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Timeline: 1971 – 1980

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1971

January 1

Victoria becomes the first state to make the wearing of seat belts in motor vehicles compulsory.

February 5

The mining share boom ends with the collapse in Sydney of Mining Securities of Australia.

February 7

The National Times commences publication.

February 28

The Sunday Australian is first published.

March 10

John Grey Gorton steps down as Prime Minister and Leader of the Liberal Party.

March 18

Popular quiz show host Bob Dyer and his wife-sidekick, Dolly, retire from nearly a quarter of a century in radio and television.

March 22

William McMahon becomes Prime Minister.

March

The Australian Film Development Commission is established.

April 17

Australia joins with four other nations (New Zealand, Britain, Malaysia and Singapore) in an effort to bring peace to South East Asia.

April 27

The Northern Territory Supreme Court rejects the land right claim of the Yirrkala Aboriginal people at Gove, NT.

April 30

The remains of the Dutch East Indiaman Batavia, which was wrecked in the Abrolhos Islands, WA, in 1629, is found.

May 25

Neville Bonner becomes Australia’s first Aboriginal member of Parliament.

May 27

A man who threatened to blow up a Qantas aircraft if the company failed to pay him $500,000 is charged with a number of offences.

May 29

Pioneer Australian actor Chips Rafferty (John William Goffage) dies at Rose Bay, Sydney, age 62.

May

The Commonwealth Department of Environment, Aborigines and Arts is established.

June 18

A number of housewives join the Builders Labourers Federation in a campaign to save Kelly’s Bush, a track of bush in the Sydney suburb of Hunters Hill.

June 30

Some miners in NSW, Qld and Tas are awarded a 37 1/2 hour week.

June 30

Poet Kenneth Adolph Slessor dies, age 70.

July 11

Spectators at a Rugby Union Match between NSW and the South African Springboks are arrested as they protest against the policy of apartheid adopted by the Government of South Africa.

July 22

The South African Springbok Rugby Team arrives in Brisbane, and a state of emergency is declared as violent protests begin.

August 1

The wearing of seatbelts becomes compulsory in NSW.

August 19

Prime Minister William McMahon pledges to have all Australian troops in Vietnam home by the end of the year.

September 19

Trams are replaced by buses in Ballarat, Vic.

September 18

Qantas takes delivery of its first Boeing 747 Jumbo jet aircraft.

October 15

Architect Robin Boyd dies, age 52.

November 1

Victoria, NSW and NT reintroduce daylight savings after 27 years of standard time.

December 14

Late night trading is introduced for shops in New South Wales.

December 17

The cost of Australia’s 24 F-111 fighter aircraft for the RAAF has increased by $10 million to $310 million on the price quoted eight years previously when the jets were first ordered. As yet, no aircraft have been delivered.

December 26

Townsville, Qld, is declared a disaster area after being hit by cyclone Althea.

December 27

Tim Burstall‘s film ‘Stork‘ premieres.


1972

January 26

An Aboriginal tent embassy is erected on the lawns outside Parliament House, Canberra.

April 3

Japan replaces Britain as Australia’s major trading partner and customer.

April 16

Trams are withdrawn from service in Bendigo, Vic.

May 12

The Women’s Electoral Lobby is formed.

May 23

Australian designed Nomad aircraft goes into production.

May

French ships banned from entering Australian ports by ACTU in response to French nuclear testing in the Pacific.

June 30

Lake Argyle Dam, the second stage in the Ord River Irrigation Scheme, completed.

July 3

Author Martin Boyd dies, age 78.

July 3

The acclaimed David Williamson play, Don’s Party, opens in Sydney at the Jane Street Theatre.

July 7

Chief Justice Sir Owen Dixon dies, age 86.

July 22

The National Review is born as a result of the amalgamation of The Nation and the Sunday Review.

July 31

17 miners die in an explosion in a coal mine near Ipswich, Qld.

