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Timeline: 1981 – 1990

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1981

January 1

NSW’s Wran Government abolishes death duties two years after the Federal Government abolished them.

January 30

Sir Henry Gibbs appointed as the next Chief Justice of the High Court in the wake of Sir Garfield Barwick‘s resignation.

February 14

Australia withdraws its recognition of Pol Pot‘s Khmer Rouge regime in Kampuchea.

February

Mary Genevieve Gaudron becomes the first woman in Australia to occupy the position of NSW Solicitor-General. In 1987, she becomes one of the youngest judges to have been appointed in Australia, and the first female High Court judge.

February 10

Townsville International Airport opens.

April 13

A committee into governmental functions, known as the Razor Gang, submits its findings.

April 16

Government funding for electoral campaigns introduced in New South Wales.

May 7

Alleged crime boss and drug lord Robert Trimbole leaves Australia.

May 9

Assisted Passage to Australia is restricted to refugees.

June 18

The 4 millionth Holden car rolls off the GMH assembly line.

June 23

Mining of mineral sand on Moreton Island is given the green light by the Queensland Government.

June 29

Artist Sir Russell Drysdale dies, age 69.

August 1

The Wage Indexation system is abandoned by the Commonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration Commission.

August 5

Peter Weir‘s acclaimed movie ‘Gallipoli‘ is released.

August

Mining of Ranger uranium in the Northern Territory commences.

September 9

Former NSW Premier Sir Robert (Robin William) Askin dies, age 72.

September 20

The Azaria Chamberlain inquest reopens.

September 25

The Federal Government commences its court action to deregulate the Builders Labourers Federation (BLF).

September 25

After 3 1/2 years under construction, Sydney Tower is completed.

September 26

Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip tour Australia. The Queen opens the CHOGM Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Melbourne.

October 1

The National Bank of Australia and the Commercial Banking Company of Sydney merge to form the National Bank Australia.

December 12

A Tasmanian referendum on the damming of the Franklin River returns a 45 percent informal vote.

December 23

Aviator and businessman Sir Reginald Ansett dies, age 72.


1982

January 16

Sydney’s First Opera in the Park is held in Sydney’s Domain as part of the Festival of Sydney. Joan Sutherland is featured.

March 4

Australian troops become part of a peace keeping force in the Sinai.

March 18

Aircraft designer Sir Lawrence Wackett dies, age 86.

March 20

The feature film ‘The Man From Snowy River‘, starring Tom Burlinson, Terence Donovan and Sigrid Thornton, is released.

April 3

The Labor Party led by John Cain takes office in Victoria after 27 years in Opposition.

April 8

The XPT train is introduced in New South Wales. The first service links Sydney with Dubbo.

April 22

Artist Fred Williams dies, age 55.

May 6

A deal is struck to provide television to rural areas of Australia through Aussat.

May 27

Victorian Premier John Cain declares his state will be nuclear free.

June 9

Musician and conductor Sir Bernard Thomas Heinze dies, age 87.

June 30

Australia’s biggest uranium mining project, the $500 million Jabiluka Mine, is given the go-ahead by the Northern Land Council, NT.

June

The NSW replaces the Court of Petty Sessions with local courts.

July 16

Bob Hawke makes an unsuccessful challenge to the Federal ALP leadership of Bill Hayden.

July 29

Sir Zelman Cowan is replaced by Sir Ninian Martin Stephen as Australia’s 19th Governor-General.

September 30

The Commonwealth Games open in Brisbane.

October 1

The Bank of New South Wales and the Commercial Bank of Australia merge to form Westpac Banking Corporation.

October 8

The number of jobless Australians reaches 500,000 for the first time since the 1930s Great Depression.

October 12

The Brisbane Commonwealth Games open.

October 13

Queen Elizabeth II opens the Australian National Gallery.

October 16

The National Country Party changes its name to the National Party.

