WA stink? | The Spectator Australia

The 1980s in Western Australia were heady days. Riding off the success of winning the rights to host the America’s Cup, Perth was booming. Beneath this attractive façade, however, a premier with a carefully cultivated charisma engaged in a world of secret deals, bypassing the proper processes of government in what became known as ‘WA Inc’. 

In his book The Godfather, Quentin Beresford provides a detailed analysis of the life of the popular, bright young Labor premier of the time, Brian Burke. Summing up his years in office, Beresford writes:   

[H]is public persona concealed his private actions. He was one of the first wave of politicians to utilise the power of the media, becoming one of the undisputed…