn't. Even beyond the ethical issues broached by hauling a child before a criminal court for receiving chocolate from a friend, irrespective of race, this is really not the way to suggest to the world that WA has moved beyond its redneck past. I mean, shit, I was one of the most strait-laced, law-abiding kids I've ever known and even I think I'd done worse by the age of 12. Although, with that said, my time with banditry was admittedly short-lived. I shop-lifted a single comic when I was 11 and then 24 hours later was wracked by such paroxysms of guilt that I snuck back into the shop and tried to return it. At which point I was questioned by the owner for looking suspicious, made something up about why I had the comic in my possession already and fled the scene. With the comic still in my possession. Badass. Anyway, according to the police spokesperson, the boy had been known to the police before and they now thought the time had come for the courts to intervene. Which, hopefully they will by throwing the matter out and chastising the police involved for bringing such a frivolous and obviously persecutory case before them.

Second though (and vaguely linked) has been the announcement by WA Premier Colin Barnett that he intends to pass laws allowing police to stop and search any person within areas designated by the Police Commissioner without the need for suspicion that they have or are about to commit an offence. Yes, you read right, WA is about to introduce unfettered search and seizure laws. Because that's been such a hit in most autocratic societies around the globe. Barnett acknowledged the vast civil liberty concerns brought up by this reasonably significant encroachment on the rights of the individual, but justified it by saying the police wouldn't abuse their powers... And? No, that's it? Well, thanks Colin, my concerns are salved. I can imagine this is going to face some serious resistance in Parliament, but knowing WA, there is a reasonable chance this will become law. And potentially with popular backing as well. Like most affluent societies, the people of WA are afflicted by the enduring fear that our State is a reduced police presence away from turning into downtown Baghdad. With Aboriginal people and 'the youth' taking the role of 'the insurgents'.

WA politics has always been pretty reactionary and short-sighted though, and as a result there are always a lot of these slightly zany, attention grabbing laws being bandied about, and most incoming Governments simply spend a lot of their time undoing the infrastructural and social projects of the previous Government. And the Colin Barnett Premier-ship has been no different really. But I'll be frank: I do not like Colin Barnett. In fact, I really do not like Colin Barnett. He's smarmy, smug, unappealing, petty and has a number of decidedly retrograde ideas about homosexuality (the age of consent for homosexual men in WA was 21 up until 2001, one of the highest in the world. Colin wants those days back). During the 2005 WA state election, where Colin Barnett was first running as leader of the Liberal Party, I semi-seriously told a number of friends that I could not possibly live in a State that was willing to elect this man as its leader. Well, apparently the Universe saw this as some sort of pact, because not two months after I left Perth in 2008, most likely forever, Barnett was thrust into the Premier-ship of WA, after somehow executing one of the most unwitting and surprising political comebacks of all time.

Basically, after the fallout from his loss in 2005, Barnett was all primed to retire at the next election, when suddenly the Liberal Party went into self-cannibalistic freefall, culminating in the resignation of then leader, and our current Treasurer, Troy Buswell, a few months before the election. You might remember him as that 'chair sniffing' guy... (Actually, I dunno, do you? Does anyone outside of WA even care what happens over there? Hell, I lived there for 21 years and I barely cared what happened over there). Racked with scandal and infighting and without anyone else around to take over the leadership, Barnett stumbled back into the role six weeks before the election and then, somehow, won. Or, perhaps more accurately, lost less than the Labor party, who as the incumbent Government ran largely on a platform of 'we're not them'. It was not a glamourous time for West Australian democracy.

And so, here we are. Or, rather, there they are. Facing up to new unpalatable laws, that might not actually be that bad, but just symbolise some of WA's less appealing traits - fear and an obsession with 'justice' - with Colin Barnett in power, one of the less inspiring leaders in recent memory, fronting one of the less inspiring Parliaments in recent memory (for both sides) and having to deal with the waning of the mining boom and thus of WA's place in the nation. It's kinda hard to know where to next for WA...

But, I assure you, the weather is absolutely fantastic.