Timeline: 1991 – 2000
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1991 |
January 11 |
An attempt is made to kill 1,000 cane toads in Brisbane’s Botanic Gardens. |
January 11 |
Cyclone Joy causes $250 million damage in northern Queensland. |
January 14 |
The oldest examples of prehistoric artistic expression in the world, estimated as being up to 45,00 years old, are found in the South Australian outback. |
February 7 |
The Macintryre River at Inverell, NSW, bursts its banks, killing five people and leaving hundreds homeless. |
February 16 |
Tracey Wigginton, 25, is sentenced to life imprisonment in Brisbane for murdering a man so she could feed off his blood. |
February 26 |
The Australian wool industry is in crisis as world wool prices fall by up to 50 per cent. |
March 5 |
Former NSW Chief Magistrate Murray Farquhar is arrested for having in his possession five stolen paintings. |
March 7 |
A chartered helicopter crashes on the Gold Coast, killing all seven on board. |
March 13 |
The Federal Government introduces the Job Skill Programme to assist people who have been unemployed for over 12 months. |
March 19 |
All political advertising on television and radio is banned by the Federal Government. |
March 24 |
Television pioneer Hector Crawford dies, age 77. |
March 24 |
Former Governor-General Sir John Kerr dies, age 76. |
March 29 |
John Spalvins, the head of the Adelaide Steamship group of companies is fired in the wake of huge trading losses by the group. |
April 14 |
BHP Petroleum begins federal court action against the Greenpeace environmental group. |
April 19 |
A National Inquiry into Racial Violence, conducted by the Human Rights and Equal opportunities Commission, recommends major law reforms on racial violence and verbal abuse against Australian Aboriginal and ethnic minority communities. |
April 30 |
Former WA Premier Brian Burke quits his post as Ambassador to Ireland amidst speculation about his misuse of ALP funds. |
May 23 |
Historian Manning Clark dies, age 76. |
May 27 |
Nick Greiner‘s Liberal Government is returned to power by the smallest of majorities in New South Wales. |
June 20 |
Mining at Coronation Hill, NT, is banned by Federal Cabinet. It will be incorporated into Kakadu National Park. |
July 15 |
Two men are charged in connection with the murder of surgeon Dr Victor Chang in the Sydney suburb of Mosman. |
July 22 |
Westpac Banking Corporation buys the Ten television network. |
July 24 |
The Federal Government imposes a 12 month freeze on unlisted property trusts. |
July 27 |
The oil tanker Kirki founders off the Western Australian coast, spilling its load of crude oil into the sea. |
August 3 |
Nine die in a hostel fire in the Hunter Valley town of Dungog, NSW. |
August 5 |
Sir Terence Lewis, 64, is imprisoned for 14 years on 15 charges of corruption whilst he was Police Commissioner of Queensland between 1978 and 1987. |
August 18 |
Six shoppers die as gunman Wade Frankum shoots indiscriminately with an AK-47 rifle, before turning it on himself and dying, in the Strathfield Plaza Shopping Centre in suburban Sydney. |
August 27 |
Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Australia officially recognises the three Baltic states, Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia. |
October 17 |
The worst bushfires in 20 years sweep through parts of New South Wales, destroying property and leaving two dead. |
November 13 |
The approval is given by the Federal Government to build Sydney Airport‘s third runway, which runs into Botany Bay. |
December 20 |
Paul Keating replaces Bob Hawke as Prime Minister and Leader of the Federal Labor Party. It marks the first time the Federal ALP has sacked its leader, whether in government or opposition. |
1992 |
January 4 |
Actress Dame Judith Anderson dies, age 93. |
January 4 |
Violent protests in Melbourne mark the end of a visit to Australia by US President George Bush Snr. |
January 29 |
The occupation of Old Parliament House, Canberra, by protesting Aborigines ends with the arrest of four people. |
January |
Australia officially recognises the newly independent republics of Croatia and Slovenia. |
February 1 |
1 cent and 2 cent coins begin to be withdrawn from circulation. |
March 4 |
Internationally acclaimed Australian Opthalmologist Professor Fred Hollows sparks a furore over comments he makes regarding the ‘gay lobby’ hijacking the AIDS debate. |
March 15 |
The first horse race meeting in Australia on a Sunday is held at Randwick Racecourse, Sydney. |
