WAY 79

Ken Colbung had been invited to perform on the didgeridoo; the Indigenous activist used the occasion to hand an eviction notice to the Governor of Western Australia, Sir Wallace Kyle.

The act was intended both as a reminder of Aboriginal land rights and dispossession, and a reference to the contemporary plight of the state's indigenous people.

Maritza Sayalero of Venezuela won the pageant; as numerous press people crowded close to photograph her, the catwalk collapsed.

[9] Some have noted the celebrations focused on its perpetuation of the "pioneer myth",[10] which "saw progress in terms of mineral development rather than social justice or environmental amenity".

In 1989 Bolton wrote that the WAY 79 celebrations: offered a sanitised version of the past.... Nobody tried to replicate the heat, the insects, the dysentery, the alcoholism, the boredom and the discomfort which were so intimate a part of daily life in the Swan River Colony.

[11] The Education Department produced Western Australia: An atlas of human endeavour to provide schools with an up-to-date list of achievements by the state and its people, with graphics and accurate maps.

[citation needed] Rather than being simply a collection of maps, like a traditional atlas, the atlas of human endeavour presents descriptive text and photographs illustrating the changes over time since the initial European settlement, in four broad categories: It includes extensive usage of historical geography, such as historical maps and photographs, for comparison with those of the contemporary landscape: The maps, photographs and text in this atlas present a story of discovery, exploration and economic and social development.The front and rear covers of the book are false colour images created by processing satellite imagery from Landsat 1 and 2.

[17] The atlas includes gazetteers and bibliographies - at some divergence from the Sesquicentenary Celebrations Series editions that lacked indexes and adequate reference materials.

[12][18] One hundred and fifty commemorative plaques were installed along St Georges Terrace, Perth,[19][20] honouring notable figures in Western Australia's history.

The WAY 1979 logo
Some of the range of memorabilia issued as part of the WAY'79 celebrations.
Some of the books published as part of the celebrations.