This paper overviews the evolution of economics at the University of Western Australia (UWA) in the thirty years to 1992, with attention given to the leadership of professorial staff, fragmentation in the vision for the economics program and the role of research and research training in that program. The study also considers the place of the Western Australian (WA) Branch of the Economic Society of Australia in economics in this State. Not withstanding some significant fragmentation within the UWA economics department, which had to be confronted when developing a unified view on the direction of the economics program, the thesis of the study is that the department met with considerable success as it worked to re-balance its program. In regard to the WA Branch of the Economic Society, two main issues have emerged: the success of the Shan memorial lecture, which is undertaken in partnership with UWA; and a progressive reduction in the participation of senior UWA economists in the administration of the Society’s WA Branch.