March 18 |
Prime Minister Paul Keating repeats his call for Australia to have a new design for its flag. |
April 2 |
The body of Western Australian mining magnate Lang Hancock is buried during a ceasefire in a battle between his daughter, Mrs Gina Rinehart and his widow, Mrs Rose Hancock (now Mrs Rose Porteous). |
April 7 |
The Iranian Embassy in Canberra is attacked. |
April 19 |
The tip of Cape York, Queensland, is bought by the local Injinoo people from Australian Airlines for around $2.2 million. |
May 2 |
Singer Fairlie Arrow is fined $5,000 for staging her own abduction on the Gold Coast in December of the previous year. |
June 3 |
The Federal High Court hands down the landmark Mabo decision (Eddie Mabo was a Torres Strait Islander), which recognises native land title where it has not been extinguished. |
June 4 |
The Federal Government approves the introduction of Pay Television. |
June 14 |
NSW Premier Nick Greiner resigns over the so-called Terry Metherell Affair. |
June 17 |
Artist Brett Whiteley dies of a drug overdose, age 53. |
June 19 |
Singer songwriter Peter Allen dies, age 48. |
July 25 |
Australian participates in the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, Spain. |
July 27 |
Photographer Maxwell Dupain dies, age 81. |
August 28 |
The Sydney Harbour Tunnel, a four-lane road tunnel under Sydney Harbour, opens to traffic. |
September 14 |
Qantas purchases Australian Airlines from the Federal Government for $400 million. |
September 20 |
The bodies of two English backpackers are found stabbed to death in the Belanglo State Forest in the Southern Highlands, NSW. |
September 29 |
NSW, Victoria and ACT suffer a severe epidemic of rubella (German Measles). |
October 5 |
Queen Elizabeth II agrees to not accept any more recommendations for imperial honours for Australians. She further announces Australian awards to replace them. |
October 6 |
Cricketer Bill O’Reilly dies, age 86. |
November 17 |
Convicted murderer and rapist Arthur ‘Neddy’ Smith informs on corrupt police to the Independent Commission Against Corruption in New South Wales. |
November 19 |
Disgraced businessman Alan Bond is freed after being acquitted of dishonesty charges after serving three months in gaol. |
November 20 |
Westpac announces a record $1.5 million loss for the 1991-92 financial year. |
November 22 |
The Anglican Church of Australia approves the ordination of women. |
November 23 |
The Federal Government lifts some restrictions that have thus far not allowed homosexuals to serve in the Australian armed forces. |
November 23 |
The High Court rules that people who have retained their foreign citizenship are ineligible to sit in Federal Parliament. |
November 30 |
Victoria’s union movement calls for a general strike as a protest against the industrial policies of the Liberal Government of Jeff Kennett. |
December 11 |
Australia’s unemployment rate reaches its highest level since the 1930s Depression. |
December 22 |
A $100 million Optus Telecommunications Satellite launched from Southern China is lost in space. |
December |
The NSW Auditor-General finds that the Darling Harbour complex is running at a loss which the taxpayers of the state are subsidising to the tune of $1 million each week. |
1993 |
January 2 |
The NSW road toll for the previous year is 649, the lowest in 42 years. |
January 9 |
Former Governor-General Sir Paul Hasluck dies, age 87. |
January 16 |
Australian troops join a United Nations peace keeping force in Somalia. |
January 21 |
The Australian dollars hits its lowest level in six years – US 66.54 cents. |
January 26 |
37-year old Aboriginal rock singer Mandawuy Yunupingu is declared Australian of the Year. |
February 10 |
Internationally acclaimed Australian Opthalmologist Professor Fred Hollows dies, age 63. |
February 17 |
ABC Television‘s ATV1 begins transmission into 15 South-East Asian countries. |
February |
The official count of unemployed persons exceeds 1 million for the first time. |
March 11 |
Australia’s third domestic airline, Compass Airlines, goes into liquidation. |
March 13 |
Prime Minister Paul Keating wins a Federal Election, which sees the Federal Labor Party returned to Government for a fifth successive term. |
April 1 |
Artist Kevin Gilbert dies, age 60. |
July 2 |
War hero and saviour of many soldiers on the Burma-Thailand Railway, Sir Edward ‘Weary’ Dunlop, dies in Melbourne, age 85. |
July 30 |