October 29

Retrospective legislation is passed to recover company tax evaded through ‘Bottom of the Harbour’ schemes.

October 30

34-year old Lindy Chamberlain is convicted of murder in the disappearance and suspected death of her daughter, Azaria.

November 13

The Australian Women’s Weekly goes monthly.

November 15

The NSW Lotteries Commission introduces ‘scratchies’ – instant lottery cards.

December 1

The Fraser Government makes the Freedom Of Information Act law.

December 15

Conservationists begin blockades to stop work commencing on the Gordon-below-Franklin River Dam, Tas.

December 17

Random breath testing of motorists is introduced in New South Wales.


1983

January 28

Australia’s 19th Prime Minister, Francis Michael Forde, dies in Brisbane age 93. He was Prime Minister for only eight days.

February 4

Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser calls an early Federal Election for both houses in Canberra, unaware that at the very same time, Bill Hayden is resigning as leader of the Federal Opposition in Brisbane, to be replaced by Bob Hawke.

February 7

Unemployment increases by 250,000 in 12 months, reaching 602,000.

February 21

21 people die in the ‘Ash Wednesday’ bushfires which sweep through Victoria and South Australia.

March 7

The ALP wins the Federal Election; Bob Hawke becomes Prime Minister.

March 12

Andrew Peacock replaces Malcolm Fraser as Leader of the Federal Liberal Party.

March 22

A 47-month long drought affecting all parts of Australia begins to ease with rain starting in the north.

April 15

A National Economic Summit of political, business, trade union and community leaders establishes a new spirit of consensus.

April

BLF National Secretary Norman Gallagher spends 52 days in gaol for Contempt of Court.

May 5

61 year old Victorian potato farmer Cliff Young wins the inaugural Sydney to Melbourne Marathon.

May 18

Approval is given to set up a Royal Commission to investigate Agent Orange and other chemical agents used during the Vietnam War.

July 11

Australia records its first AIDS related death in Melbourne.

July 15

A visit to the Cockburn Sound Naval Base, WA, by three nuclear powered US warships causes division the in ALP.

July

Archaeologists discover the remains of Australia’s first Government House in Bridge Street, Sydney.

August 30

Canberra joins the XPT network, bringing the National Capital within 4 hours 10 minutes of Sydney by rail.

September 1

Tasmania is promised $30 million in interim compensation for the banning of construction of the Gordon-below-Franklin Hydro-Electric Dam.

September 2

Sydney built yacht Australia II becomes the first successful foreign challenger of the America’s Cup.

September 9

The publicly funded national health scheme, Medicare, is launched.

September 29

Journalist Alan Moorehead dies, age 73.

October 17

BHP announces large oil finds in the Timor Sea.

November 8

In spite of opposition from the left wing of the party, Federal Labor supports the expansion of uranium mining in Australia, giving the green light to the Roxby Downs uranium mine, SA, and two new mines at Ranger, NT.

November 13

Police arrest protesters outside the Joint Defence Space Research Facility, Pine Gap, NT.

November

The NSW Police Department calls for the legalisation of prostitution in Sydney’s commercial districts.

December 17

Federal Sex Discrimination Bill passed by the Senate.


1984

January 21

Author Alan Marshall (‘I Can Jump Puddles’) dies, age 82.

February 22

The High Court rules that Lindy and Michael Chamberlain do not have the right to appeal their sentences over the disappearance and death of their daughter Azaria.

March 26

A new $100 note enters circulation.

March 27

The Victorian Government legalises prostitution.

March 27

Charles Perkins is appointed as head of the Department of Aboriginal Affairs, becoming the first Aborigine to be appointed as a Federal Government departmental head.

April 12

Advance Australia Fair‘ is officially adopted as Australia’s national anthem.

May 8

14-year old Fiona Coote becomes Australia’s first successful heart transplant patient at Sydney’s St. Vincent Hospital.

May 14

Australia’s $1 note is replaced by a coin.

