Colin Barnett recalls breaking protocol to tell the Queen about Elizabeth Quay
The Queen travelled to WA seven times during her reign, and Perth was the last Australian city she ever visited.
That was in 2011, when Colin Barnett was the Premier and he hosted Her Majesty for three days in Perth before CHOGM, while also meeting her at Buckingham Palace too to discuss CHOGM preparations.
As he tells Liam Bartlett on 6PR Mornings, he told the Queen the Perth foreshore was to be redeveloped and named after her, despite being told to wait, and was later left amazed at her resilience when visiting Perth.
“I was just struck by her humour, the work ethic was amazing… we had 50 Commonwealth heads of government and prime ministers and presidents here, the Queen met with them all, for someone then, who was in her late 80s,” he said.
“Two moments stick in my mind, one was when we met at Buckingham Palace… just [wife] Lyn, myself and the Queen, and the corgis were scratching at the door to come in, that was just cute.
“It was there that I wanted to raise [the naming of Elizabeth Quay], but I was advised by the Brits and the Australian embassy in Perth that we should do it more formally.”
Listen 👇 to what happened next when Barnett decided to tell her