With Western Australia continuing to enjoy the fruits of the resources boom there's still a lot of construction going on in Perth. If you go through an area that you haven't visited for a long while, you may well see the odd busy building site with lots of big beefy blokes in yellow safety jackets milling about. You pass by again a year later and lo and behold, there's a gleaming new apartment block there!

Sure, some of these big projects have been plagued by long delays. Take the Perth Arena, for example. But work is still progressing on it, and it should be finished in time for the first act, George Michael.

The one well known construction project that has well and truly stalled is a gaudy mansion derisively labelled the "Taj-on-Swan" that was being built by the super-rich Oswal family.

I noticed it while having a wander through Peppermint Grove just yesterday. Situated at the back of a big block in a very visible location near the Swan River, the hollow and ostentatious structure really stands out. I can see why the locals are upset about it.