State (1992 est. pop. 1,658,000), 975,920 sq mi (2,527,633 sq km), Australia, comprising the entire western part of the continent. It is bounded on the N, W, and S by the Indian Ocean. Perth is the capital. Other important cities are Kalgoorlie, a gold-mining center; Fremantle , the chief port; and Bunbury, a port S of Perth. Western Australia is the largest state of the commonwealth, but only its southwest corner is fertile and substantially settled; the rest is arid and scarcely habitable. Half the population lives in the Perth metropolitan area. Western Australia's population of Australian aborigines numbers about 25,000. State-owned goldfields cover much of Western Australia, and there is a vast central desert. The King Leopold, Hamersley, and Stirling ranges are actually high plateaus. The large lakes in the interior are usually dry, and the northern rivers (the Fortescue, Fitzroy, and Ashburton) are intermittent; the only important river is the Swan in the southwest. The climate is tropical in the north and temperate in the southwest. Agriculture is confined primarily to the southwest and around Perth. About one half of the cultivated land is in wheat. Sheep graze in the north and southwest, and wool is a major product. Meat, dairy products, and timber are also important. The mining of iron, gold, and bauxite has played a major role in the state's economy for many years. Industry expanded significantly during the 1960s; industrial metals, machinery, and transportation equipment are the main manufactures. Dirck Hartog, a Dutchman who arrived in 1616, was the first white man known to have visited the coast. A penal colony was founded at Albany in 1826, and the first free settlement was established in the Perth-Fremantle area in 1829. During the 1850s, Britain sent some 10,000 convicts to aid the settlers, most of whom had migrated from E Australia. In the 1860s the first livestock farmers arrived in the northwest. Gold was discovered in the 1880s. Governed at first by New South Wales, Western Australia received its own governor in 1831 and a full constitution as a separate colony in 1890. In 1901 it became a state of the Commonwealth of Australia. The state government consists of a premier, a cabinet, and a bicameral parliament. The nominal chief executive is the governor, appointed by the British crown on advice of the cabinet.

Waltzing Matilda - the song we had to have.

Copyright A.B. "Banjo" Patterson (reproduced here w/o permission).

Once a jolly swagman camped by a billabong,

Under the shade of a coolibah tree,

And he sang as he watched and waited till his billy boiled,

"You'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me."

Chorus:

"Waltzing Matilda, waltzing Matilda,

You'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me;

And he sang as he watched and waited till his billy boiled,

You'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me."

(Substitute third line of verse in each chorus.)

Down came a jumbuck to drink at that billabong,

Up jumped the swagman and grabbed him with glee;

And he sang as he shoved that jumbuck in his tuckerbag,

"You'll come a waltzing Matilda with me."

Up rode the squatter, mounted on his thoroughbred,

Down came the troopers -- one, two, three;

"Whose that jolly jumbuck you've got in your tuckerbag?"

You'll come a waltzing Matilda with me.

Up jumped the swagman and sprang into the billabong,

"You'll never catch me alive", said he;

And his ghost may be heard as you pass by that billabong,

You'll come a waltzing Matilda with me.

There is also a "Queensland version" of the song, generally believed to be the Patterson original (or pre-original). It has very similar words but has a different metre and is set to a waltz tune. The "standard" version of the song was subsequently rewritten to fit a march time tune pinched from some other source. In a wonderful essay published at the time of the referendum which chose AAF as the anthem, some (forgotten by me) author made the point that Waltzing Matilda was much more appropriate. It tells the story of the swagman, unemployed and desperate, driven to petty theft by society's opression. The squatter symbolises the priviliged property owners (probably multi-national) with the sinister intrusion of the Police to support privilege. Finally, the hero dies in an heroic gesture, which unfortunately leads only to the pollution of an inland waterway. [CM]

Advance Australia Fair.

Australians all, let us rejoice,

For we are young and free,

We've golden soil and wealth for toil

Our home is girt by sea;

Our land abounds in nature's gifts

Of beauty rich and rare;

In hist'ry's page, let every stage

Advance Australia Fair.

In joyful strains then let us sing

'Advance Australia Fair.'

[Original second verse deleted, 'cos its all about the British

Beneath our radiant Southern Cross

We'll toil with hearts and hands,

To make this Commonwealth of ours

Renowned of all the lands,

For those who've come across the seas

We've boundless plains to share,

With courage let us all combine

to Advance Australia Fair.

In joyful strains then let us sing

'Advance Australia Fair.'