Dr William McBride is struck off the NSW Medical Register after being found guilty of scientific fraud. |
August 11 |
A 4WD vehicle is crashed through the gates of Parliament House, Canberra, leading to an upgrade of security. |
August 23 |
The Australian Cricket team wins The Ashes with a decisive 4-1 win over England. |
August 28 |
The first of six new $800 million Collins Class submarines being built in South Australia is launched. |
September 20 |
The Prime Minister Paul Keating reveals that Queen Elizabeth II has consented to accepting the change of Australia to a republic should the Australian people so desire. |
September 23 |
Sydney is announced as the host city for the 2000 Olympic Games. |
September 29 |
The former Queensland Opposition Leader Keith Wright is gaoled for eight years for rape and child sex crimes. |
October 31 |
Thirteen people are injured when a sprint car crashes into spectators at the start of the Grand Prix week in Adelaide. |
October 1 |
Australian Airlines becomes known as Qantas. |
November 5 |
The bodies of two more murdered backpackers are found in the Belanglo State Forest, NSW. |
November 11 |
The remains of an unknown soldier are laid to rest in the Australian War Memorial‘s Hall of Memory. |
November 19 |
The New South Wales Government becomes the first Government in Australia to pass laws banning vilification of homosexuals. |
December 21 |
The Mabo Bill passes through Federal Parliament, thereby acknowledging that Australia was occupied prior to European settlement, and allowing Aborigines the right to claim native title over land under continuous occupation. |
December 23 |
Former Western Australian Premier Brian Burke and his secretary are charged with stealing funds from the State ALP between 1984 and 1988. |
December 31 |
Skin cancer claims the lives of 1,215 Australians during the year, an increase of 21 per cent over the previous year. |
1994 |
January 15 |
Bushfires sweep through Australia’s eastern states causing major property damage. |
January 19 |
Cyclone Rewa causes damage in Queensland; a man is sucked down a drain to his death. |
January 22 |
The citizen’s pledge is changed so that no longer is allegiance pledged to the Queen. |
January 26 |
A Cambodian student carries out a hoax attack on Prince Charles at Sydney’s Darling Harbour during Australia Day celebrations. What at first appeared to be an assassination attempt was later found to be a political demonstration. |
February 5 |
Novelist and left-wing activist Frank Hardy is buried in Melbourne. |
February 24 |
743 women win a sex discrimination case against Australian Iron & Steel, a subsidiary of BHP. The case ended with an out of court settlement of $9 million in back payments. |
March 2 |
A parcel explodes in the office of the National Crime Authority, Canberra, killing a policeman. |
March 7 |
Over 1/2 million people take part in the 5th Clean Up Australia Day. |
April 26 |
The first non union employment enterprise agreement comes into effect under new laws. |
May 6 |
Approval is given to build and operate Sydney’s first Casino. |
May 14 |
Actor Leonard Teale dies, age 71 |
June 29 |
Charlotte Pass experiences the lowest temperature ever recorded in Australia – minus 23 degrees C. |
August 13 |
Victorian police strip search 400 people in a gay bar. |
August 18 |
The Northern Territory’s controversial new parliament house is opened by the Governor-General Bill Hayden. |
September 9 |
NSW Labor MP and crime fighter John Newman is assassinated. Newman had been waging a war against Asian organised crime in his Cabramatta electorate. |
September 24 |
Australia wins a record number of medals (87 gold, 52 silver, 43 bronze) at the Commonwealth Games held in Victoria, Canada. Among the first time medals winners are 21-year old sprinter Cathy Freeman and swimmer Kieren Perkins. |
October 5 |
A Catholic priest is charged in a Perth court with 47 sex offences against 3 boys. |
October 8 |
Approval is given to compensate Vietnam War veterans who were exposed to the chemical defoliant Agent Orange. |
October 27 |
Ivan Milat is committed to trial for the murder of 7 backpackers whose bodies have been found buried in shallow graves in the Belanglo State Forest near Bowral, NSW. |
November 5 |
The features films ‘Muriel’s Wedding‘ and ‘The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert‘ are honoured with AFI Awards. ‘Sirens‘ and ‘Lightning Jack‘ were also commercial successes. |
November 27 |
