Planet Perth

The Great Perth Hailstorm of 2010 lives in the memories and perhaps on the bonnets of cars across Boorloo. By the time locals started their commute from work, gusts reached 120 kilometres per hour, with eerie grey clouds rolling in from the north, unleashing the fiercest storm in living memory. In fact, it was one of the costliest weather events in the state’s history. Today on Planet Perth, host...

The 1932 Great Emu War might just be the weirdest, most futile military exercise in Australian history, so much so that it’s captured the minds of folk across the globe. Professor Andrea Gaynor shares her extensive knowledge and little-known facts about the Great Emu War with Jeff Bullen in the latest episode of Planet Perth.  He also catches up with State Library of Western Australia librarian Pe...

Why are there over 400 tiger snakes on Carnac Island? One of the most popular theories is a man by the name of Rocky Vane – a snake charmer who started performing across Fremantle in 1926. Rocky Vane was a man with a checkered past, known for letting his reptiles bite him or other people to promote his snake bite remedy as well as showcasing his scaly friends in sideshow alley performances. Legend...

When Australia joined the global internet in 1989, it was far from what we know and love today. Digital music, video and images were not widely distributed online – that is, until James Pinakis entered the chat. James was studying his PhD in computer science and software engineering at UWA when he decided to write a computer program to distribute pornography. People from all around the world logge...

David Bowie famously pondered if there was life on mars, and though it may sound absurd, knowledge of extraterrestrial life has been pursued seriously for decades; from academics to historians and increasingly Governments.  Many even claim to have witnessed these interactions right here in WA, with some sightings making their way into local police reports. These have never seen the light of day…un...

With over 23 years of practice in Perth, the late Bulgarian born Iwan Iwanoff slowly but surely cemented himself as one of the most iconic architects the State has seen.  From the modernist Madashi House in Dianella to Northam Town Council House, Iwanoff’s idiosyncratic, Besser block homes took European sensibilities and adapted them to the harsh climate of Western Australia.  On today’s episode o...

If you walk along Barrack Street between the Murray and Hay Street malls, you’re likely to stumble upon a series of old abandoned buildings, including the bygone Liberty Theatre. First opening its doors in 1954, The Liberty Theatre was home to Perth’s first arthouse cinema, playing host to exclusive film society nights, before closing its doors in 1997. Now, after sitting empty for almost 26 years...

The continental roll, the hoagie, the submarine… The Re Store in Northbridge is often associated with the birth of the humble Italian sandwich. But did you know that at the height of The Great Depression a poor Sicilian migrant pawed his wife’s wedding ring to start what would become the home of Perth’s unique culinary hallmark? In episode four of our series Jeff sits down with The Re-Store manage...

On Monday June 23, 1975, mother-of-three Shirley Finn lay slumped over the wheel of her white Dodge Phoenix in a glittering ball gown at the Royal Perth Golf Course. The well know socialite, brothel madam and nightclub operator was shot four times in an execution style killing just days before she was set to blow the whistle at a hearing on illicit dealings by a number of high profile Perth politi...

If you drive 70km north to Two Rocks on the fringes of Perth’s metropolitan area, you’ll be greeted by a ten-meter high statue of a grinning, trident wielding King Neptune. Though staring out to see the mythical roman god once overlooked the now abandoned Atlantis Marine Park. Opening to much fanfare in 1981, the park was part of WA billionaire Alan Bond’s plans to develop Yanchep into a flourishi...

In the early hours of April 27 1993, a young man named Gary Hayes stole an M113 armoured personnel carrier from Irwin Barracks and decided to take it on a joy ride through the Perth CBD. What followed was a story for the local history books, involving machine guns, ‘ninja police’ and a lot of tear gas. The event even inspired local punks Semtex 87 to release the C.I.B Demo CS EP, a raucous and thr...