![Forrest Place, January 2018 06](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dd/Forrest_Place%2C_January_2018_06.jpg)
Forrest Place is a
pedestrianised square located within the
CBD of
Perth
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...
, Western Australia. The street was created in 1923, and has a history of being a focal point for significant political meetings and demonstrations.
Description
Forrest Place connects
Perth Railway Station
Perth railway station is the largest station on the Transperth network, serving the central business district of Perth, Western Australia. It serves as an interchange between the Airport, Armadale, Fremantle, Joondalup, Mandurah and Midland ...
on
Wellington Street with the
Murray Street Mall, outside the
Carillon City shopping centre. It is long,
and is paved and landscaped as a pedestrian mall, with seating, public artwork, and trees. The eastern side of the street is lined by shops from the Forrest Chase shopping complex, while the historic General Post Office and Commonwealth Bank buildings are located to the west.
Forrest Place is used in many ways throughout the year, including cultural displays, children's activities and parades, and contains the
City of Perth
A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...
visitors centre.
Nearby transport facilities include
Perth railway station
Perth railway station is the largest station on the Transperth network, serving the central business district of Perth, Western Australia. It serves as an interchange between the Airport, Armadale, Fremantle, Joondalup, Mandurah and Midland ...
and
Perth Busport
Perth Busport is an underground bus station, located underneath Wellington Street, Perth, Western Australia. It was officially opened by then Premier of Western Australia Colin Barnett and then Minister for Transport Dean Nalder on 13 July 2 ...
, and
Perth Central Area Transit
The Perth Central Area Transit (Perth CAT) system, or simply CAT, consists of five bus routes in the centre of Perth, one bus route in Fremantle, and three bus routes in Joondalup. Similar services exist in Rockingham (the City Centre Transit ...
(CAT) buses run along Wellington Street,
History
Named after
Sir John Forrest
Sir John Forrest (22 August 1847 – 2 SeptemberSome sources give the date as 3 September 1918 1918) was an Australian explorer and politician. He was the first premier of Western Australia (1890–1901) and a long-serving cabinet minister i ...
,
the first
Premier of Western Australia
The premier of Western Australia is the head of government of the state of Western Australia. The role of premier at a state level is similar to the role of the prime minister of Australia at a federal level. The premier leads the executive bra ...
, Forrest Place was for most of its history a roadway between the
Perth railway station
Perth railway station is the largest station on the Transperth network, serving the central business district of Perth, Western Australia. It serves as an interchange between the Airport, Armadale, Fremantle, Joondalup, Mandurah and Midland ...
and
Murray Street.
It was originally a plot of land issued to Patrick Farmer in 1840. Prior to Forrest Place's construction, an arcade between Wellington and Murray Streets existed on the site known as Central Arcade. It was considered an "unhealthy" establishment, which led to its demolition. The construction of Forrest Place deemed to have "changed the face of Perth".
Streetscape
Prior to the building of the
Forrest Chase
Forrest Chase is a major shopping centre in Perth, Western Australia located in Forrest Place.
A Myer store serves as its main anchor and largest tenant. The centre also contains a Woolworths supermarket and other shops. The western portion of ...
complex (containing
Myer
Myer (stylised MYER, sometimes known as Myers) is an Australia, Australian mid-range to upscale department store chain. It trades in all Australian states and one of Australia's two self-governing territories. Myer retails a broad range of ...
and numerous other retail stores), the central building on the eastern side of Forrest Place was the
Padbury Buildings
Padbury Buildings is the name for a range of existing and former structures found in various localities in Western Australia.
The Padbury family, mainly Walter Padbury, had a range of buildings, some of which now are heritage listed.
Buildings ...
(built in 1925
and demolished in 1986–1987). While the buildings on the east side have changed a number of times in the street's 82-year history, the
General Post Office
The General Post Office (GPO) was the state postal system and telecommunications carrier of the United Kingdom until 1969. Before the Acts of Union 1707, it was the postal system of the Kingdom of England, established by Charles II in 1660. ...
(completed in 1923
) and the
Commonwealth Bank
The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), or CommBank, is an Australian multinational bank with businesses across New Zealand, Asia, the United States and the United Kingdom. It provides a variety of financial services including retail, busines ...
building (completed 1933
), both designed by
John Smith Murdoch
John Smith Murdoch (29 September 186221 May 1945) was a Scottish architect who practised in Australia from the 1880s until 1930. Employed by the newly formed Commonwealth Public Works Department in 1904, he rose to become chief architect, ...
in the
Interwar
In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days), the end of the First World War to the beginning of the Second World War. The interwar period was relativel ...
