WA Governor Kim Beazley sees opportunities for Bunbury growth

WA Governor Kim Beazley believes there are opportunities for Bunbury to grow even further as it already has “runs on the board”.

“This is a vibrant place,” he said.

“This is a place with a future, it’s had a great past and it’s a place where people are thinking through effectively where they need to take their city, take their region and take their State.”

Mr Beazley visited the city over the last two days as part of the Governor’s Regional Visit Program, whereby the State Governor endeavours to visit each region during their term.

It was his third regional visit since being sworn in last year.

He said he had not visited Bunbury in a decade but reminisced about the “sleepy spot” he used to visit as a child.

“My parents were devotees of a place called Anne Hathaway Lodge,” he said.

“It’s not a sleepy spot now — you can see the natural evolution of it as a port for a major hinterland.

“I have not been up-to-date at all with developments in the city, which is one of the reasons I made an early decision to visit,”

He started Tuesday by meeting staff and students at Djidi Djidi Aboriginal School to develop an understanding of its aims and various learning programs.

“I was so impressed by the Djidi Djidi school,” he said.

“There was brilliant teachers and a brilliant concept about how to educate indigenous Australians with deep involvement of the indigenous community.”

A tour of the Dolphin Discovery Centre was followed by lunch before he took in the Bunbury Waterfront Project. A visit to the Bunbury Regional Entertainment Centre and the Bunbury Farmer’s Market completed his formal tour on Tuesday.

“Everything has surprised me during this visit,” Mr Beazley said.

“I was surprised by the magnificent development on the waterfront, I’ve been surprised by the genius of the Djidi Djidi school and I’ve been surprised by the innovativeness of the way in which the entertainment centre has been built.

“I was also surprised by how interesting the Dolphin Discovery Centre developed — in particular the stories on which it was based.”

The Governor travelled to Greenbushes yesterday after visiting the Noongar Boodjar Language Cultural Aboriginal Corporation.

“I think it must be tremendously exciting for the people here to see so much development,” he said.

“No doubt when there is development, there will be disagreement — there always is.

“There is debate about what should be done, but I think folk around here have a sense that when the debate is concluded, something is done.”