Joseph Poprzeczny

The Federal Court has ordered the University of Western Australia to pay $20,000 to a leading economist for what it described as a “serious breach” of his employment contract.

State Scene dislikes pooh poohers – those who, just for the heck of it, pull down everything others feel nice or comfortable about.

Clandestine political lobbying, restrictive retail hours, “bandit trading”, petty government enforcers, jailing and hefty fine threats, phony referendums, political opportunism, and much more.

From 1920 until 1990, humanity faced a dangerous worldwide fraternity – the Bolsheviks – bearers of a primitive, murderous ideology whose founder, Vladimir Lenin, unfortunately, gained executive power violently in Petrograd in 1917.

With Labor’s leadership change over made inside 11 months of a scheduled national election, it’s most unlikely John Howard can now stand down from the position of prime minister, even if he so wished.

Last week, State Scene highlighted new Labor leader Kevin Rudd’s ploy of copying John Howard’s interview style and approach to campaigning.

One month after the most recent federal election, held in October 2004, State Scene chose to write a predictive column.

For State Scene, 2006 will be memorable for several reasons.

State governors sometimes comment on topics that are then dutifully reported in the media.

State Scene has a rather soft spot for Western Australia’s, indeed Aust-ralia’s, farmers, farming communities, rural townships, and most things associated with rural economic life.

A largely overlooked public address by University of WA emeritus professor of geography, Martyn Webb, delivered earlier this month focused upon a rarely considered aspect of one of Western Australia’s most historic urban or man-made precincts – Fremantle.

Better late than never is all State Scene can say about the Carpenter government’s moves to regulate Western Australia’s tiny band of lobbyists.

There were several reasons State Scene attended day one of the Corruption and Crime Commission hearings focusing upon the behaviour of Claremont-based company, Canal Rocks Pty Ltd, owners of a 45.3 hectares tract adjacent Smith’s Beach at Yallingup.

Current parliamentary moves to impose daylight saving upon Western Australians shows just how many state MPs have little regard for democratic principles and processes.

The Labor government led by former ABC journalist Alan Carpenter is doing its level best to put the Paul Omodei-led Liberal opposition into power.

Julie Bishop has had a dream run since she arrived in Perth from Adelaide as a junior lawyer, just in time to benefit from the mounting work arising from that costly ongoing political and legalistic imbroglio called WA Inc.

This week, State Scene brings bad news to those believing Western Australia is justly governed.

Cast your mind back to 2001 - the last time Kim Beazley challenged John Howard for Australia’s top job.

State Scene first met one-time Labor Goldfields federal MP, Graeme Campbell, back when Bob Hawke was prime minister.

State Scene is pleased to report that one of Western Australia’s most important, but largely unappreciated, post-war entrepreneurs is set to be recognised with publication of a biography.

The morning after federal Liberal MP Dennis Jensen was disendorsed by his party’s Tangney preselection panel for a former federal ministerial staffer originally from South Australia, State Scene was telephoned by an interstate journalist who got straight

Prime Minister John Howard’s August history summit certainly showed he had located the electoral power of promoting history for school students.

Towards the end of last month, State Scene was invited to a salubrious business lunch that was attended by a state Liberal MP, who quite promptly made it clear he was factionally unaligned.

With calm having descended over leadership tensions in the federal Liberal party, in the media at least, State Scene has decided to look back a century or more to see how some ambitious politicians of an earlier era gained the prime ministership.

State Scene, like most, prefers to be at the head of any queue, especially those slow-moving ones at banks and post offices.

For State Scene, the biggest surprise about Islamic jihadism’s onslaughts upon the Western world is that so many people still find aspects of this conflict surprising.

State Scene has an answer for those wondering what some former Australian prime ministers, ambassadors and even top spies do in retirement – they can become global consultants.

No doubt there are many people in Western Australia, State Scene among them, eagerly awaiting a copy of one-time Liberal leader Colin Barnett’s forthcoming book, Black Swan, to see how he explains his loss at the February 2005 election.

One of Perth’s biggest turf producers, Lawn Doctor, has completed what it believes is a pioneering step towards becoming a major turf supplier across the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

For the past two years, parents well-known to State Scene have received a $300-plus bill from an Australian university student union that, if not paid, would have resulted in their child not being permitted to undertake tertiary studies.

Ask any Western Australian-based engineer – electrical, structural, mechanical, civil, or another speciality branch – about their industry’s current vibrancy and you’re likely to hear Paul Keating’s famous quip: “This is as good as it gets”.

The latest silly fracas between the nation’s two top Liberals – Prime Minister John Howard and his deputy Peter Costello – over who’ll be king of the castle highlights several troubling features within Liberal ranks.