A crocodile farm worker in northern Queensland is taken by a crocodile. |
December 4 |
The Khmer Rouge guerilla group threatens to punish individual Australians because the Federal Government continues to give military aid to the Cambodian government. |
December 7 |
The ABC’s Triple J network is expanded into regional areas. |
December 15 |
Mount Lyell copper mine at Queenstown, Tasmania, closes down after 101 years of operation. |
December 16 |
A Spanish court refuses to extradite failed businessman Christopher Skase to Australia on humanitarian grounds. |
December 16 |
Writer Dame Mary Durack dies, age 81. |
December 31 |
98% of New South Wales, 45% of Queensland and large areas of South Australia, Western Australia and Victoria are declared drought affected. |
December 31 |
A total of 953 boat people have landed on Australia’s shores during 1994. |
1995 |
January 19 |
Pope John Paul II visits Australia for the beautification of Mother Mary McKillop, founder of the Josephite order. |
January 26 |
Painter Arthur Boyd is named Australian of the Year. |
February 11 |
A food poisoning scare involving the products of Adelaide smallgoods manufacturer, Garibaldi, results in the death of a 4-year old girl. |
February 20 |
Former Western Australian Premier Ray O’connor is gaoled for 18 months after being convicted of theft. |
February 27 |
Failed Western Australian businessman Alan Bond persuades 28 personal creditors to accept a settlement offer representing about half a cent in the dollar. |
April 2 |
Many of Rugby League’s top players sign up with the rebel Superleague, leaving the official 1995 Rugby League season in doubt. |
April 6 |
The town of Winton in outback Queensland celebrates the centenary of Banjo Paterson’s ‘Waltzing Matilda‘. |
April 23 |
Australia’s first Pay-TV operator, Galaxy, begins servicing a customer base of 5,000 subscribers. |
May 4 |
Australia wins the Frank Worrell cricket trophy for the first time in 20 years after defeating the West Indies 2-1 in the 1995 test series. |
May 21 |
Mercy killing by euthanasia is legalised in the Northern Territory. |
June 8 |
Prime Minister Paul Keating announces his plan to see Australia become a republic by the year 2001. |
July 21 |
Telecom Australia changes its name to Telstra. |
July 3 |
Australian Rugby League Captain Michael Lynagh retires after a 14 year playing career which included 72 tests. |
July 20 |
Media baron Rupert Murdoch unveils plans to build a major film studio in Sydney on the site of the original Sydney Showgrounds. |
July 21 |
Qantas Airways is first listed on the Australian Stock Exchange. |
August 2 |
Pioneer Labor Party MP Fred Daly dies, age 83. |
August 21 |
Senator Noel Crichton-Browne is expelled from the Western Australian Liberal State Executive. |
August 21 |
High Court Judge Sir William Deane is announced as Australia’s next Governor-General. |
August 31 |
24-year old author Helen Darville, writing under the name Helen Demidenko, has had the distribution of her novel ‘The Hand That signed The Paper’ frozen amid claims of plagiarism and claims about herself and her family being fabricated. |
September 2 |
Silverchair, a Newcastle, NSW, rock band comprised of three teenagers, has a No. 1 hit in the US with their single ‘Tomorrow’. |
September 7 |
France detonates the first of eight planned atomic bomb tests on Mururoa Atoll in the Pacific Ocean. |
October 30 |
Hopes of curbing the rising rabbit population in rural Australia rise as the killer calicivirus disease spreads through mainland Australia’s rabbit population. |
November 3 |
David Eastman is found guilty of the murder of Federal Police Assistant Commissioner Colin Winchester. |
November 25 |
Kerry Packer secures the free-to-air television rights for Channel 9 to telecast both the proposed 12-team Super League and the ARL’s existing Rugby League competition. |
December 12 |
ABC Current affairs presenter Andrew Olle dies, age 47. |
December 14 |
The Australian movie ‘Babe‘, about an orphaned pig who dreams of being a sheepdog, is released to critical acclaim in Australia and the US. |
December 14 |
15 years after the disappearance of baby Azaria Chamberlain from a campsite near Ayers Rock, NT, a third coronial inquiry into the case returns an open finding which supports the child’s parents’ claim that they had nothing to do with her death, and that there is considerable support for the view that a dingo may have taken the child, but there is no conclusive evidence to prove this. |
