Perth-ect Aussie Farewell for the Queen

The 'Big Aussie Barbecue' was the State of Western Australia's 'sizzling' farewell to the Royal couple who were in Perth for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM).

Held at the Perth Esplanade on the banks of the picturesque Swan River, event organisers couldn't have wished for a more perfect day with the sun shining brightly, clear blue sky and a top of 25 degrees.

Crowds gathered steadily throughout the morning, with the sound of The Swan Bells ringing out from the Bell Tower as The Queen's motorcade arrived.

The Queen paid tribute to the beauty of WA's Margaret River region and the Kimberley in her address to crowds and congratulated Premier Colin Barnett and the WA community for hosting CHOGM.

"Over the years I have seen how this State has developed; Western Australia has evolved in its own unique style which is distinctive yet complementary.

"I can think of no more fitting way to end my visit here than in this idyllic Swan River setting which I have enjoyed on so many occasions.

"The rich diversity of this vast state has never been more apparent, from Margaret River wine to the rugged beauty of the Kimberley.

The Queen also made comment about Western Australia's economic potential and professionalism as the host city of CHOGM.

"And, your proximity to Asia has created opportunities for Western Australia to lead the nation's economic future in this region.

"This past week the world has come to Perth as host of the 2011 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.

"You have endeared yourselves to the international Commonwealth, showing them a state of professional excellence, generosity and good will," she said.

The historic event was beamed across Australia and to the United Kingdom.

(Source: Travmedia.com)

Royals Visit Australia: Giant Aussie Barbecue Farewells the Queen

Australia threw a giant barbecue in perfect weather to farewell the Queen after an 11-day visit in which she opened Perth's CHOGM and bolstered the stock of the monarchy in the face of Australia's apparent indifference to becoming a republic.

The Queen and Prince Philip left Australia on Saturday for the 16th, and possibly final, time following a community barbecue on the banks of the Swan River attended by an estimated 100,000-plus people.

The picture-postcard scene - under a "big blue Australian sky" as West Australian Premier Colin Barnett noted - was not lost on the Queen.

"I can think of no more fitting way to end our visit than in this idyllic Swan River setting," the Queen told tens of thousands of flag-waving Aussies whose sausage sizzle purchases were all going to charity.

"Once again we return to the UK with fond memories of our warm welcome on our 16th visit to this beautiful country."

The Queen praised Australia for hosting a "most successful" CHOGM, saying the nation had endeared itself to the international community through its professional excellence, generosity and goodwill.

"We have enjoyed our visit immensely," she said.

"We have been overwhelmed by your kindness and support."

The Queen is no stranger to barbecues, either as a guest or host.

When Prime Minister Paul Keating visited her at Balmoral castle in Scotland in 1993, to tell her most Australians felt the monarchy was an anachronism, she offered him the choice of a formal dinner or a barbecue.

Mr Keating took the Aussie option.

The Queen, dressed down to tweeds, drove him in her Land Rover to a remote hut on her estate where Prince Philip was busy cooking the steaks.

Mr Keating has told how the Queen asked him to help her fetch the plates from the boot.

And when the barbecue was over she asked him to help with the dishes, which he did.

This time the hosting duties were reversed, and Lyn Barnett, the WA premier's wife, gave Prince Philip a gift which will come in handy if he has another Keating moment - an Aussie barbecue cookbook.

The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh waved at throngs lining the streets on their motorcade from Government House.

Perth's Bell Tower rang in welcome as they arrived on the Swan River foreshore, where the Queen addressed the crowd and enjoyed a leisurely walkabout.

Wearing a pink and white silk dress, she spoke with celebrity chef Anna Gare, and told her she was very excited about the fresh food movement among Australian youngsters.

"I told her England's Jamie Oliver has had a huge influence on cooking in Australia," Ms Gare said.

Jill Bishop, from Gidgegannup, told the Queen: "It's been wonderful to have you here" and Her Majesty replied: "It's been wonderful to be here."

Lord Mayor Lisa Scaffidi, the last person to farewell the Queen, said: "She was just adorable."

During her Australian visit the Queen had audiences with Governor-General Quentin Bryce, Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Opposition Leader Tony Abbott.

She paid tribute to Australia's fallen soldiers at Canberra's War Memorial, and had lunch with a number of notable Australians including Oscar winner Geoffrey Rush, horse-racing legend Bart Cummings and indigenous leader June Oscar.