June 4

Surgeons in NSW public hospitals strike over the introduction of Medicare.

June 6

The RAAF takes delivery of its first F-18 Hornet jet fighter.

July 5

Mrs. Pearl Watson, the wife of a Family Court Judge, Justice Ray Watson, is killed by a bomb intended for her husband.

August 1

Universal anti-discrimination laws come into effect.

August 14

Australia does well at the Los Angeles Olympic Games, winning 24 medals, including four gold.

August 21

The Federal Budget is televised for the first time.

August 28

The NSW Government bans X-rated videos.

September 3

Seven people die and 27 are injured in a wild brawl involving motorcyclists at Milperra, NSW.

September 7

Hayden Haitana, the trainer of the racehorse Fine Cotton, is arrested on fixing charges.

September 18

A 50-year old farmer pleads guilty to conspiring to murder anti-drugs crusader Donald Mackay.

September 24

Secret papers in the Petrov Affair are made public 30 years after the event.

November 2

The Costigan Royal Commission into the Federated Ship Painters and Dockers’ Union hands down its 11 volume report.

November

The NSW Police Department calls for the legalisation of prostitution in Sydney’s commercial districts.

November 26

The first televised pre-election debate, involving Prime Minister Bob Hawke and Opposition Leader Andrew Peacock is broadcast.

December 2

The Labor Government under Bob Hawke is returned to power in a Federal Election but with a surprisingly reduced majority.

December 18

The Maralinga area of South Australia, which was used for British nuclear weapons testing in the 1950s, is handed back to its Aboriginal owners.

December 18

Justice Lionel Murphy refuses to resign as a result of criminal proceedings being brought against him.

December 20

Artist Grace Cossington Smith dies, age 92.


1985

January 14

Bushfires in Victoria and South Australia take 5 lives.

February 1

Stereo AM broadcasting begins.

February 6

The ANZUS Alliance comes under threat as Australia supports the US MX missile project, which distances New Zealand from the other participants because of its strong anti-nuclear policy.

February 14

Poet, playwright and critic Douglas Stewart dies, age 71.

March 13

The television serial ‘Neighbours‘ begins broadcasting on the Ten Network.

March 15

Former Chief Stipendiary Magistrate, Murray Frederick Farquhar, is sentenced to four years imprisonment for perverting the cause of justice.

March 21

Queensland enacts anti-strike legislation.

March 25

The Government agree to the adoption of lead-free petrol.

April 1

Over 300,000 people across the country march in anti-nuclear demonstrations.

April 2

Actor Dame Doris Filton dies, age 87.

April 18

The Duke and Duchess of Kent visit Australia.

April 19

The Federal Government introduces controversial assets tests for pensioners.

April 20

Brisbane’s Performing Arts Centre opens.

April 28

The Australian dollars collapses, falling to a low of 63 cents to the US dollar.

May 15

The Sydney Hilton Hotel bombers, Ross Dunn, Tim Anderson and Paul Alister, are released after receiving a pardon.

June 2

The Empress of Australia makes its final voyage across Bass Strait between Melbourne and Devonport, Tas.

June 14

Builders Labourers’ Federation general secretary Norm Gallagher is sent to gaol for receiving secret commissions.

July 7

Coober Pedy becomes Australia’s first town to get its water via a desalination plant.

August 15

Retail giants G.J. Coles and Myer Emporium merge.

August 23

The Agent Orange Royal Commission into the effects of the defoliant Agent Orange on Australians who served in Vietnam is released.

August 25

Bond Corporation’s $1.2 billion takeover of Castlemaine Tooheys breweries becomes the biggest corporate buyout in Australian history.

August 31

The Aussat 1 satellite is launched successfully from the Space Shuttle Discovery. The satellite is positioned successfully 36,000 km above the equator to the north of the Solomon Islands.