August 8

What are believed to be the world’s oldest known footprints – dated by scientists as 355 million years old – are found in Gippsland, Vic.

August 16

An oil workers’ strike ends as a result of a deal with oil companies negotiated by union executive, Robert James Lee (Bob) Hawke.

August 22

Author Ernestine Hill dies, age 73.

August 24

The Federal Government approves the export of uranium ore from mines at Mary Kathleen, NT, and Queensland Mines.

September 3

Swimmer Shane Gould becomes Australia’s golden girl of the pool when she wins three gold medals, and in so doing, becomes Australia’s youngest ever gold Olympian, at the Munich Olympic Games.

October 5

The Federal Government passes a bill that authorises Federal financial assistance to non-profit childcare centres.

October 20

The controversial book, Portnoy’s Complaint, by Philip Roth, is banned and destroyed in Victoria.

October 21

The Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric Scheme officially completed.

October 21

British rock singer Joe Cocker and six band members are deported from Australia after they are convicted of drugs charges in Adelaide.

October 22

Amid outcries of environmental vandalism, Lake Pedder, Tas, is flooded as part of a new Hydro-Electric scheme.

November 15

In Alice Springs, NT, a man is shot as he tries to take over a Fokker Friendship aircraft.

November 16

Sir Douglas Ralph Nicholls becomes the first Aborigine to receive a knighthood.

November

The women’s magazine Cleo is launched.

December 3

After 33 years in Opposition, the Labor Party, under the leadership of (Edward) Gough Whitlam, wins the Federal Election. Much of it success is pinned on a successful advertising campaign built around the slogan, "It’s Time".

December 8

The Whitlam Government announces the abandonment of the Australian Imperial Honours list, which is to be replaced by an Australian Honours list.

December 9

The Whitlam Government bans all racially selected sporting teams from competing in Australia, in particular those from South Africa.

December 14

The end of conscription for the Vietnam War is introduced on Labor’s first day in office. From January 1965 to December 1972, some 63,740 were conscripted. Of these, 15,542 saw active service in Vietnam.

December 16

Miss Elizabeth Evatt becomes the first woman to be appointed to the Commonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration Commission.

December 16

Equal Pay for Equal Work granted to women by the Commonwealth Arbitration Commission.

December 19

The last of 67 Australian servicemen on military duty in Vietnam fly home.

December 19

The Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs established.

December 20

William McMahon resigns as leader of the Liberal Party. Billy Mackie Snedden is elected to the position.

December 23

The Whitlam Government recognises the Governments of China and East Germany by beginning the re-establishment of diplomatic relations with both.

December

A Royal Commission is launched into Aboriginal land rights in federal territories.


1973

January 11

The Commonwealth Government prohibits the export of kangaroo skins.

February 11

Australia’s first legal casino opens at Wrest Point near Hobart, Tas.

February

The British rock group The Rolling Stones visit Australia.

February

Britain joins the European Economic Community, ending its preferential tariff arrangement with Australia.

March 7

The headquarters of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation in Melbourne are raided by police led by the Attorney-General, Lionel Murphy.

March 18

The legal voting age is lowered from 21 to 18 years.

March 30

The Commonwealth Government abolishes university fees.

March

The sex comedy movie ‘Alvin Purple‘ is released.

April

The South Australian Film Corporation is established.

April 3

Extended maternity and paternity leave for commonwealth public servants announced.

April 21

Former Prime Minister Arthur Fadden dies, age 78

June 1

Australia takes delivery of its first six F-111 fighter aircraft fighter aircraft.

June 22

At Australia’s request, the International Court of Justice orders France to stop nuclear testing in the Pacific and Indian Oceans.

June

The Festival of Light Organisation is founded.

June

Leyland Australia releases its answer to the Holden and Ford Falcon, the P76.

July 3

Supporting Mother’s Benefit introduced.

July 7

Robert James Lee (Bob) Hawke is elected President of the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU).

July 8

Former Labor Party leader Arthur Calwell dies, age 76.