Perth easily turned on the biggest crowds of her visit, but in Brisbane, where she met flood and cyclone victims, an estimated 45,000 well-wishers cheered her on a boat trip.

In Melbourne she officially opened the new Royal Children's Hospital almost 50 years after opening the original.

In Perth she visited an Aboriginal college and opened CHOGM with an appeal to leaders of more than 50 countries to implement bold reforms to rejuvenate a beleaguered Commonwealth.

Republicanism has been on the wane in Australia since the failure of the 1999 referendum, and the Queen's visit capped a purple patch for the royals, highlighted by Prince William's marriage earlier this year to Catherine Middleton.

Giant Aussie Barbecue Farewells the Queen

Perth Tourism News: Tourism Praises Perth Hotel Plan

Tourism leaders in Western Australia have welcomed a government plan to encourage hotel development in Perth after warning the shortage of rooms was “killing regional tourism”.

State tourism minister Kim Hames this morning unveiled a package of measures designed to solve the capacity squeeze. They include releasing crown land for hotel

Development through expressions of interest, concessional lease payments and the allocation of funds for hotel upgrades and development on a case by case basis.

Hames conceded the “severe shortage” of rooms was damaging the city’s ability to attract corporate and leisure visitors, conferences and events.

Tourism Council WA chief executive Evan Hall praised the government for finally listening to the concerns of the industry, “Our hotel shortage is killing regional tourism because visitors can’t get a room in Perth on their way to Monkey Mia, Margaret River or Kalgoorlie,” he said.

“Tourism Council WA has been warning successive governments for years about our hotel crisis. Minister Hames is the first minister to take this seriously and get the ball rolling on tourism investment.”

Hall also called on the federal government to provide tax bonuses to assist the growth.

Perth Tourism News: Tourism Praises Perth Hotel Plan

Tourism Praises Perth Hotel Plan

Tourism leaders in Western Australia have welcomed a government plan to encourage hotel development in Perth after warning the shortage of rooms was “killing regional tourism”.

State tourism minister Kim Hames this morning unveiled a package of measures designed to solve the capacity squeeze. They include releasing crown land for hotel

Development through expressions of interest, concessional lease payments and the allocation of funds for hotel upgrades and development on a case by case basis.

Hames conceded the “severe shortage” of rooms was damaging the city’s ability to attract corporate and leisure visitors, conferences and events.

Tourism Council WA chief executive Evan Hall praised the government for finally listening to the concerns of the industry, “Our hotel shortage is killing regional tourism because visitors can’t get a room in Perth on their way to Monkey Mia, Margaret River or Kalgoorlie,” he said.

“Tourism Council WA has been warning successive governments for years about our hotel crisis. Minister Hames is the first minister to take this seriously and get the ball rolling on tourism investment.”

Hall also called on the federal government to provide tax bonuses to assist the growth.

(Source: Steve Jones, Travel Today, 26^th October 2011)

Forget the BBQ - Record rains soak Perth

Spring may be here, but it feels like winter with Perth's wettest October in 12 years.

Perth is in for its wettest October in 12 years after last night’s rains took the monthly total past the long-term average of 52 millimetres to 64 millimetres.

In the city's wettest three-day period since July, Perth received 29 millimetres earlier this week and another 22 millimetres overnight.

It is the wettest three-days in October since 1999, when 55 millimetres fell, with a total of 96 millimetres for the month.

The bad weather has had CHOGM organisers holding their breath, with activities such as the Queen's Big Aussie Barbecue fast approaching.

Luckily meteorologists have predicted fine weather for this Saturday, when 100,000 people are expected to attend the event at Langley Park.

Perth hasn't been the only place in WA to have record rainfall.

Geraldton picked up 48 millimetres, its heaviest rain since May and heaviest October rain in 64 years.

Soaking rain has also affected much of the south-west land division in the past week with traditionally dry Salmon Gums area receiving record falls.

The coastal town had its wettest October in 80 years, with help from big rain earlier in the month reaching more than 90 millimetres.

An unseasonably high amount of moisture in the air combined with an unstable atmosphere has brought the widespread heavy showers and storms, which came after days of warmer weather.

Showers and storms are becoming confined to the desert areas of WA, where they will persist for a week.