October 12

Canon Right Rev. Allistair Arthur Malcolm is ordained as Australia’s first Aboriginal bishop.

October 26

Ayers Rock is given back to its original owners, the Mutitjulu Aborigines, and is to be known by its Aboriginal name, Uluru.

October 27

Prince Charles and Princess Diana arrive in Australia for an 11-day visit.

November 23

Jupiter’s Casino, on the Queensland Gold Coast, opens.

November 23

Adelaide hosts the Australian Grand Prix for the first time.

November 29

Justice Lionel Murphy wins an appeal against his conviction for attempting to pervert the cause of justice.

November

Victoria celebrates its 150th anniversary.

December 6

The release of the McClelland Royal Commission report into the British nuclear weapons testing at Maralinga further strains Australia’s relationship with Britain over the latter’s failure to provide adequate protection and to adequately address plutonium contamination in the area. The report also found that Prime Minister Robert Menzies ‘lent Australia to the United Kingdom’ without the knowledge or consent of the Federal Cabinet.

December 30

The Burswood Casino, Perth, opens.


1986

January 11

Brisbane’s Gateway Bridge, across the mouth of the Brisbane River, opens.

January

The Australian Defence Academy opens in Canberra.

January

The first issue of Australian Geographic magazine is published.

February 1

Cyclone Winifred destroys towns and property between Cairns and Ingham, Qld.

February 8

Lindy Chamberlain is released midway through her prison term after the recent finding of her baby Azaria‘s matinee jacket near Uluru.

February 9

The Anglican Church in Australia ordains its first women deacons.

February 11

Victorian ALP MP Joan Child becomes the first woman to hold the position of Speaker in Federal Parliament.

February 12

Ernie Bridge becomes Western Australia’s first Aboriginal parliamentarian.

March 26

The Cooma to Bombala, NSW, railway line is closed to all traffic

March 27

A car bomb explodes outside the Russell Street Police Headquarters, Melbourne, killing one policewoman and injuring 20 people.

April 4

Engineer Sir Laurence John Hartnett dies, age 87.

April 4

The Builders Labourers’ Federation (BLF) is deregistered.

April 17

James Frederick Bazley is sentenced to life imprisonment for conspiring to murder Griffith anti-drugs campaigner Donald Mackay.

April 20

The Queenslander train brought into service between Brisbane and Cairns.

May 14

Federal Treasurer Paul Keating makes his now famous warning that Australia is in danger of becoming a ‘banana republic’.

June 5

The Fringe Benefits Tax becomes law.

June 25

Ms Pat O’Shane, the Secretary of the NSW Aboriginal Affairs Ministry, accepts her appointment as NSW’s first Aboriginal Magistrate.

July 7

Australians Brian Chambers and Kevin Barlow are hanged in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, for drug offences.

July 24

Australian participates in the 1986 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh, Scotland.

August 3

The Sydney-Melbourne express trains Spirit of Progress and the Southern Aurora are amalgamated to become the Melbourne-Sydney Express.

August 4

Trans Australia Airlines changes its name to Australian Airlines.

August 7

Six people die in the wettest 24 hours on record in Sydney.

September 7

The dream of a sealed road right around the continent is realised with the completion of the last section between Fitzroy Crossing and Halls Creek, WA.

September 28

Ballet dancer, choreographer and actor Sir Robert Helpmann dies, age 77.

October 8

A three tiered wage-fixing system proposed by the Federal Labor Government is agreed upon by the ACTU.

October 21

Justice Lionel Murphy dies at his home in Canberra, age 64.

October 24

Federal Treasurer Paul Keating declares that Australia is entering into an economic depression.

October 26

Perth’s International Airport opens.

November 26

Roman Catholic Pope John Paul II is greeted by crowds in Melbourne on a whirlwind visit to Australia.

December 29

Composer Sir John Antill dies, age 82.


1987

January

Bushfires in south-western New South Wales kill three people and cause $12 million property damage.