December 16 |
The suggested re-opening of Sydney Airport‘s east-west runway is opposed by anti-noise protesters. |
December 18 |
Comedian and actor Maurice Fields dies, age 69. |
December |
In terms of its natural wealth, Australia is declared the world’s richest nation in the World Bank rating system. |
1996 |
February |
Minority Liberal Governments are formed in Queensland and Tasmania. |
March 2 |
In a massive swing to the Liberal National Party coalition, 13 years of Federal Labor rule comes to an end. John Winston Howard replaces Paul Keating as Prime Minister. |
April 6 |
The Liberal Government of Jeff Kennett is re-elected for a second term of office in Victoria. |
April 18 |
Champion cyclist Sir Hubert Opperman dies, age 91. |
April 28 |
35 people are gunned down when a Hobart man, Martin Bryant, goes on a shooting rampage at the Port Arthur historical site, Tasmania. |
June 9 |
English policeman Peter Ryan is appointed as New South Wales Police Commissioner. He is given a brief by the NSW Premier, Bob Carr, to stamp out widespread corruption in the police force. |
June 15 |
Eighteen servicemen are killed and 10 injured when two Blackhawk helicopters collide near Townsville, Qld. |
July 17 |
Cricket commentator Alan McGilvray dies, age 85. |
July 26 |
Road worker Ivan Milat is found guilty of the murder of seven backpackers in the NSW Southern Highlands between December 1989 and April 1992. |
August 4 |
Australia records its best ever performance at the Atlanta Olympic Games. The Australian team won 9 gold, 9 silver and 23 bronze. |
August 19 |
Thousands of protesters descend on Parliament House, Canberra, in one of the most violent demonstrations ever seen in Australia. |
August 25 |
Australia comes second in the medal tally at the Atlanta Paralympic Games. |
August 28 |
The Mr Big of modern Australia’s organised crime, Lennie McPherson, dies age 75. |
September 10 |
Independent MP Pauline Hanson makes her maiden speech in Parliament and in it calls for a tougher line on Aboriginal welfare and Asian immigration. |
September 26 |
Tibet’s Dalai Lama makes a week long visit to Australia which includes a meeting with the Prime Minister, John Howard. |
September 26 |
The death of Darwin man Bob Dent becomes the first incidence of euthanasia conducted under the Northern Territory’s new euthanasia laws. |
September 27 |
Nine people are killed when a cliff face collapses near Gracetown, Western Australia. |
October 7 |
Australian Professor Peter Doherty, 55, is awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine. |
November 7 |
Hobart man Martin Bryant pleads guilty to the massacre of 35 people at Port Arthur, Tas. in April. |
November 9 |
Retired Supreme Court judge David Yeldham commits suicide after being named in the NSW parliament in connection with paedophilia investigations by the NSW Police Royal Commission. |
November 14 |
Rock star Michael Jackson, 38, marries Debbie Rowe, 37, at Sydney’s Sheraton On The Park Hotel. |
November 18 |
Perth born David Hicks arrives in Fremantle Harbour, WA, to become the first teenager to sail solo around the world. |
November 20 |
US President Bill Clinton and his wife Hilary commence a five-day visit to Australia. |
December 4 |
Businessman Alan Bond pleads guilty to dishonesty offences regarding Australia’s biggest corporate fraud, which relates to the $1 billion takeover of Bell Resources. |
December 4 |
Comedian Sir Sid Heyden dies, age 74. |
December 5 |
The Federal Government announces its intention to privatise its communications operation, Telstra. |
December 14 |
Liberal leader Richard Court is returned to office for a second term in Western Australia. |
December 23 |
The Australian High Court makes a landmark decision on Aboriginal land rights, ruling that the Wik and Thaydore people of Cape York that the granting of pastoral leases by the Queensland Government did not necessarily extinguish native title. However, although pastoral leaseholders do not have exclusive possession of grazing land, if the two uses were in conflict, pastoral uses would prevail. |
December 27 |
Lone yachtsman Raphael Dinelli is rescued off the Western Australian coast in treacherous conditions. |
December 29 |
Maxi yacht ‘Morning Glory’ breaks the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race record, completing the journey in 2 days 14 hours 7 minutes and 10 seconds, breaking the record set by Kialoa in 1975 by 29 minutes 46 seconds. |
1997 |
