Hi, WA probably never had much of a debt to the east of Australia. The thing that people forget, is that for much of the time that WA received extra grants from the federal government, it was an economy based on exports. Tariffs which supported manufacturing ,were primarily of benefit to other states. The "tax"[ the extra costs borne by WA residents], to maintain these industries, well and truly compensated the other states.
I do find it fascinating that somehow the lower cost of housing in WA ,is seen as a bad thing! A sign of successive government failures. Like keeping property speculators happy, is more important than housing people? The complaints about the spread out nature of Perth , who cares? You can still get to the city and the beach from the outer burbs , a hell of a lot easier than in Melbourne.
Now, I think Melbourne is the best city in the world[ but only if you live inside the envelope of the trams], and I quite like Sydney. But I can afford to live in East Melbourne, St Kilda , Bondi or Manly Would I like to live in East Doncaster, or a similarly situated suburb in Perth? Answer is obvious.
