1988 in Australia
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| 1988 in Australia | |
|---|---|
| Monarchy | Elizabeth II |
| Governor-General | Ninian Stephen |
| Prime minister | Bob Hawke |
| Population | 16,532,164 |
| Elections | VIC, NSW |
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| Decades: | |||||
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| See also: | |||||
Contents
Incumbents
Premiers and Chief Ministers
- Premier of New South Wales – Barrie Unsworth (until 25 March), then Nick Greiner
- Premier of Queensland – Mike Ahern
- Premier of South Australia – John Bannon
- Premier of Tasmania – Robin Gray
- Premier of Victoria – John Cain
- Premier of Western Australia – Brian Burke (until 25 February), then Peter Dowding
- Chief Minister of the Northern Territory – Stephen Hatton (until 14 July), then Marshall Perron
Governors and Administrators
- Governor of New South Wales – Sir Roden Cutler
- Governor of Queensland – Peter Arnison
- Governor of South Australia – Sir Donald Dunstan
- Governor of Tasmania – Sir Phillip Bennett
- Governor of Victoria – Davis McCaughey
- Governor of Western Australia – Gordon Reid
- Administrator of the Northern Territory – Eric Johnston
- Administrator of Norfolk Island – John Alexander Matthew
Events
- Australia's Bicentenary year, celebrations year.
- 17 January - The TV soap Home and Away is launched by Seven Network.
- 26 January – Australia Day, Australia celebrates its bicentennial day with the arrival of the First Fleet Re-enactment Voyage and a tall ships parade in Sydney Harbour.
- 19 March – Nick Greiner & the Liberal Party win NSW election in a landside, removing the ALP government of Barrie Unsworth.
- 30 April – World Expo 88 opens in Brisbane, Queensland. The exhibition runs for 6 months hosting pavilions from over 70 countries and thrusts Brisbane into the international spotlight.
- 9 May – Elizabeth II opens the New Parliament House in Canberra
- 1 June - the British Government fail to stop the publication of Spycatcher by the ex-MI5 agent Peter Wright
- 1 September – Acacia pycnantha proclaimed Australia's national floral emblem.
- 3 September – Federal referendums on 4-year parliamentary terms, recognition of local government and other issues are defeated
- 1 October – The ALP government of John Cain is narrowly re-elected for a third term in Victoria.
- 12 October – Two officers of the Victoria Police are gunned down execution-style in the Walsh Street police shootings.
- 15 October – Aus Steam '88 commenced in Melbourne, Victoria
- 30 October – World Expo 88 draws to a close after a 6-month spectacular.
- 29 November – The four acts granting the ACT self-government are given Royal Assent.
- Olympic Dam, the world's largest uranium deposit and the largest underground mine in Australian opens
Arts and literature
- No Miles Franklin Award winner is announced as date changed from year of publication to year of announcement
- The Aboriginal Memorial was created to honour all Aboriginals that had died defending their land since 1788
Film
Television
- 1 January – Australia Live, a four-hour celebration for Australia's bicentennial of European settlement airs on the ABC, SBS, the Nine Network and regional solus stations.
- 2 January – Imparja starts broadcasting to remote Central Australia via satellite It will have its official launch on 15 January.
- 17 January – The first episode of Home and Away goes to air.
- 17 January – A Current Affair debuts on Channel Nine, hosted by Jana Wendt.
- 24 January – Network Ten unveils its new logo, the "X" logo.
- 16 February – The Comedy Company debuts on Network 10 (1988–1990)
- 29 April – QSTV (now Seven Central) starts broadcasting to remote Eastern Australia via satellite.
- 20 May – Perth's third commercial television station NEW-10 opens, giving Perth the same number of stations as the eastern states.
- 10 September – Brisbane's TVQ-0 becomes TVQ-10. On the same day, Toowoomba's DDQ-10 becomes DDQ-0.
- Christopher Skase buys Perth's TVW-7 and SAS-7 from Alan Bond's Bell Group for $130 million, meaning that all stations in the Seven Network are owned by the one company for the first time.
Sport
- 50m penalty introduced in the VFL.
- 4 March – First game of rugby league played at the newly built Sydney Football Stadium. St. George defeat Eastern Suburbs 24-14.
- 5 March – Newcastle Knights play their first game in the NSWRL. At Newcastle International Sports Centre (later EnergyAustralia Stadium), Parramatta win 28–4. On the same day, the Gold Coast Giants (later Seagulls & finally Chargers) play their first game in the same competition. At Seagulls Stadium, Canterbury win 21–10.
- 6 March – Brisbane Broncos play their first match, defeating defending premiers Manly 44-10 at Lang Park.
- 11 June – In the 100th rugby league test between the two nations, Australia defeat Great Britain 17-6.
- 28 June - Australia retain the Ashes by defeating Great Britain in the 2nd Test of the 1988 Great Britain Lions tour.
- 17 July – Australia thrash reigning World Champions Argentina 4-1 in the Bicentennial Gold Cup, at Sydney Football Stadium.
- 24 July – Patrick Carroll wins the men's national marathon title, clocking 2:10:44 in Brisbane, while Karen McCann claims the women's title in 2:44:05.
- 11 September – Canterbury defeat Balmain 24-12 to win the 81st NSWRL premiership. It is the first Grand Final played at the S.F.S. & the last game for Steve Mortimer. The Grand Final was played early so that Channel Ten could broadcast the 1988 Seoul Olympics.
- 24 September – Hawthorn Hawks (22.20.152) defeat Melbourne Demons (6.20.56) to with the 92nd VFL premiership.
- 9 October – Australia defeat New Zealand 25-12 in the final of the Rugby League World Cup, played at Eden Park in Auckland
- Debbie Flintoff-King wins gold in the women's 400m over Tatyana Ledovskaya (Soviet Union) in a photo finish by 0.01s
- Duncan Armstrong wins gold in the men's 200m freestyle over Anders Holmertz of Sweden & race favourite Matt Biondi of the United States.
- Brownlow Medal awarded to Gerard Healy (Sydney)
Births
- 22 February – Dane Searls, BMX rider (d. 2011)
- 13 May – Casey Donovan, singer, Indigenous TV host
- 26 May – Dani Samuels, discus thrower
- 17 June - Stephanie Rice, swimmer
- 4 August – Liam Zamel-Paez, high jumper
- 22 August – Mitchell Langerak, football (soccer) goalkeeper
- 30 November – Phillip Hughes, cricketer (d. 2014)
- 7 December – Emily Browning, actress
Deaths
- 31 January – David Ahern, composer
- 28 February – Kylie Tennant, author
- 31 March – William McMahon, twentieth Prime Minister of Australia
- 1 December – Lloyd Rees, artist