February 5

Kookaburra III‘, skippered by Iain Murray, loses the America’s Cup to Dennis Conner sailing ‘Stars and Stripes’ off Fremantle, WA.

February 6

News Limited takes over the Melbourne newspapers The Herald and Weekly Times.

February 6

Sir Anthony Mason replaces Sir Harry Gibbs as Chief Justice of the High Court.

February 15

The last section of highway between Adelaide and Darwin is sealed.

March 24

The Queensland Government makes the controversial decision to sell freehold titles on land on certain Great Barrier Reef islands to tourism developers.

March 30

US model Ginger Faye Meadows is taken by a crocodile on the Prince Regent River near Derby, WA.

April 30

Entrepreneur Dick Smith becomes the first person to fly solo in a helicopter to the North Pole.

May 8

Author and historian Marjorie Faith Barnard dies, age 89.

May 12

One of Australia’s most wanted men, fugitive Robert Trimbole, dies in Spain.

May 14

A teenager on Sydney’s North Shore is struck by lightning.

June 1

The toll to cross the Sydney Harbour Bridge is increased from 20 cents to $1.00.

June 3

Lindy and Michael Chamberlain are to be pardoned by the Northern Territory Government after the Morling inquiry finds there were serious doubts about their guilt in the murder of their daughter Azaria.

June 26

Former Liberal Party leader Sir Billy Mackie Snedden dies, age 60.

July 13

In a Federal Election, Bob Hawke‘s ALP Government is returned for a third term in office.

July 27

The Fitzgerald Inquiry into Police and Political Corruption and Organised Crime in Queensland opens.

August 9

Legionnaire’s Disease kills 9 of 45 known cases in an outbreak in the Wollongong, NSW, area.

August 9

Six people die and 18 are wounded when a former Duntroon Military College cadet begins shooting motorists and motorcyclists at random in Hoddle Street, Clifton Hill, Vic.

September 1

Coffs Harbour, NSW, now the fastest growing region in Australia, is proclaimed a city.

September 7

The Canberra Mint begins production of the $2.00 coin.

October 3

Fifteen years after the last Australian troops were pulled out of Vietnam, they are given a belated welcome home parade in Sydney.

October 17

Severe storms batter Brisbane.

October 21

The world markets and Australia’s stock market take a major plunge in what becomes known as Black Tuesday, because of its similarity to Black Tuesday, 29th October 1929.

October 30

The Federal Government abandons Australia’s two airline policy.

October

An inquiry into the deaths of Aborigines in custody opens.

November 1

Solar powered cars competing in the world’s first transcontinental race for such vehicles, begin arriving in Adelaide from Darwin.

November 6

Miss Carol Mockridge, the oldest person in Australia, dies at Geelong, Vic, age 112.

December 2

The Premier of Queensland, Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen, resigns after 19 years in office.

December 9

A 23-year old gunman, Frank Vitkovic, kills five people and leaves five seriously wounded in a military style shooting attack in the Australia Post office building in Melbourne.

December 10

The Federal Government introduces legislation declaring Aborigines as the first owners of Australia.

December 17

Federal Minister for Tourism, John Brown, resigns after admitting he misled Parliament over Expo 88 tenders.


1988

January 3

Money and valuables worth around $100 million are stolen in a raid on the National Bank in Sydney’s Chinatown over the New Year holiday weekend.

January 22

Tennant Creek, NT, is shaken by two earthquakes, one of which registers 7 on the Richter scale.

January 26

The nation celebrates its bicentenary with a first fleet reenactment on Sydney Harbour, protests over the treatment of Aborigines under white rule and festivities around the country.

January 26

Standing below the cliffs of Dover, Aboriginal Burnum Burnum (Henry James Penrith) claims Britain on behalf of the Aboriginal people as a gesture to highlight the plight of contemporary Aborigines in Australia.

January 26

Singer John Farnham is pronounced Australian of the Year.