July 18

The Whitlam Government ignores the pleas of Australian business and reduces import tariffs across the board by 25 per cent.

July 24

Australia signs a three year trade agreement with China.

July 25

Murdoch University, WA’s second university, opens.

August 13

15 people die in a Brisbane nightclub fire.

September 7

A Constitutional Convention is held in Sydney.

September

The death penalty is abolished in ACT and the Northern Territory.

September

Wine is sold in casks for the first time.

October 13

The coastal freighter Blythe Star capsizes and sinks off the coast of Tasmania near South West Cape.

October 20

Queen Elizabeth II opens the Sydney Opera House.

October 23

As part of its decentralisation programme, the Federal Government backs a plan to develop the Albury-Wodonga Growth Centre.

October 24

After demonstrators are arrested, Building Unions place a green ban on the demolition of part of Sydney’s historic Rocks area.

November 1

(Edward) Gough Whitlam becomes Australia’s first Prime Minister to visit China.

November 6

600 homes in south-western Brisbane are badly damaged by a cyclone.

November 17

The DLP wins its only seat in the NSW lower house elections because the sitting Liberal member for Gordon forgot to nominate.

November 24

Aborigines across the country vote to elect members of the National Aboriginal Consultative Committee.

November 30

The Australian Arts Council established.

December 1

Papua New Guinea granted self government.

December 8

A referendum over Government control of prices and incomes to help fight inflation is defeated.

December 13

Australia ratifies its international treaties on nuclear arms control, originally signed in 1970-71.

December

During the year, inflation spiraled upwards, peaking at at 13.2 per cent.


1974

January 1

The Commonwealth Government abolishes tertiary education fees.

January 26

Extensive rains flood Brisbane and leave much of the city and riverside suburbs under water. Over a 4 day period, 14,000 homes become flooded.

February 4

Buildings are burnt to the ground and prisoners are shot at a gaol riot at Bathurst, NSW.

February 12

Six children and their teacher are kidnapped at the Faraday School, Victoria. The kidnapper, Edward Charles Eastwood, is convicted and sentenced to 21 years gaol on 3rd November 1977 after having escaped from Geelong Prison and re-offended in a similar manner.

March 26

Ruth Lissant Dobson becomes Australia’s first woman Ambassador, on her appointment to the Embassy in Denmark.

May 1

Media entrepreneur Sir Frank Packer dies, age 67.

April 1

Authors are granted the right to royalties for their books held in lending libraries.

April 3

Prime Minister (Edward) Gough Whitlam is accused of skullduggery when he appoints former DLP leader, Senator Vince Gair to the post of Ambassador to Eire, giving Labor a chance to gain an extra seat in the Senate.

April 4

A Government report indicates that over 1 million Australians are now living in poverty.

April 6

Pioneer aviator and founder of Qantas Airways, Sir Hudson Fysh, dies age 79.

April 9

The Whitlam Government changes the Australian national anthem from ‘God Save The Queen‘ to ‘Advance Australia Fair‘, but deletes the verses that refer to God.

April

The first episode of the ABC-TV historical drama, ‘Rush‘, premieres. Set in the days of the Australian goldrush, the series saw 25 episodes produced and starred John Waters, Olivia Hamnett, Brendon Lunney and Alain Douty.

May 20

Artist Ian Fairweather dies, age 82.

May 20

A referendum on four changes to the Australian constitution is defeated on all four proposals.

May 21

The Whitlam Labor Government is returned to power with a greatly decreased majority in one of the closest General Elections in Australia’s history.

May 27

The 53,000 tonne Norwegian bulk carrier Sygnia runs aground on Stockton Beach, NSW.

June 22

The Builders’ Labourers’ Federation (BLF) is deregistered by the Australian Industrial Court in Melbourne.

June 28

Lawrence Street is appointed Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of NSW, and in so doing becomes the third family member to fulfill the role.

July 11

Former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of NSW, Sir John Robert Kerr, is appointed Governor-General.

