What's on in Western Australia - August - October

Perth Hills Wine Show:
8-9 August
This year’s festival will be held in conjunction with the Mundaring Truffle Festival. Sample more than 100 of the region's premium wines and talk to the winemakers and growers about their produce. The Perth Hills region is characterised by boutique, family owned and operated cellar doors.

Rugby Test Match:
29 August
The 2009 Bundaberg Rum Rugby Series Test Match will see the Qantas Wallabies match up against reigning World Cup champions, the Springboks, at Subiaco Oval.

Shinju Matsuri Festival:
4-13 September
Broome's Shinju Matsuri or Festival of the Pearl was established to commemorate Japanese pearl divers. Dragon boat racing, a float parade through China Town and family mardi gras make for an exciting week.

One Movement Music Festival: 16-18 October
The One Movement for Music Festival in Perth is a mega new music event that will be the first of its kind in Australasia. Come see new and unsigned bands play at various venues
around Perth.

York Jazz and Soul Festival:
23-25 October
Proudly hosted in the historic town of York, the vintage atmosphere is the perfect setting to mix seven stages of incredible music with locally-produced gourmet food and the uplifting buzz of happy people. The streets come alive with all that jazz.

Western Australia's economy is largely driven by extraction and processing of a diverse range of mineral and petroleum commodities. The structure of the economy is closely linked to the abundance of natural resources found in the State, providing a comparative advantage in resource extraction and processing. As a consequence:

The Western Australian economy is more capital-intensive than all the other states.

Gross state product per person ($60,845) is the highest of all states (2007 national average was $47,610)

Diversification (i.e. a greater range of commodities) over the past 15 years has provided a more balanced production base and less reliance on just a few major export markets, insulating the economy from fluctuations in world prices (e.g. high oil and gas prices help sustain export income when prices of other commodities such as alumina and nickel fall)

There has been strong growth in the services (finance, insurance and property) and construction sector, which have increased their share of economic output.

Recent growth in global demand for minerals and petroleum, especially in (iron-ore) and Japan (for LNG) has ensured economic growth above the national average.

Western Australia's overseas exports accounted for 36% of the nation's total.The state's major export commodities include iron-ore, alumina, crude oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG), nickel, gold, ammonia, wheat, wool, and live sheep and cattle.