February 26

Fulfilling a promise he made when elected the Premier of Western Australia, Brian Burke, resigns five years to the day after taking office.

March 1

Smoking is banned in all Federal Government buildings.

March 15

The Sydney newspaper, The Sun, ceases publication after 77 years.

March 25

Electronic Funds Transfer at Point of Sale (EFTPOS) service introduced at 8,000 retail outlets across Australia.

March 30

Nick Greiner forms a Liberal Government in New South Wales, ending 12 years of Labor rule dominated by Neville Wran.

March 31

Australia’s 25th Prime Minister, William McMahon, dies of cancer.

April 29

Queen Elizabeth II opens the Stockman’s Hall of Fame, Longreach, Qld

April 30

Expo 88 opens in Brisbane.

May 1

Floods in the Sydney area lead to 600 homes being evacuated.

May 4

Sydney’s Darling Harbour development is opened by Queen Elizabeth II.

May 9

Queen Elizabeth II opens the new Parliament House, Canberra.

May 25

The Australian flag is unfurled at the summit of Mt Everest by two men of the Australian Bicentennial Everest Expedition.

June 12

Prime Minister Bob Hawke commits to signing a treaty between the Aborigines and white Australians by 1990.

July 21

Australia’s first commercial monorail, from the Sydney CBD to Darling Harbour, Sydney, opens.

September 1

The wattle Acacia pycnantha is proclaimed Australia’s official floral emblem.

September 2

The Australian Telescope, consisting of eight separate radio telescope dishes, is opened at Culgoora, NSW.

September 15

The Northern Territory Court of Criminal Appeal quashes the conviction of Lindy and Michael Chamberlain over the death of their daughter Azaria at Uluru.

October 1

An international Naval Review involving 50 warships representing 16 nations, begins its visit of state capitals in Sydney.

October 5

Australia participates in the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games, winning three gold, six silver and five bronze medals.

October 26

Peter Carey wins the Booker Prize for his novel ‘Oscar and Lucinda’.

December 1

SA Governor Sir Douglas Nicholls, dies age 93.


1989

January 26

Kay Cottee, who had just become the first woman to sail solo around the world, named Australian of the Year.

February 3

The findings of the Muirhead Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody are released.

March 1

The Australian Conciliation and Arbitration Commission is replaced by the Industrial Relations Commission.

March 6

The ACT holds its first elections, with neither major political party a clear winner.

April 6

Australia’s most wanted man, John Friedrich, is arrested on an isolated road south of Perth. Friedrich was wanted for questioning over his suspected defrauding of the Victorian division of the National Safety Council of $40 million.

May 9

Andrew Peacock becomes the leader of the Federal Liberal Party, defeating John Howard in a party room ballot.

May 16

Bond University, on Queensland’s Gold Coast, accepts its first students.

May 18

The Australian Broadcasting Tribunal orders Sydney radio station 2KY to apologise over racist remarks made by announcer Ron Casey.

May 23

An Underwater earthquake is recorded near Macquarie Island between Australia and Antarctica. It recorded 7.2 on the Richter scale.

May 30

Post Graduate student and Ananda Marga sect member Timothy Anderson is charged with the Sydney Hilton bombing.

July 26

Power restrictions cripple Melbourne resulting from a a transport strike in protest at state government policies.

August 11

Actor John Meillon dies, age 55.

August 13

Two hot air balloons collide near Alice Springs, killing all 13 people in one of the craft as it plunges to earth with a hole in it.

August 16

A Qantas Boeing 747-438 establishes a world distance record flight for a commercial aircraft, flying from London to Sydney non-stop (18,001 km) in 20 hours, 9 minutes and 5 seconds.

August 23

1,645 commercial pilots resign en-masse after pay negotiations break down. The strike ends on 1st December.

September 4

The Australian Government agrees to compensate servicemen and ex-servicemen made ill by British nuclear weapons testing in the 1950s.