July 13

Joan Sutherland makes her first appearance with the Australian Opera.

August 7

An historic joint sitting of both houses of Parliament votes to implement electoral boundary changes designed to ensure the principle of ‘one man, one vote’.

September 13

Cambridge Credit Corporation goes into receivership in the largest corporate failure in Australia’s history to date.

September 14

The abolition of the license required to possess a radio and television is announced.

October 1

The Trade Practices Act becomes law.

October 4

Australia’s first consumer credit card – Bankcard – is introduced by seven of the nation’s trading banks and two of its savings banks.

October 16

Prince Charles opens the Siding Springs Radio Telescope facility, NSW.

October 19

The ABC makes its first colour television transmission in a test in Melbourne.

October

Peter Weir makes his debut as a film director with the release of his movie, ‘The Cars That Ate Paris‘, in Melbourne.

October

The Seymour Centre, Sydney, opens.

December 1

The Mungo Man, an adult male skeleton believed to be around 30,000 years old, is found at Lake Mungo, NSW.

December 4

The new MP for Bennelong, John Winston Howard, uses an adjournment debate to ask why Dr Jim Cairns has employed a woman who is under investigation by the NSW Corporate Affairs Commission. The woman involved is later revealed as Ms Juni Morosi and the questions over Dr Cairns’ relationship with her become known as The Morosi Affair.

December 15

The first regular FM radio broadcast in Australia commences with Sydney station 2MBS-FM broadcasting classical music from its Crows Nest studio.

December 25

Cyclone Tracy destroys Darwin, NT.


1975

January 1

University of Wollongong, NSW, established.

January 5

12 people die after the 10,000 ton cargo ship Lake Illawarra hits two pylons of the Tasman Bridge, Hobart, in heavy fog, bringing down a section of the bridge and sinking the vessel (photos).

January 20

The ABC launches its rock radio station, 2JJ.

February 9

Attorney-general Lionel Murphy resigns his post to take up his appointment as Justice of the High Court.

February

Australia’s first legal nude beach declared in Adelaide, SA.

February

Cyclone Trixie destroys the town of Onslow, WA.

March 1

Colour television broadcasts commence.

March 7

The Australian Film Commission established.

March 21

Malcolm Fraser replaces Billy Mackie Snedden as Leader of the Federal opposition.

April 24

Victoria abolishes capital punishment by hanging.

May 1

Quarterly wage indexation introduced.

May 29

New divorce laws introduced. Irretrievable breakdown of marriage after 12 months of separation becomes the only ground for divorce.

May

Legislation protecting the Great Barrier Reef is passed.

June 2

Deputy Prime Minister Lance Herbert Barnard resigns to take up a post as Australian Ambassador to Sweden.

June 1

Racial discrimination is outlawed in Australia.

June 16

Australia’s first ethnic radio station, 2EA, begins broadcasting in Sydney.

July 1

Telecom Australia – now Telstra – formed.

July 1

Medibank, a national health insurance scheme financed by a levy on income, introduced.

July 2

Deputy Prime Minister Dr Jim Cairns resigns after misleading parliament over attempts to raise government loans overseas.

July 7

Sydney publisher Juanita Neilsen disappears, presumed murdered, after her involvement in a campaign to stop the heavy redevelopment of Victoria Street, Kings Cross, where she lives.

July 16

An inquiry begins into plans to mine uranium on Aboriginal lands at Jabiru, NT.

August 16

Northern Territory Aboriginal tribe, the Gurindji, reclaim 3,250 square kms of tribal land from a British pastoral company. The land was officially handed over by the Prime Minister, (Edward) Gough Whitlam.

August

An inquiry into the effects of mining the sands of Fraser Island, Qld, begins.

September 16

Papua New Guinea gains full independence after 69 years under Australian rule.

September 21

13 miners die in a coal mine explosion at Moura, Qld.

