Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
1880s-90s
Gold changes everything. The first discoveries are in the Kimberley and the Pilbara, followed by
massive finds in Coolgardie and Kalgoorlie.
1890
The state's first trade unions are formed by three men. Unions exert a substantial influence for the
following century.
1890
Representative government is formed. Bushman John Forrest is the first elected premier.
1893
Inception of the Education Act, which allows white parents to bar Aboriginal children from schools.
What follows is a policy of removal of 'half-caste' children from their parents.
1901
WA and the other colonies are federated to form the nation of Australia.
1902
Following false accusations of incompetence and corruption, CY O'Connor, engineer of the great
pipeline from Perth to Kalgoorlie, takes his own life at a Fremantle beach.
1914
Over 200,000 are killed or wounded in WWI.
1933
Two-thirds of the voting population votes to secede from the rest of the country. Although never en-
acted, secession remains topical.
1939
WWII begins. Several towns in WA's north, including Broome, are bombed during the war. Fremantle
is turned into an Allied naval base, and a US submarine-refuelling base is established at Exmouth.
1963
Development of the gargantuan Ord River Irrigation Scheme to fertilise the desert.