Beaux-Arts style and faced with
Donnybrook stone
Donnybrook stone is a fine to medium-grained feldspathic and kaolinitic sandstone found near the town of Donnybrook, Western Australia. It originates from the early Cretaceous (144-132 MYA) and features shale partings and colour variations ...
, have endured significant change around them.
Parades, meetings and rallying place
In the 1940s returned soldiers marched through Forrest Place.
It was a meeting place and focal point for political meetings in the 1950s through to the 1980s; considerable use was made of the steps of the Post Office being above the roadway level.
An attempt to defuse the political nature of the space and ban meetings in Forrest Place was carried out by
Charles Court
Sir Charles Walter Michael Court, (29 September 1911 – 22 December 2007) was a Western Australian politician, and the 21st Premier of Western Australia from 1974 to 1982. He was a member of the Liberal Party.
Early life
Court's family e ...
, on 18 November 1975, when his government used Section 54B of the Western Australia Police Act to ban meetings. Considerable numbers of demonstrations resulted from this ban, which was later repealed by the Public Meetings and Processions Act of 1984.
In 2013, the history of protests held at Forest Place, and the responses by authorities, was the subject of a presentation by
Murdoch University
Murdoch University is a public university in Perth, Western Australia, with campuses also in Singapore and Dubai. It began operations as the state's second university on 25 July 1973, and accepted its first undergraduate students in 1975. Its n ...
Adjunct Associate Professor Lenore Layman. These events are considered by Layman to be part of an "alternative history of Perth" that isn't so sedated.
In 2017, in a chapter in the book ''Radical Perth, Militant Fremantle'' Layman develops an argument that Forrest Place was a location of conflict over the usage of the space as a place for freedom of speech, association and peaceful assembly.
![Melbourne fans celebrate grand final win](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a3/Melbourne_fans_celebrate_grand_final_win.jpg)
With the
2021 AFL Grand Final being held at
Perth Stadium
Perth Stadium, currently known as Optus Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose stadium in Perth
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in A ...
because of a
COVID-19 lockdown in Melbourne, in lieu of the traditional
AFL Grand Final parade a "people's parade" was held at Forrest Place allowing fans to celebrate the game (but without the clubs in attendance) on 24 September 2021, the day before the final. The premiership cup presentation also took place at Forrest Place the day after the final following the
Melbourne Football Club
The Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed the Demons, is a professional Australian rules football club that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. It is based in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, ...
's victory over the
Western Bulldogs
The Western Bulldogs are a professional Australian rules football team that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier competition.
Founded in 1877 as the Footscray Football Club, and based in West Footscray in the o ...
, with the winning team in attendance.
Pedestrian mall
![Grow Your Own, January 2018 02](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d8/Grow_Your_Own%2C_January_2018_02.jpg)
Forrest Place became a large paved area with the closing of the roadway in the late 1986.
[Photo WA Library collect 1987 demolition]
/ref> It still links Wellington Street and Perth railway station
Perth railway station is the largest station on the Transperth network, serving the central business district of Perth, Western Australia. It serves as an interchange between the Airport, Armadale, Fremantle, Joondalup, Mandurah and Midland ...
with the Murray Street Mall, with the placement of the "Grow Your Own" public artwork limiting vehicular access to the north.
See also
* List of lanes and arcades in Perth, Western Australia
The following is a list of lanes, arcades and pedestrian malls in the central business district of Perth, Western Australia.
The first plan of Perth, developed in 1829 by the Surveyor-General, John Septimus Roe, was a semi-regular grid patt ...
References
Further reading
* Conole, Peter.(2002) ''Protect & serve : a history of policing in Western Australia'' Scarborough, W.A. : Western Australian Police Historical Society. – see specially pp. 343–348 regarding the problems of 54B for the police service.
* Gregory, Jenny. (2003) ''City of light: a history of Perth since the 1950s'' Perth, W.A.: City of Perth – see specially pp. 124–130 concerning the political history of the space.
Original title and later map of site
* Mason, John. ''Title of Perth town lot V 17, 1840'' Issued in his name, 3 November 1840. (Mason, John—Archives – Battye Library)
* Australia. Dept. of the Interior.(1911) ''Perth new G.P.O. site: Plan of existing buildings''. Plan Nos. D663 and D664.(Signed by Hillton Beasley, Chief Architect). (Australian Archives)
External links
Photographs of Forrest Place, State Library of Western Australia
Photographs of the Padbury Buildings, State Library of Western Australia
{{Perth CBD Streets
Streets in Perth central business district, Western Australia