Having returned to Perth from Sydney close to two years ago, one thing I noticed was how many news reports of amazingly vicious and violent attacks there were in this city. There even seemed to be more than when I was last here in 2006-2007 (I was shocked at all the mayhem being reported at that time, too). But even that period was far worse than when I was growing up here in the 70s and 80s.

I wondered that perhaps this was a kind of illusion resulting from my greater interest in news and current affairs. Maybe I was seeing more reports of violence because I was looking for them? Back in the day I hardly ever picked up a newspaper, after all.

But I'm sure that's not the case. There are just too many horror stories.

Premier Colin Barnett has opined on this particular issue, both disturbed and mystified by all the carnage:

"I think there's clearly a change. There is aggressive, unprovoked and violent attacks occurring. I can't understand that. They're just attacks on people that aren't even involved in an argument - just unprovoked attacks.

"If I go back to when I was a young man that just did not happen. Glassings, king hits, groups of blokes kicking someone on the ground. That just did not happen when I was in my 20s."

I'm about 14 years younger than Barnett, so I was in my 20s in the mid-1980s. My experience was much the same. Such events were as rare as hen's teeth.

Something very strange has happened here over the last decade or more. Certainly, similar societal changes have occurred in other Australian cities. But several of them are bigger than Perth, and have long been more violent places to live. Perth, being so isolated and much smaller in population, always had a much more peaceful vibe about it. That's definitely not the case now, unfortunately!