[Truncated abstract] The objectives of this study are threefold: Firstly, to consider the relevance (to subnational state development) and adaptability (to globalisation) of federalism from a Western Australian perspective. Secondly, to consider the way in which various State Governments in Western Australia have implemented economic development policies to benefit from the global political economy. Finally, it proposes alternative mechanisms for guiding long-term economic development policy decision-making in Western Australia. This final objective is addressed in light of the findings of the first two. It is recognised that incremental changes are possible in full knowledge of the embedded nature of the policy-making process in Western Australia . . . In the case of Western Australia, subnational autonomy does not herald the end of the nationstate so much as a new stage in globalisation. In terms of how the Western Australian State Government attracts capital and labour investment, its history as an independent colony and its physical isolation from the other colonies have created the initial conditions that frame the policy-making process, which includes a set of drivers influencing the decisions that are made by State agents. Overall, the State Government continues to reinforce the State’s role as a peripheral resource supplier to the national and global political economy. Within this context, however, alternative strategies can be proposed that may contribute to the long-term sustainable development of the State’s economy.