Sliding Doors

 

Back in my early career as a journalist in Australia I was told by an entrepreneur that I had profiled that “Perth needs people like you” and that it was a shame I was returning to the UK.

I held that thought all through the boozy Britpop 1990s when literally no-one in London said anything remotely similar to me. 

Yet it was only last month that I finally returned to Western Australia for a holiday and to catch up with old friends from back in the day. 

In doing so, I need to say, I acknowledge the Whadjuk Nyoongar people as the Traditional Owners of the lands and waters where Perth city is situated today, and pay my respect to Elders past and present. I never said that back then.

It’s safe to say that Perth has done quite well without me. Probably Australia’s boom town, thanks to the mining and resources industry, the skyline has notably transformed. Back then the tallest building bore the name of Bond Corporation, the plaything of Alan Bond, the man who went from hero to zero in a decade. He won the Americas Cup yacht race for Australia, overstretched himself financially, and ended up in jail before his lonely death in 2015. I would love to have written that story.

The names that dominate the skyline now are Chevron, Woodside, Rio Tinto and BHP.

I appreciated the high quality public realm, the cycle paths and the parks, the gentrification of neighbourhoods I used to consider a bit ‘daggy’, and the embrace of a more multi-ethnic city than the one I remembered. Through more experienced eyes I contemplated the ‘Sliding Doors’ moments over the years and wondered whether I would have fitted in.

On the eve of the US election we went to see British politico turned podcast sensation Rory Stewart at Perth Concert Hall (Last Night of the Poms). A reminder that the world is in fact quite small. 

But it was at the celebration of the life of Sir Howard Bernstein at the Bridgewater Hall this week where I was reminded of the community and the project that has been at the forefront of my professional life for the last 25 years.

Manchester’s renewal has provided a rich seam of stories for me, the source material for my academic thesis, but also a phenomenal network of supportive people focused on a project of regeneration. It might not be a new frontier, but it’s been incredible to raise a family in the original modern city. 

It’s good to be home.

Have a great weekend.