January 9 |
Lone British yachtsman Tony Bullimore is found alive after spending 3 days trapped inside his overturned yacht in the Southern Ocean. |
January 26 |
Nobel Prize winner Professor Peter Doherty is named Australian of the Year. |
February 14 |
An extortionist threatens to poison Arnott’s biscuits. |
March 24 |
Actor Geoffrey Rush is awarded the Oscar for Best Actor for his portrayal of troubled pianist David Helfgott in the movie, ‘Shine‘. |
March 24 |
The Federal Senate overturns the Northern Territory’s controversial voluntary euthanasia legislation. |
April 29 |
BHP announces plans to close its steel-making plant at Newcastle, NSW, at the end of 1999, resulting in 2,500 job losses. |
May 5 |
Federal MP Pauline Hanson launches the One Nation Party. |
May 8 |
Melbourne’s Crown Casino opens. |
May 14 |
Long distance swimmer Susie Maroney becomes the first person to swim unassisted from Cuba to Florida, USA. |
May 22 |
A report by the Human Rights and Equal opportunities Commission states that Australian Governments must apologise and pay compensation for the forced removal of Aboriginal and Torres Islander children from their families. |
July 13 |
The Canberra Hospital is demolished by implosion, but debris from it kills a 12-year old girl, Katie Bender, and injures nine other people. |
July 14 |
Judge Sir Garfield Barwick dies, age 94. |
July 15 |
Senator Mal Colston is charged with fraud over allegations of Parliamentary travel allowance rorts. |
July 24 |
The WA Court of Criminal Appeals quashes seven convictions against former Western Australian Premier Brian Burke. |
August 3 |
Ski instructor Stuart Diver is miraculously rescued from the rubble of a landslide that destroyed two ski lodges at the resort town of Thredbo, NSW. |
August 4 |
Aboriginal athlete Cathy Freeman becomes the first Australian woman to win a title at the World Athletics Championships, after winning the 400 metres event in Athens. |
August 18 |
Aboriginal activist Burnum Burnum dies, age 61. |
September 1 |
Flags across Australia fly at half mast as the nation mourns the death of Diana, Princess of Wales. |
September 3 |
The surprise box office hit movie ‘The Castle‘ is released theatrically around Australia. |
September 7 |
Tennis player Pat Rafter wins the US Open, defeating Britain’s Greg Rusedski. |
September 22 |
Brisbane singing group Savage Garden wins a record ten ARIA Awards. |
October 15 |
Australian Democrats leader Cheryl Kernot defects to the Federal Labor Party. |
October 17 |
Actor Noel Ferrier dies, age 66. |
October 29 |
Dr Herbert Cole "Nugget" Coombs, the former Governor of the Reserve Bank, dies age 91. |
November 17 |
Telstra shares are listed on the Australian Stock Exchange. |
November 22 |
Rock star and INXS lead singer Michael Hutchence is found dead in his suite at the exclusive Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Double Bay, Sydney. |
December 9 |
Ted Matthews, the last survivor of those who went ashore at Anzac Cove on 25th April 1915, dies age 101. |
1998 |
January 26 |
Athlete Cathy Freeman is named Australian of the Year. |
February 13 |
A Constitutional Convention votes in favour of Australia becoming a republic. As a result, a referendum is to be held in 1999 as to whether to replace the Queen as the Head of State. |
February 19 |
Skier Zali Steggall becomes the first Australian to win an individual medal at the Winter Olympic Games, claiming a bronze medal in the women’s slalom in the 1998 Winter Olympics at Nagano, Japan. |
March 11 |
Talkback radio host John Laws is fined $50,000 after being found guilty on contempt of court charges relating to the aborting of a murder trial. |
March 13 |
Three men, including Fairfield City Councilor Phoung Ngo, are charged with the murder of Cabramatta, NSW, MP and anti-drugs campaigner John Newman. |
May 4 |
A five month long labour dispute between Patrick Stevedores and its workforce ends with a ruling by the High Court for the company to reinstate its Maritime Union of Australia workers. |
May 26 |
National Sorry Day, held as part of National Reconciliation Week between white and black Australians, is greeted with a mixed reaction across Australia. The organisers were disappointed that the Federal Government did not use the occasion to officially say "sorry" to Australia’s Aboriginal population for events past. |
April 27 |
The musical ‘The Boy From Oz‘, a tribute to singer / songwriter Peter Allen, sets a one-day box office record at Sydney’s Her Majesty’s Theatre. |