Perth and much of the South-West can expect almost a week of dry weather from tomorrow.

Sydney Tourism News and Information: Aussie Surf Tops World Beaches

AUSTRALIA has the world's best surfing beaches, according to an international gathering of scientists, legislators, environmentalists and wave riders.

At the Global Wave Conference in France this week attendees from more than 20 nations gave a thumbs up to Australia's surfing beaches as they considered an increasing threat to surfing environments.

"Australia has long been regarded as having many great beaches," National Surfing Reserves chairman Brad Farmer said.

"Now this conference is recognising Australia's 10,000 plus beaches as the world's best."

Founder of the organisation he represents, Mr Farmer is lobbying for the establishment of a Ministry for Coasts in Australia to help protect beaches.

"The world is looking to Australia (for) how to manage and protect beaches. It's an honour for us to be leading the way forward," he said.

Aussie Surf Tops World Beaches

Queensland Tourism News: Australian Domesic Intentions Fall as International Picks Up

More Aussies are taking advantage of the strong Aussie dollar and planning overseas trips, dropping the number of Australians intending to travel domestically down three percent over the year compared to the same time last year.

According to a Roy Morgan Research Holiday Tracking Survey, the number of Aussies intending to go on a domestic trip over the next 12 months has fallen to 55 percent while the number planning an international trip grew nine percent in August this year, up one percent on the same month last year.

Roy Morgan Research international director of tourism Jane Janniello said domestic travel may pick up if expert predictions that the Aussie dollar will weaken come to life.

“However, the long-term outlook for domestic tourism is not rosy, with the percentage of Australians saying they would like a domestic holiday at 76% in August 2011, down from 78% in August 2010 and 80% in August 2006,” she explained.

Of the Aussie 14 years and older, around 68 percent said they intend to take at least one holiday over next, down from 70 percent last year.

Ms Janniello added that the leading was for Aussies to plan a trip is online and through books, with 86 percent of holiday intenders access the net at least once a month, while 61 percent say internet is most useful media for travel and accommodation.
“Of those holiday intenders who booked their last holiday, 58% did so via the internet,” she concluded.

Australian Domesic Intentions Fall as International Picks Up

Royals Visit Australia: Going Gaga for Queen Elizabeth

Queen Elizabeth II begins this week her 16th official tour of Australia, competing with Lady Gaga and Oprah Winfrey as the biggest celebrity visitor down under in the past year as her fame outweighs her political relevance in a country where she is officially the head of state.

Arriving late Wednesday in the capital Canberra, where she will meet Prime Minister Julia Gillard—who publicly supports Australia's becoming a republic—the queen will take trips to Brisbane and Melbourne before traveling to Perth to open the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.

"The queen's visit now is less a factor in politics than it is popular entertainment," Richard Stanton, senior lecturer in political communication at University of Sydney, said. "She is seen today by a generation in the same way Lady Gaga is seen."

Still, it's hard to picture the queen's hand-waving and flower-show excursions inspiring the hysteria that celebrities do. Lady Gaga, for instance, was granted honorary citizenship to Sydney when she flew in for a single concert in July, and Oprah Winfrey's visit last December was celebrated with a giant "O" installed on the Sydney Harbor Bridge.

The queen's visit isn't expected to reignite a debate over cutting the links that make her Australia's head of state—as much as Australia's Republican Movement wishes otherwise. The lobby plans receptions in each of the major cities the 85-year-old queen plans to visit to push for a constitutional change making Australia a republic, with an elected president as head of state.

Royals Visit Australia: Going Gaga for Queen Elizabeth

World's Best Kite Surfers Heading for Perth

Two of the fastest kite surfers in the world will be in Perth this December to compete in the Red Bull Lighthouse to Leighton Kite Surfing Race.

Current and former world speed sailing record holders Rob Douglas from the United States and Alex Caizergues from France have entered this year's race. In addition, 100 kite surfers, including 50 international and national competitors, will also be participating.

The State Government, through Eventscorp, is proud to sponsor the event for the next three years and has also commissioned the production of a half-hour national and international television program.

(Source: Talking Tourism)

Australian Open Tennis: Tennis stars coming to Perth for Hopman Cup

West Australian tennis fans are in for a star studded treat at this summer’s Hyundai Hopman Cup XXIV with one of the best fields ever assembled in the tournament’s 24-year history.

