A Sydney barrister in town for a trial hearing has lost his bundle after local instructing solicitors kept telling people he was from “over east”.
The outburst happened during a court recess when the legal team was grabbing a coffee near the District Court.
“Yeah, I was just grabbing an almond latte extra hot when this other lawyer came up to introduce herself,” said the barrister.
“My instructing solicitor jumped in and said, ‘This is Barry. He’s from over east.’ Like, what the actual, Perth? Why do you say that? It’s so bloody annoying. If you think about it, almost everywhere else in the world is ‘over east’ in relation to Perth. Except maybe Madagascar.”
The barrister expressed particular annoyance with the fact there was no distinction between Sydney, Brisbane or Melbourne.
“I mean, clearly Sydney is far superior to both Brisbane and Melbourne, yet here we are all bundled together like some indistinguishable, shapeless virus that has floated across the Nullarbor to take your jobs,” he ranted.
“Just because your state takes up the whole coastline … even then, though, we at least have the decency to say ‘Perth’ or ‘WA’. Not just ‘over west’. Is it really that hard?
The barrister went on to say he was only in Perth due to the shortage of local silks, but that a visit to Samphire on Rotto – as well as watching the Swans thump the Eagles – had made the trip worthwhile.
“It was nice to ditch the sandgropers for some quokkas for a couple of days, if I’m honest,” he said.
“They don’t seem to care where I’m from. To them, even Perth is ‘over east’, which evens out the playing field somewhat.”
Disclaimer: This is satire, just in case you were about to write a complaint letter.