June 1 |
Long distance swimmer Susie Maroney completes a 197 km swim from Mexico to Cuba. |
June 11 |
Andy Thomas becomes the first Australian to travel in space, returning to earth after 141 days on board the Russian space station Mir. |
July 7 |
The federal Senate passes the historic Wik legislation, a determination about the Aboriginal land rights issue. |
July 17 |
Former lead singer of the rock group Dragon, Marc Hunter, dies age 44. |
August 18 |
Radio disc jockey Ward ‘Pally’ Austin dies, age 63. |
September 3 |
Legendary horse trainer Tommy Smith dies, age 81. |
September 20 |
Australia wins a record 198 medals, including 80 gold, at the Kuala Lumpur Commonwealth Games. |
September 28 |
Gas supplies in Victoria are cut off in the wake of a series of natural gas explosions at Victoria’s main plant at Longford. |
October 3 |
John Howard‘s Liberal Government is re-elected for a second term in a Federal Election. |
October 14 |
Federal police take part in the biggest drug bust ever at Port Macquarie, NSW, where 29 people are arrested and 400 kg of heroin are seized from a trawler. |
October 18 |
Australian cricket captain Mark Taylor scores an unbeaten 334 runs in the second test against Pakistan in Peshawar, equaling Sir Donald Bradman’s record highest score by an Australian batsman. |
November 22 |
A bottle of 1951 Penfold’s Grange Hermitage sells for $24,500, a record for an Australian bottle of wine. |
November 28 |
After 26 years and over 5,000 episodes, the Nine Network’s ‘Midday Show‘ airs for the last time. |
November 29 |
General Motors Holden celebrates its 50th anniversary of manufacturing cars in Australia. |
December 2 |
A parcel bomb sent by a disgruntled former employee of the Australian Tax Office explodes in the Canberra Mail Exchange. |
December 9 |
Australian cricketers Shane Warne and Mark Waugh reveal they sold pitch and weather information to an Indian bookmaker during a one-day series in Sri Lanka in 1994. |
December 29 |
Rough seas savage the Sydney to Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race fleet, in which a number of sailors lost their lives. |
December 31 |
Australian businesses gear up for the biggest hoax in years – that the country’s computers will go awry because of the so-called Year 2000 (Y2K) computer bug. |
1999 |
January 24 |
Actress Cate Blanchett wins a Golden Globe award for Best Actress in a Dramatic Film for her portrayal in the British film, ‘Elizabeth‘. |
January 26 |
Former Australian cricket captain Mark Taylor is named Australian of the Year. |
February 5 |
Australia’s first Aboriginal senator, Sir Neville Bonner, dies. |
February 9 |
Flamboyant former Premier of South Australia, Don Dunstan, dies age 73. |
March 8 |
Stadium Australia, built as the main stadium for the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, is unofficially opened. |
March 25 |
A prisoner makes a Hollywood-style break from Silverwater Gaol, Sydney, by helicopter. |
March 26 |
The Labor Government of the Premier of New South Wales, Bob Carr, is re-elected. |
May 21 |
Police discovered the decomposed bodies of nine people in an unused bank vault in Snowtown, South Australia. |
May 23 |
The Queensland Rail Tilt Train establishes a new Australian rail speed record of 210 km/hr between Meadowvale and Avondale, near Bundaberg, Queensland. It breaks a record of 193 km/hr set by the XPT on 18th September 1992 between Table Top and Yerong Creek, southern NSW. |
May 29 |
A Goods and Services Tax (GST) gets the go-ahead by Federal Parliament. |
April 14 |
Sydney is struck by a hailstorm which causes $1.4 billion worth of damage. |
April 24 |
Artist, potter and ceramic artist Arthur Boyd dies, age 78. |
June 29 |
The Leader of the National Party and Deputy Prime Minister, Tim Fischer, steps down. |
July 12 |
Uranium mining commences at Jabiluka in Kakadu National Park, NT. |
August 26 |
Prime Minister John Howard puts Aboriginal Reconciliation at the top of the Federal Government’s agenda for Australia’s Centenary year since Federation. |
September 18 |
Controversial Victorian Liberal Premier Jeff Kennett is voted out of office in a State election. |
September 20 |
Australian troops land in East Timor to help quell violence following an overwhelming vote for independence from Indonesia in a referendum in August. |
October 20 |
The Australian Broadcasting Authority launches inquiries into the activities of Sydney radio broadcasters John Laws and Alan Jones in what becomes known as the ‘cash for comments’ affair. |