Tourism Minister Kim Hames said it was great to see Caroline Wozniacki, who’s held the number one ranking for the past year, coming to Perth for the first time.

“Caroline Wozniacki has won 18 WTA events and will be a major drawcard - she’ll become the 24th world number one player to play in the event since it started in 1988,” Dr Hames said.

“To have three of the top seven ranked women players in the world and two of the top 10 men coming to Perth this summer is fantastic.

“There are three Grand Slam event winners in Petra Kvitova, Li Na and Lleyton Hewitt in the field as well as some of the rising stars of tennis, which will guarantee some thrilling and entertaining games.”

The Minister said the State Government, through Eventscorp, is a founding sponsor of the Hopman Cup, and last year put in place a new four-year sponsorship agreement that carries through to 2014.

“The last Hyundai Hopman Cup broke attendance and television coverage records, and with the star studded field assembled for Hopman Cup XXIV those records will again be under threat,” Dr Hames said.

“This Hopman Cup will signal the end of an era with the tournament moving to Perth Arena next year and I want to publicly thank Burswood for being such wonderful hosts since 1988.”

Australian Open Tennis: Tennis stars coming to Perth for Hopman Cup

Royals Visit Australia: Perth to serve 120,000 Snags at Queen's 'Largest-Ever' Barbecue

About 120,000 sausages and 1500 litres of tomato sauce will be served at the Queen's Big Aussie Barbecue in Perth later this month.

Tens of thousands of West Australians are expected to crowd Perth Foreshore to share a snag with Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip on October 29, in what Premier Colin Barnett said would be an internationally historic event.

The royal couple will travel in a slow motorcade before stepping out to "mingle" with families, albeit behind a roped off path.

At least $250,000 is expected to be raised from gold coin donations for the sausage sizzle.

The money will be donated to the Australian Red Cross, Legacy, Clontarf Academy and Activ Foundation.

The Queen will be in Perth to open the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, which runs October 28 to 30.

Royals Visit Australia: Perth to serve 120,000 Snags at Queen's 'Largest-Ever' Barbecue

Perth Airport Opens New Waiting Area

A new waiting area has opened at Perth Domestic Airport in response to escalating complaints about thousands of illegally parked cars causing havoc.

Drivers will now be able to wait with their cars for up to 90 minutes for the cost of a gold coin donation, which will be donated to a children's charity.

Perth Airport chief executive officer Brad Geatches said it was hoped the new park-and-wait area would stop the 63,000 drivers who illegally park along Brearley Avenue each year.

The number of people flying into and out of Perth Domestic Airport is growing at the highest rate of any Australian capital city - by almost 10 per cent last financial year.

The number of vehicles picking up and dropping off passengers is now about 900,000 each year, according to the airport.

Mr Geatches said there was a growing trend for motorists to park along the road shoulder on Brearley Avenue to wait for passengers arriving on a domestic flight.

"Perth Airport has responded to the many complaints from motorists and cyclists about near misses due to illegally parked vehicles pulling out into traffic lanes from the road shoulder," he said.

"Now there are no more excuses for parking illegally and motorists have options to do the right thing.

"All short-term car parks at Perth Airport are free for the first 10 minutes and the new park-and-wait [area] is for people wanting to park and wait with their vehicle in a safe area for up to 90 minutes."

There are 50 bays in the park-and-wait area, which can be doubled to meet demand.

Profits from the gold coin entry will go to children's charities including Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation and Youth Focus.

The new car park follows the airport's recent announcement of a $1 billion upgrade to accommodate the escalating number of people using domestic and international terminals.

Source: http://www.watoday.com.au/wa-news/perth-airport-opens-new-waiting-area-20111012-1lkmf.html#ixzz1acW5fszi

Shows Australia: Madonna To Tour Australia

Madonna will tour Australia in April, 2012 according to a leaked Live Nation document.

Live Nation is the touring company Madonna signed with after leaving Warner Music.

Fansite drownedmadonna.com published a scan of the document. It include the following dates:

April 5, Sydney, ANZ Stadium
April 12, Brisbane, Suncorp Stadium
April 15, Adelaide, AAMI Stadium
April 18, Melbourne, Etihad Stadium
April 24, Perth, Patersons Stadium

According to the document Madonna will also play Auckland, New Zealand on March 31, 2012.

