The Fiona Stanley Hospital is attracting migrants from both interstate and overseas, agents say. And Dr Olesya Badish who arrived in WA three years ago from Siberia having never seen the beach before landing on Perth exclaimed "here you are so lucky". French and Badish didn't whinge or moan about the heat. They pointed out how much better it is to live in a beautiful climate than in the bleakness of Russian or British winter. There are around two million people living in Perth. Yes, like every big city we do have our problems with drugs, law and order, homelessness and mental health issues. These problems exist no matter which political party is in power. They exist in London, Moscow, New York, Sydney and Perth. But despite these universal issues, people flock to live in Perth because they have a chance to make a good life here for themselves and their families.

The moaning about the Perth Arena is a hazy memory now. Perth has some of the best facilities on offer. Once things are built, people suddenly realise how better off their lives are compared to some of the cities and places they have emigrated from. However, until people can actually see a finished product, the whinging is astounding. It's like an automatic, almost subconscious echo every time someone proposes something new, different or tries to improve something in our city. Over the past few years we have had an unprecedented $7 billion invested in new hospitals such as Fiona Stanley, Midland and the soon-to-open new children's hospital. I can't imagine any other Western state or nation making this sort of investment in both new and existing health facilities. There are no other places around the world with the size of our population who are getting the health facilities we are in line to get but instead of celebrating this, every little negative thing is highlighted as if the new facilities are bad things.

It is like a spoilt child that actually get the lolly they want, yet still can't say a simple thank you. Migrants from the UK can tell us their horror stories about health services in that country. Statements like 'to get a blood test you have to be practically dying' are all too common and appointments to see a GP can take weeks. It's not just the great weather that has our British friends moving here in their thousands. Last week it was the turn of the West Australian Football Commission to act like the spoilt child. First came the tantrum with the ridiculous tough-talk that neither the Eagles or Dockers would play football at our brand new stadium in 2018. Then the black-flip 24 hours later, complete with the "badly worded press release" scapegoat, was worthy of an Academy Award.

There were four bidders for the rights to run our new stadium. Yet the WAFC seemed to think that it was their god-given right to be awarded the contract, just because they are in Perth. There were three other bidders. To date, the other unsuccessful groups haven't said a word. Stadium Australia has a proven track record of being able to attract significant events. This stadium is more than just about Eagles and Dockers games. In 2013, the MCG hosted British football giants Liverpool in front of 95,000 fans. Thousands were interstate and overseas tourists who filled Melbourne hotel rooms and spent up big in Melbourne pubs, restaurants and retail shops – in the middle of winter.

Finally, with a superb new 60,000 seat stadium, we will have the chance here in Perth to host big-time international soccer, rugby and cricket games as well as lots of other large-scale events. With such a population increase in WA in the last decade, there are so many people from all corners of the globe who are realising that they will soon have the chance to go to the stadium and at least get a chance to watch a game with their child or a friend. It is only really dawning on people who are making Perth their home that being able to go to an AFL game is an impossibility unless you are a rusted-on season ticket holder. Contrast that to Melbourne where apart from Grand Final and Anzac Day, anyone visiting Melbourne can rock up to 'The G' and buy a general admission ticket to any game. Elizabeth Quay is now open and the original very loud nay-sayers are conspicuous by their deafening silence. The rest of us are revelling being a tourist in our own backyard with the transformation of our city and our waterfront, so perhaps it's time these doomsayers finally swallow their pride and admit that it actually is a good thing for Perth. Like it or not, we are not the sleepy old Perth of the 1980s and 90s. For those of us who have lived and worked in Perth, then ventured interstate or overseas to further our careers and returned to raise our families, we sadly do notice the parochialism and negativity more than most.

There are plenty of examples unique to Perth where trying to do business is gaining us the reputation of "the city that says no too quickly". We keep hearing how Fremantle is trying to turn around years of economic downturn after the boom in Perth's CBD and we get regular calls to 'do something'. The Hilton hotel chain finally heeded those calls and applied to build a new seven storey hotel in Fremantle. Yet, instead of being welcomed with open arms, they are still awaiting approval of their plans two years after they lodged them. Two years? Are the people at the local council mad? It is like they are willing to look a gift horse in the mouth instead of being grateful it is Freo and not Rio that Hilton wants to invest in. Apparently there are protracted talks are taking place over design and heritage. That is basically code for colour schemes and other politically-correct bits and pieces that are entangled in bureaucratic clap-trap. At risk in all this insane red tape is a $270 million development that has now been delayed until at least 2019, if Hilton don't decide to pack up and go to some city where they feel more welcomed and where things don't take forever to be approved.