October 23 |
Artist Albert Tucker dies, age 84. |
November 6 |
Australians vote a resounding ‘No’ in a referendum on whether or not Australia should cut ties with the British Crown and become a republic. |
November 20 |
Australia’s longest running television show, ‘Hey! Hey! It’s Saturday‘ is broadcast for the last time after a 28 year run. |
December 2 |
Australia defeats France to win Tennis’ Davis Cup in Nice, France. |
December 2 |
Seven passengers die when a suburban train crashes into the back of the Indian Pacific near Glenbrook in the Blue Mountains, NSW. |
December 8 |
Ultra-marathon runner Pat Farmer completes a 14,500 km run around Australia in 191 days to raise awareness of the Centenary of Federation celebrations. |
December 30 |
Marathon swimmer Des Renford dies, age 72. |
December 31 |
An Adelaide funeral firm offers to store a sample of a client’s tissue containing their client’s Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) for later cloning. |
2000 |
January 26 |
Sir Gustaf Nossol, 68-year old scientist and deputy chairman of the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation, is named Australian of the Year. |
February 1 |
Federal Police and customs officers seize a record $140 million shipment of cocaine at Broken Bay north of Sydney. |
February 7 |
An investigation by the Australian Broadcasting Authority into the ‘cash for comments’ affair, documents 95 alleged breaches of the Code of Practice by Sydney radio station 2UE and some of its announcers. |
February 11 |
Calls are made for an end to mandatory sentencing laws in the Northern Territory following the death in custody of an 18-year old Aboriginal boy. |
March 17 |
Queen Elizabeth II arrives in Australia for a low key visit. |
March |
Australian paracetamol manufacturer Herron is subjected to extortion threats. |
May 12 |
Writer and poet Nancy Cato dies, age 83. |
April 7 |
Shares in IT companies go into free fall after the collapse of a number of internet or ‘dot com’ companies in the US. |
April 14 |
The High Court rules that 500 Kosavo refugees must return to their homeland some 12 months after their arrival in Australia. |
May 29 |
An estimated 150,000 people walk across the Sydney Harbour Bridge as part of an expression of support for greater harmony, understanding and reconciliation with Australia’s indigenous population. |
June 1 |
Australia’s largest paracetamol manufacturer Smith Kline Beecham, which manufactures Panadol, receives extortion threats. |
June 5 |
Newcastle-based airline Impulse enters the cut-price aviation war by introducing a range of cheap air services between some Australian capital cities. |
June 8 |
The Olympic torch arrives at Uluru, Northern Territory, at the beginning of its journey around Australia prior to the beginning of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. |
June 25 |
An arsonist sets fire to a backpackers hostel at Childers, Queensland, killing a number of guests. |
July 1 |
Australia’s Goods and Services Tax (GST) is introduced. |
July 13 |
Scientist Sir Mark Oliphant dies, age 98. |
August 12 |
A test case before the Federal Court seeking compensation for two persons of the so-called Stolen Generation is rejected. |
August 29 |
Telstra announces a $3.68 billion profit, the biggest in Australian corporate history. |
September 8 |
Pioneer television executive Bruce Gyngell dies, age 71. |
October 2 |
Winemaker Murray Tyrell dies, age 79. |
October 2 |
The Sydney 2000 Olympic Games open. Australia wins 58 medals, of which 16 are gold, its best ever performance at an Olympic Games. |
October 12 |
Aboriginal activist Charles Perkins dies, age 64. |
November 14 |
Explosives are used to free the 23,150-ton Malaysian container ship M/V Bunga Teratai Sat that has become grounded on the Great Barrier Reef, Queensland. |
November 22 |
The Australian dollar hits a record low of US 50.7 cents. |
December 1 |
The Federal Government releases its White Paper on defence, which provides for an additional $23.5 billion over the next 10 years. |
December 19 |
Doctors call for urgent national research on Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT), amid growing concerns that airlines are dealing with a major health problem. |
December |
Savage Garden becomes the first Australian popular music group to have two number one records in the US charts since Men At Work in 1982. |