September 27

Former NSW Premier John Thomas (Jack) Lang dies in St. Joseph’s Hospital, Auburn NSW, age 98.

October 14

Minerals and Energy Minister Reginald Francis Xavier (Rex) Connor resigns over his involvement in the Overseas Loans Affair that led to the resignation of Dr Jim Cairns.

October 16

The Federal Senate blocks the Supply Bill of the Whitlam Labor Government, because of the Overseas Loans Affair.

October 24

Eleven people die in a plane crash in a canefield near Cairns, Qld.

October

The Australian Heritage Act becomes law.

November 11

Governor-General Sir John Robert Kerr dismissed the government of Prime Minister, (Edward) Gough Whitlam, and appoints the Leader of the Opposition, Malcolm Fraser, as caretaker Prime Minister. The news that both houses of Parliament were dissolved was announced in a proclamation by the Governor-General’s official secretary, David Smith. These steps were taken by the Governor-General because of the Whitlam Government’s inability to continue to govern following the blocking of the supply of funds it needed to function.

November 19

A letter bomb addressed to the Premier of Queensland, Joh Bjelke-Petersen, explodes, injuring two of the premier’s staff members.

December 10

Swimming champion Andrew ‘Boy’ Charlton dies, age 68.

December 13

The General Election called in the wake of the sacking of the Whitlam Government is won by the Liberal Party in a landslide victory. Malcolm Fraser is appointed Australia’s 22nd Prime Minister.

December 17

The High Court rules in favour of the Federal Government’s claim of ownership of the offshore waters around Australia and their wealth. The ruling settled a six state challenge that had been in dispute for five years.

December 25

A fire in a Kings Cross private hotel, Sydney, kills 15 people.


1976

January 5

The Family Law Court opens.

January 22

Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser declares Australia has four national anthems – ‘Advance Australia Fair’ for official functions; ‘God Save The Queen‘ for Royal and Vice-regal functions; with either of the above or ‘Waltzing Matilda‘ and ‘Song of Australia (lyrics)’ for other functions.

January 23

Sydney’s tallest building, the MLC Centre, opens.

January 30

For the first time ever, Australians are permitted by law to own gold and to buy and sell unlimited amounts of it.

February 6

Ms Patricia O’Shane becomes Australia’s first Aboriginal barrister.

February 8

Singer Gladys Moncreiff dies, age 83.

February

A coaxial communications cable between Sydney and Auckland, New Zealand, is laid.

April 1

The Commonwealth Government rules uranium mining ventures can only go ahead with a minimum of 75 percent Australian participation.

April 1

Direct telephone dialing becomes possible. Up until this time, connection to overseas numbers had to be made via an operator.

April 20

Six armed bandits pull off Australia’s biggest armed robbery to date when they enter the Victoria Club, Melbourne, waving machine guns and escape with the $1.4 million Easter race meeting takings.

April 24

The ABC‘s FM stations go online in Adelaide, Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra.

April 28

The first refugees to arrive in Australian waters as a direct result of the Vietnam War reach Darwin by boat.

April 30

The skeleton of the woman believed to be the last full-blood Tasmanian Aboriginal, Queen Truganini, is cremated and her ashes scattered over d’Entrecasteaux Channel.

May 10

Labor narrowly wins the NSW State Elections; Neville Kenneth Wran commences his term as Premier.

May 21

Singer and teacher Harry Blair dies, age 51.

May 21

Family Allowance Scheme introduced.

June 16

Australia and Japan sign a treaty of friendship and co-operation.

August 18

The State Opera of South Australia commences its inaugural season with ‘La Boheme’ in a charity performance attended by Queen Elizabeth II.

September 1

All cigarette advertising in Australia is banned.

September 30

The radio serial Blue Hills reaches the end of its 32-year long continuous run.

October 21

Lady Bay Beach and Reef Beach, both on Sydney Harbour, are proclaimed as nude beaches.

October 24

Star gazers from around the country descend on Bombala, NSW, regarded as the best vantage point in the country to view a total eclipse of the sun.

