(I myself had long believed the myth of Western Australia, until my eyes were opened by the following passage, originally posted on Slashdot.)
Once again we are plagued with stories originating from this so called “Western Australia”. As an Australian I am probably most aware of the myth of Western Australia, for those of you not in the know I’ll lay it out for you.
Have you ever been to Western Australia? No you haven’t. Have you ever met anyone who is from Western Australia? No, I didn’t think so. Seriously ask around your office, no one has been there. Sure you hear about it in the news (such as the article) but finding good hard evidence of its existence just isn’t possible.
Why you ask? Because Western Australia doesn’t exist. Think about it. The supposed state is massive, too large to practically be governed by one single state government. Furthermore it is conveniently placed about as far away as possible from any other people, people who could verify its existence.
As far as I can tell the whole myth of WA started as an inside joke between cartographers. Soon many other professionals, publishers, politicians, journalists, photographers etc. took notice and they all created their own versions of the joke. Together they created a vast tapestry of “evidence” of its existence and culture. Over the years this myth grew and the various versions merged together. Today many people just assume the state exists.
A good repository of false evidence can be found at wikipedia.org. Unfortunately some people are so convinced of this preposterous notion they relentlessly revert my many edits to the site. Think about it people! A black swan? That doesn’t make any sense at all, swans are white not black. OPEN YOUR EYES SHEEPLE!!
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January 14, 2007 at 1:49 pm
Aswen Radvan
This theory is based on what? Some mexican who(m) has never been on a plane or travelled great distances by car?? Give me proof that the State does not exist! Tell me that my hard earned millions came from an iron ore mine in a land that is none existant! C’mon I find this fallacy a bit hard to comprahend.
Oh BTW I have never seen a white swan before(apart from in fairy tales) They are all black.
January 14, 2007 at 3:13 pm
Markk
You can’t prove a negative, Mr. Radvan. It is up to existionists to prove that Western Australia actually does exist. Their silence on the matter speaks volumes.
January 14, 2007 at 5:02 pm
SaRz
hahaha that would have to mean some people im keying in into a database at work who are claiming their $50 cashback on some razor promotion are either imaginary/non-existant or dont know what state they live in…so they say WA to be safe…
January 14, 2007 at 6:14 pm
Markk
Or perhaps they are part of the conspiracy …
January 15, 2007 at 6:36 am
Aswen Radvan
Conspiracy theorists - Pfft, get a job!
January 15, 2007 at 6:57 pm
Anon.
I’d really think about getting a new website Aswen, before you go telling people to “get a job”.
It’s called having a sense of humour.
January 15, 2007 at 11:58 pm
saa
interesting post, thanks!
January 16, 2007 at 12:05 am
bloggingdog
Please everyone, this is serious. Deception on such a scale is no laughing matter.
Thank you, Markk, for bringing this to our attention.
January 16, 2007 at 6:21 pm
jon newton
Perhaps you also do not exist, Markk, but are just a conspiracy invented by your supposed parents or someone else trying to annoy the world!
January 17, 2007 at 11:06 am
Pete Aldin
Jon raises a good point … except that he’s your Dad and has presumably met you before …unless YOU are masquerading as Jon Newton to convince the rest of us that you are real … now I’m confused … no wait, think about it… JON NEWTON - you picked the name of a famous hymn writer, obsucre but catchy enough to sound real.
Now I know what’s going on. You are trying to undermine our good faith in WA ( yes, I admit it’s faith, seeing as my only evidence of its existence is Kim Beasely’s claim to come from there - but he’s a politician and could be lying) -
leave Western Australia alone! They’re not hurting anyone.
[deep breath] ahhhh, I feel better now, Markk … or whoever you are….
January 17, 2007 at 11:32 am
Jonk
They can’t be hurting anyone.. they don’t exist!!
May 20, 2007 at 7:22 pm
ob
I have been there. Many times. The swans are black. The air is hot. Beaches are nice. Football players are on drugs. It is very hard to leave.
Nope - it exists. But, I have been having doubts about the Northern Territory…
May 20, 2007 at 7:32 pm
markk
What you thought was Western Australia was either the Northern Territory or South Australia, and the nice beaches are simply located on the western coastline of those states.
Which, if you look at a map (a TRUE map, it goes without saying) form the longest stretch of completely straight coastline in the world.
August 20, 2007 at 10:42 am
Frogbert
Thank you for your support… and for not blatantly ripping off my tirade as your own.
August 21, 2007 at 10:57 pm
markk
No, thank you for revealing the truth about the so-called state of Western Australia.
January 28, 2008 at 11:10 pm
Alex
It’s ludicrous to claim that a state of such size exists, this is true. However, this raises many other questions for me. Does Victoria exist? Does this ‘z’ key on my keyboard exist? I shall stay tuned for future insights into this crazy, mixed up world.