Madonna has only toured Australia once before. She was last here in 1995 for The Girlie Tour.

Shows Australia: Madonna To Tour Australia

Sydney Tourism News and Information: Australia to Renew Focus on Indian and Chinese Middle Class Tourists

Australia is set to renew its focus on wooing the cash rich middle class population of India and China at the Australian Tourism Directions conference in Canberra. According to a PTI report, the conference, to be held from tomorrow, will also analyse the progress of plans to double overnight visitor spending to USD 140 billion by 2020.

“Now more than ever we need to remain focused on the big picture improvements that can enhance the long-term competitiveness of the sector,” said Martin Ferguson, Federal Tourism Minister, Government of Australia. He added that the conference will renew the industry's focus on Asia and the rise of China as Australia's most valuable tourism market.

Sydney Tourism News and Information: Australia to Renew Focus on Indian and Chinese Middle Class Tourists

Royals Visit Australia: Queen to Get a $2m Aussie Party

TAXPAYERS will spend nearly $2 million to entertain the Queen, world leaders and delegates attending the opening ceremony of the CHOGM talks later this month.

Government tender documents confirm Australians have already been handed a bill for $21 million to stage the talks, a cost expected to nearly triple to $58 million.

The Great Big Events company, which produced the Sydney Olympics, has secured the contract for the 2011 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) to be held in Perth later this month.

A further $500,000 will be paid to Globecast Australia to organise broadcast services.

Luxury hotels in Perth will secure a $10 million payday. But the majority of that money will eventually be reimbursed to Australian taxpayers by member states attending the talks.

Leaders from 54 nations including British Prime Minister David Cameron will fly into Australia for the meeting which will run from October 28 to 30.

While the government will foot the accommodation bill for world leaders, foreign ministers and one senior official to attend the talks, member states will be asked to reimburse taxpayers for the cost for additional delegates

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Royals Visit Australia: Queen to Get a $2m Aussie Party

Sydney Tourism News and Information: Tourism pulls in 5% of GDP - Sydney Tourism News

The proceeds of tourism were worth $72 billion, or about 5 per cent of the country's gross domestic product, to the Australian economy in 2009-10, new statistics show.

The latest research from Tourism Research Australia reveals that the direct proceeds from tourism in that year were at $33.9 billion, an increase of 3.2 per cent on the previous period.

Indirect proceeds, or funds generated because of tourism but through other industries, totalled $37.8 billion.

Sydney Tourism News and Information: Tourism pulls in 5% of GDP - Sydney Tourism News

Princely Treasures Dazzling and Delighting Perth Audiences

The Princely Treasures European Masterpieces 1600 - 1800 from the Victoria and Albert Museum has opened at the Art Gallery of WA. This stunning collection from one of the world's greatest museums runs until January 9, 2012.

Get your tickets now from Ticketek or at the Art Gallery of WA. The cost of tickets is adults $20, concession $16, children (5-16 years) $12, family ticket $50. For more information on the exhibition visit the website.

The Princely Treasures Masterclass Lecture Series will also start tonight at 7pm with Dr Stefano Carboni. Bookings are essential.

PJ Harvey to Kick Off Tour in Perth

Mercury Prize winner PJ Harvey will return to Australia for a series of theatre performances to showcase her newest and most critically acclaimed album, Let England Shake.

The musician, songwriter and composer will begin her Australian tour on stage at the Perth Concert Hall on Friday January 13.

Polly Jean Harvey, who performs at PJ Harvey, took off in the early '90s and is known as an experimental artist, constantly updating her look over the release of eight solo albums and contributions to many more throughout her career.

This year Harvey was awarded her second Mercury Prize for Let England Shake and became the first artist in history to win the award twice.

The 2011 award came a decade after her inaugural win for her fifth album Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea.

The main theme of her new album is war, the fate of the people who are fighting, and events from Afghanistan to Gallipoli.

Harvey will be accompanied on her latest tour by a band which comprises of Mick Harvey, John Parish and Jean Marc Butty who will performs songs from the new album alongside songs from previous albums.

Tickets are priced at $122.17 and are available from Bocs Ticketing on 08 9484 1133.

For more information visit www.pjharvey.net

Perth Goes 'Into the Shimmer Heat' Theare-Dance Operatic Show

Into The Shimmer Heat promises to be the year's most adventurous operatic-theatre-dance outing, says ABC 720's cultural correspondent Victoria Laurie.

