Opinion
Get over it, Brissie: Perth deserves its high liveability ranking
Mark Naglazas
Journalist and sub editorThis week a prestigious British magazine told us something we already knew – that Perth is one of the world’s most liveable cities.
Jumping 21 places to number 12 on the Economist Intelligence Unit’s annual Global Liveability Index – the third-biggest leap on the list – Perth is now just behind European fairytale capitals Vienna and Copenhagen, constantly squabbling east coast couple Melbourne (3) and Sydney (4), three Canadian cities (Vancouver, Calgary and Toronto), and streets ahead of Paris (24), London (46) and New York (69).
Forget Paris, New York and London: if you want to live the good life head to Perth.Credit: iStock
However, rather than congratulating a fellow outlier, instead of praising the achievement of a city far from the Melbourne/Sydney duopoly, a Brisbane journalist has seen fit to take a sideswipe at Perth (Adelaide, which was ranked equal 12th, also copped a spray).
It is bad enough being beaten by Melbourne and Sydney for a place in the top 10, writes Felicity Caldwell. Now she and her fellow Queenslanders have to swallow the bitter pill of being ranked behind Perth. Perth! The world’s most isolated capital city. Will the humiliation never end?
You’d think the eggheads at the Economist had lumped her beloved Brisbane together with some bullet-riddled Middle Eastern hellhole.
My fellow Nine columnist then went on the attack, listing what she believes makes Brisbane worthy of a place in the top 10 rather than languishing outside the golden circle, like those losers not allowed into a cool club.
What did she come up with? Brisbane has better weather.
Better weather? If temperature is the only reason you can dredge up for your city deserving to be ranked ahead of Melbourne and Sydney then you are giving the team who compiled the list the best possible reason for holding you down to 16th place.
For goodness’ sake: Calgary is ahead of Brisbane and Calgary’s average temperature in January is minus 3 degrees.
And what’s the point of having great weather when the only beach you have is man-made and sits in the middle of the CBD? Brisbane travel advice: forget your surfboard, bring the bucket and spade.
In striking contrast, almost everywhere in the Perth metropolitan area is an easy drive to a stunning beach.
You like waves? Head to the breathtaking surf destinations of Scarborough and Trigg. Prefer a European-style sandy haven close to restaurants and bars? Fremantle is the go. If walking or jogging is your thing, head further south to Coogee.
Cottesloe: a stunning Perth beach just 15 minutes from the CBD. Credit: Getty Images
Not surprisingly, the Brisbane Times columnist begins her piece mentioning Queensland’s State of Origin victory over New South Wales as further evidence of the superiority of her city.
Perth, by contrast, boasts, I was reliably assured by a fellow train passenger old enough to have seen Polly Farmer play, that West Coast is “the worst team in the history of the game”, while our other local AFL outfit is locked in a race with the Eagles to the bottom.
Here’s some news: Perth people don’t care about underperforming football teams because we have so many other things to crow about.
Just look at the category of infrastructure on the Global Liveability Index. We received a perfect 100 while our Queensland counterparts were labelled with a shameful 89. You need to pick up your game and get those roadworks finished if you want to get close to the top 10.
Here in Perth we take pride in our infrastructure, such as the endless kilometres of beautifully bitumened roads that will take you from one end of the urban sprawl to the other.
Not surprisingly, both Brisbane and Perth fell behind Sydney and Melbourne in the culture and environment strand of the survey.
Of course, Perth is always going to get a low mark. Our culture is paid for by the resources industry, which is no friend of the environment. What bright spark in the Economist’s Intelligence Unit lumped culture and environment together? We’re never going to win that one.
But if you are going to argue culture, what about the impending visit of Coldplay? It broke ticket sales records, with tens of thousands of fans on the east coast and further afield desperate to be at Optus Stadium when the British rock superstars play in November.
Chris Martin and Coldplay think so highly of Perth it is the only city in Australia they will perform in during their Music of the Spheres world tour.
They want to sniff the wildflowers in Kings Park (it will be wildflower season). They can’t wait to get over to Rottnest and Instagram themselves next to a quokka. And, most importantly, they’re desperate to enjoy our infrastructure, which can’t be marked any higher (sorry, Brisbane).
The Kwinana Freeway: how can you not love a city which gets a 100 points on the Global Liveability Index for its infrastructure?Credit: EyeEm
Martin likes it mellow, which is probably why his is so keen on Perth.
He doesn’t have to worry about all those things that pushes places like New York so far down the scale, like people everywhere and the difficulty in getting tickets to a hit show. Here is Perth he can enjoy things that really matter, like infrastructure.
In between performances at Optus, the band will all enjoy a very smooth ride from Kwinana to Joondalup.
Now that’s what I call living ... make that liveability.
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