September 11

The Jawoyn Aboriginal people of the Katherine Gorge area of the Northern Territory are granted legal title to their tribal lands after an 11-year struggle with the Northern Territory Government.

October 16

Australian share values plunge by 8 per cent in the wake of Wall Street’s ‘Black Friday’ stock market crash.

November 10

Gaby Kennard becomes the first woman to fly solo around the world.

November 20

Christopher Skase’s Qintex Australia goes into receivership following the Bond Corporation’s announcement of recorded losses a month earlier.

November 25

Former ‘Neighbours‘ star and recording artist Kylie Minogue is mobbed by fans at the premiere of the film, ‘The Delinquents‘ in Sydney, in which she makes her big screen debut.

December 5

A state election sees the end of 32 years of National Party rule in Queensland as ALP leader Wayne Goss claims victory.

December 28

The Communist Party of Australia disbands.

December 28

An earthquake causes considerable damage to property in Newcastle, NSW, killing 13 people and injuring many more.


1990

January 15

An arch of the London Bridge rock formation in the Port Campbell National Park, Vic, collapses into the sea.

February 10

The XPT is withdrawn from the Canberra line; it is replaced with 1950s-era Daylight Express trains running to a slower timetable than the former XPT services.

February 13

Carmen Lawrence becomes Australia’s first female Premier, taking over as head of the Labor Government in Western Australia.

February 22

NSW Police refuse to follow a State Government directive to help break the picket line of striking truck drivers at Port Botany.

March 3

The Queanbeyan to Thredbo, NSW, railway line closed to all traffic

March 13

A hailstorm causes $200 million property damage in Sydney.

March 21

Mr Big of organised crime in Australia, George Freeman, dies.

March 26

Bob Hawke‘s Labor Government is returned for a fourth term of office in a Federal Election.

April 2

Thousands are evacuated after a liquefied petroleum gas tank explodes in Sydney’s inner-western suburbs.

April 28

The New South Wales town of Nyngan is devastated by floodwaters.

May 11

Australian adventurer Tim McCartney-Snape climbs Mt Everest from sea-level in the Bay of Bengal.

May 27

The IRA kills two Australian lawyers who are holidaying in Roermond, Holland.

June 13

Prime Minister Bob Hawke reneges on his promise to relax immigration policy to allow 20,000 Chinese students to become Australian residents.

June 24

The Pyramid Building Society, the largest in Victoria, collapses.

July 27

Former Sydney entrepreneur and sports promoter, Dr Geoffrey Edelsten, is found guilty of perverting the cause of justice.

July 30

Alleged Nazi war crimes perpetrator, 73-year old Adelaide pensioner Ivan Polyukovich, is shot on the eve of his trial.

August 7

Victorian Premier John Cain is forced to resign over allegations of financial mismanagement.

August 12

Three men die of heart attacks during the 20th Sun-Herald City to Surf Fun Run in Sydney.

August 14

Australian troops are sent to Iraq in response to Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait.

August 16

Justice Lee’s Royal Commission into the Blackburn affair harshly criticises senior NSW Police.

September 3

Western Australian businessman Robert Holmes a Court dies in Perth, age 53.

September 28

Floor trading at the Australian Stock Exchange ends.

September 30

Author Patrick White dies, age 78.

October 14

Artist Clifton Ernest Pugh dies, age 64.

October 28

Queensland reluctantly adopts Daylight Savings.

October 31

The Federal Government deregulates the domestic airline industry, and in so doing abandons the two-airline policy.

November 30

Australia goes into a recession that a later Prime Minister but then the National Treasurer, Paul Keating, claimed "we had to have".

December 11

The Fairfax family loses control of its media empire as the Fairfax Publishing Group is placed into receivership.

December 21

A Royal Commission report into the Chelmsford Private Hospital deep sleep therapy programme condemns doctors and senior health administrators over their activities.



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