It's odd to think of an operatic work based around the story of a girl who is mute, but then Into the Shimmer Heat is no ordinary chamber opera.

And before anyone runs away fro the word 'opera', this is an anti-elitist show that defies categorisation. It invites audiences to go on an adventure with a team of highly experienced creative minds to experience "a hot air balloon disaster, a violent storm, vast emptiness, an oasis teaming with life, and a comical camel."

Into the Shimmer Heat has its world premiere in Perth on Saturday 8th October and runs until 15th October. It's been a long time in the making; it began life in 1995 as an experiment between the contemporary music group, Nova Ensemble, and Spare Parts Puppet Theatre to create an opera for young people about youth suicide.

But it soon evolved into a sophisticated work for adults and adolescents, says writer-director Phil Thomson. "The story is about grief and damage and the importance of living on," he says, explaining that the mute girl has survived a balloon accident in which her mother dies. "She meets all kinds of spirit world figures who convince her that it's time to return to the world and resume her life."

"We agonised for ages over whether we would even call the show an opera," says David Pye, Nova Ensemble's musical director, who composed the music with colleague Lee Buddle. "For a long time we were thinking of it as a piece of theatre, with dance and puppetry and sound design. But we came around to 'opera' because it's an all-encompassing word and traditionally opera was used for all the cutting edge art forms of the day."

At a time when pre-20th century operatic 'museum pieces' are still the main opera fare around Australia, Shimmer Heat was clearly too cutting edge. The WA Opera declared no interest in staging it, so it st on the shelf for years. But with a supernova of WA talent involved - among them opera singers Sara Macliver, Fiona Campbell and Robert Hofmann, and internationally renowned puppeteers Joanne Foley and Ian Tregonning - the Department of Culture and the Arts and UWA willingly came on board with nearly $400,000 in funding.

Says Pye, "traditional opera goers will love the gorgeous singing of Sara and Fiona on stage, while others will like the contemporary dance aspect, or the puppetry because that plays a big part in the opera."

The musical score stretches from 21st century music through to Goth Metal but, he adds, it generally aims to be melodic and accessible. "We were very much of the view that we weren't writing for an ivory tower audience but for the general public to come along and enjoy. And the story is interesting but not overly complex."

WAAPA dance graduate Sofie Burgoyne plays the role of a lonely teenage girl who is in a balloon accident that her mother doesn't survive. "She is mute and can only express herself through her movements and the music she listens to," says Pye. "The opera is about the hallucinations of the girl as she listens to one song in particular."

That particular song was composed by a new WA musical talent, Anthony Cormican; according to Pye, "he happens to be a fantastic solo guitar artist and recording engineer whose band has just signed to Atlantic Records in the States." He wrote a song called 'Feel', "and we've been able to extract threads of it that permeate the whole opera."

"It was always Lee's and my intention that we should incorporate the music of today, just as traditional operas did. So we wanted a kind of 'Vampire teen soft porn rock heavy metal genre'," Pye says teasingly. "But we basically don't move in those circles, so Anthony - who then asked to perform in the show - became our own personal Rock God!"

"Our puppeteers are doing some wonderful stuff too, creating the illusion of objects floating towards you. Much of the opera is set in the spirit world, so we have free rein to play with elements of magic."

Pye says Nova Ensemble has long been wanting to create larger scale events with bigger impact, "so that our work is taken notice of more widely. We're working on the idea of streaming the last performance of Into the Shimmer Heat on the internet, it's just a matter of working out how people might pay for it! Any time Nova plays, usually in small concerts, the public says 'wow, you're great, so why haven't we heard of you?"

Into the Shimmer Heat - Nova Ensemble with Sara Macliver, Fiona Campbell, Robert Hofmann, Brendan Hanson and Sofie Burgoyne

Royals Visit Australia: West Australians to have the chance to see The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh in Perth

Premier Colin Barnett today welcomed the announcement by Buckingham Palace that Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II will also undertake a State Royal Visit to Western Australia when she travels to officially open the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) next month.

“West Australians will have the chance to see the Royal couple during their visit and we hope to announce details of this as soon as possible,” Mr Barnett said.

Royals Visit Australia: West Australians to have the chance to see The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh in Perth