What message is all this sending to other companies who might be considering investments in our state. Is Perth really open for business or is it more a case of, "Perth is very hard to do business in"? We are the most remote capital city in the world. While our isolation may be a charm for some, it also means we have to fight twice as hard as other places to ensure our survival. We rely on investment, which is vital to creating new jobs on sectors like building, entertainment, tourism and hospitality. And there was even more of Perth's infuriating 'no, in the too hard basket' recently. An enquiry was made to host the Magic Millions beachfront horseracing spectacular. It is currently held on the Gold Coast and is a great tourism drawcard, but the hosts were considering iconic Perth beaches like Scarborough and Cottesloe. Enthusiasm by Racing and Wagering WA and Magic Millions WA was immediately quashed from those grand masters at saying 'no' at the Town of Cottesloe .

A statement from the Cottesloe local council that "the idea of having two horses running up and down Cottesloe beach is just a bit too much" reads like something out of the era of Oscar Wilde. It is 2016 – not the 1890s! A couple of weeks ago, the news that two giant BP roadside facilities had opened on the Kwinana Freeway on the 110 kilometre journey between Perth and Lake Clifton was greeted with cries of "at last" by weary motorists. These facilities will be used by more than 9,000 customers each day. But why has it taken so long for them to get approval? Have our transport bureaucrats ever travelled in the USA or Europe, to experience the great facilities on offer at many rest stops along major roads? The fact we celebrated this as an amazing new achievement in Perth should be a wake-up call that we have been well behind the times. However, it is a case of better late than never. The thing is that in Perth we put up with a lot of rubbish that the rest of the world dealt with years ago.

Look at our crazy trading laws. It's hard to believe that general Sunday trading was illegal less than four years ago. But even now, you can buy outdoor lights at 6am on a Sunday but not indoor lights. It's almost as crazy as telling farmers they can't grow potatoes without a permit. The fact that, like North Korea, we still have a potato marketing board makes us a laughing stock and sends a message to the world that this remote city might well be stuck in the twilight zone of another era. Remember when the Perth fruit and vegetable markets were being put up for sale as part of the state government's asset sales program? The hue-and-cry from the usual nay-sayers threw up a million reasons not to do it from the barely disguised xenophobic fears of foreign buyers to threats that the markets would be chopped up for residential housing lots by voracious property developers. And who ended up buying the markets? None other than the horticulture industry-based consortium Perth Markets Limited for $135.5 million. The local industry is now able to control its own destiny and build a stronger future for itself.

The whinging isn't new. The moaning about replacing the Perth Entertainment Centre with the new Perth Arena might be a hazy memory now but at the time the fuss made about a bunch of quaint memories and the labyrinth planning red tape added delays to an already very costly project. Despite the nay-sayers, the design faults and the cost overruns the Perth Arena has been a massive hit since Sir Elton John's opening night in 2012. It has put Perth on the map of international concert venues with its wonderful facilities and fantastic sound system. All the big names cue up to play there, from the Rolling Stones to Lady Gag and now even the reclusive Prince. Whether we go to the Arena see a famous band, the Hopman Cup, Disney on Ice or the Perth Wildcats we now cannot imagine Perth without it. I do not want to imagine a Perth that retreats again to what it was twenty or more years ago where a generation had to leave the state to seek a better career and a better life, creating the so-called brain drain of the 1990s. But if we do not start embracing the need for change and realising that new investment in our state is a vital part of life to ensure future WA generations can indeed make their future here then we will sadly repeat past history.

A little less of the 'no' and a lot more of the 'let's see if we can' will go a long way. Karalee Katsambanis is a mother-of-three and a journalist for more than 20 years. Listen to her on 6PR's PerthTonight with Chris Ilsley between 9pm-10pm on Mondays. Follow WAtoday on Twitter