Western Australia
Specialist economy refusing diversification. Perth: world's most isolated capital (2,000km from Adelaide). Reluctant federation 1901; 1933 voted 66% to secede (British Parliament refused); COVID 2020 hard border reignited sentiment (28% support). 2.6M people (11% of Australia), 2.5M km² (1/3 continent), 17.5% of GDP. Mining monoculture: 58% of Australia's mineral/energy exports—iron ore 60%, LNG 20%, lithium 52% of world. GDP per capita $135k (vs national $74k). Giant panda economy: 99% bamboo. Boom-bust cycles tied to commodity prices. Eucalyptus specialist: thrives in harsh isolation, dies when environment shifts.
Western Australia is the specialist that refuses to diversify. When the Swan River Colony was established in 1829, it was supposed to be agricultural and pastoral. The soil was poor, the isolation extreme. Perth sits 2,000 kilometres from Adelaide, three hours by air to the nearest large city. In 1890, gold was discovered at Coolgardie and Kalgoorlie. The colony finally had something worth extracting. When Australia federated in 1901, Western Australia joined reluctantly. By 1933, during the Great Depression, 66% of Western Australians voted to secede. The British Parliament refused the petition. WA stayed in the federation—not by choice, but by imperial veto.
The pattern repeated. Every time the east coast ignores Western Australia, secession sentiment resurfaces. During COVID-19, Premier Mark McGowan closed the state border. For months in 2020-21, WA operated as a separate nation. Opinion polls showed 28% supported leaving the federation. The hard border worked—WA avoided the outbreaks that devastated Melbourne and Sydney. The lesson reinforced: isolation can be an asset when the continent is burning, economically or epidemiologically.
By 2025, Western Australia has 2.6 million people—11% of Australia's population—living on 2.5 million square kilometres, one-third of the continent. Eighty percent cluster in Perth. The economy accounts for 17.5% of Australia's GDP. That disparity—11% of people generating 17.5% of output—comes from extraction. WA produces 58% of Australia's mineral and energy exports. Iron ore dominates: 60% of the state's mineral sales, mined in the Pilbara and shipped to China. LNG contributes 20%. WA produces 52% of the world's lithium. GDP per capita is $135,479, nearly double the national average of $74,605. The state doesn't manufacture, it excavates. It's a giant panda economy—99% bamboo, despite having carnivore teeth.
Boom, bust, boom. The mining boom of the mid-2000s created fast wealth. BHP and Rio Tinto expanded. Workers flew in, fly out. Perth housing hit record prices. Then in August 2012, BHP cancelled its $30 billion Olympic Dam expansion. Two days later, the resources minister declared "the boom in commodity prices is over." Perth was left with unfinished projects, deficits, and a reputation for being too expensive. In 2024, BHP's profits dropped 23% due to iron ore price volatility. Commodity exports are forecast down 10%. Yet Perth house prices hit $740,000 in December 2024—the highest since the 2007 peak. The boom is back, or maybe it's just another cycle.
The biology is clear: WA is a specialist thriving in isolation. Eucalyptus forests dominate the southwest—trees adapted to fire, drought, and nutrient-poor soils. They outcompete generalists in harsh conditions but die when the environment shifts. WA's economy follows the same logic: optimized for mining extraction in an isolated geography, vulnerable when commodity markets turn. Diversification would reduce risk, but diversification requires infrastructure, networks, and markets that don't exist 2,000 kilometres from the nearest city. The state exists on a different evolutionary branch—geographically peripheral, economically specialized, politically semi-detached. When the boom returns, WA prospers alone. When it busts, the federation suddenly remembers the west exists. But by then, another secession petition is already circulating.