Perth Central

Distinguished and Famous people from Perth Central

🌿 Fanny Balbuk

Fanny Balbuk resisted the changes that colonial Perth imposed on her home Country. The wetlands where she gathered food were drained and filled, including the ground occupied by the railway station. Accounts recorded by Daisy Bates describe her continuing along familiar tracks despite fences and buildings placed across them. Her determination makes the city’s transformation a personal story of lost access, food sources and authority. Remembered by Noongar people as a defender of Country, Balbuk gives the modern streets a history that begins well before their construction. The railway map was not the first map of this place.

🏛️ Edith Cowan

Edith Cowan became the first woman elected to an Australian parliament when she won West Perth in 1921. Her parliamentary work followed years of involvement in welfare and community organisations, with particular concern for women and children. Although she served only one term, the election permanently changed who could be seen speaking from the chamber. She continued public and charitable work afterwards and gave away much of her parliamentary salary. West Perth was both her constituency and part of the setting for a wider campaign to make institutions answer more closely to the lives of ordinary people.