November 11

Mining of any nature is banned on Fraser Island, Qld.

November 29

The Australian dollar is devalued by 17.5 per cent.

November 30

Rape in marriage becomes a criminal offence in South Australia.

December 1

Australia’s first Aboriginal Governor-General, Sir Douglas Ralph Nicholls, sworn in.

December 7

Twelve of the Royal Australian Navy‘s 13 Grumman tracker aircraft, used to track submarines, are destroyed by fire at the RAN base at Nowra, NSW.

December 9

The Federal Court is created with the merging of the Australian Industrial Court and the Bankruptcy Court.

December 10

Pan American Airlines commences the world’s longest non-stop air service from Sydney to San Francisco, using Boeing 747 SP aircraft.

December 16

Racial discrimination becomes illegal in South Australia.

December 16

Northern Territory Aborigines granted the right to claim tribal lands.

December 31

Australian films boom in overseas markets. Film enjoying success include Don Crombie’s Caddie; Peter Weir’s Picnic At Hanging Rock; Fred Schepisi’s The Devil’s Playground; Helen Safran’s Storm Boy; and Bruce Beresford’s Don’s Party.

December 31

The inaugural Festival of Sydney opens with a free concert at the Sydney Opera House.

December

The Castlemaine to Maldon, Vic, railway line is officially closed. After bushfires damage several bridges in 1969, the Maldon – Shelbourne Extension was officially closed in 1970, and with its closing, little reason remained for keeping the Castlemaine – Maldon line open.


1977

January 1

The Australian Broadcasting Tribunal replaces the Australian Broadcasting Control Board.

January 14

Actor Peter Finch dies, age 60.

January 19

Eight people die and 87 are injured in Australia’s worst rail disaster when a Blue Mountains commuter train derails and collides with a stanchion supporting the Bold Street railway bridge at Granville in suburban Sydney.

January

Queensland becomes the first state to abolish death duties.

February 12

Fire ravishes the western district of Victoria, destroying the town of Streatham.

February 21

Smoking is banned on Sydney’s public transport on a 6-month trial basis.

February 28

The Governor of NSW, Sir Roden Cutler, opens the Western Plains Zoo at Dubbo, NSW. It is Australia’s first open-range zoo.

March 7

Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip commence a 23-day visit to Australia.

March 17

The Centenary Cricket Test in Melbourne ends with Australia defeating England by 45 runs, the same winning margin as the very first 1877 test which the game commemorated.

March 17

Professor J.E. Richardson is appointed as Australia’s first Commonwealth Ombudsman.

March 18

The Moonta-Sydney natural gas pipeline becomes operational.

March 19

The short animated film, ‘Leisure‘, designed by political cartoonist Bruce Petty and produced by Suzanne Baker, becomes the first Australian film to win an Oscar at the Academy Awards.

March 24

Don Chipp resigns from the Liberal Party and establishes the Australian Democrats Party.

March 24

The New South Wales Government passes Anti-Discrimination legislation, outlawing discrimination based on sex, race and marital status.

April 13

A Premier’s conference agrees to a three month wages and prices freeze.

May 9

Media magnate Kerry Packer announces the introduction of the rival World Series Cricket during the next season, having signed up many leading players of the game.

May 23

A national poll organised by the Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser selects ‘Advance Australia Fair‘ as the national song. It polled 43.2% of the vote with ‘Waltzing Matilda‘ second with 28.3%, followed by ‘God Save The Queen‘ (18.7%) and ‘Song of Australia (lyrics)’ (9.6%). The informal vote was a high 11.8%.

May

The Canberra Times becomes the first Australian newspaper to convert to computer typesetting in the face of major objections by unions.

June

Citizens Band (CB) radio operation is approved on the VHF band.

June 22

The Methodist, Presbyterian and Congregational Churches of Australia combine to form the Uniting Church of Australia.

July 1

The South East Asia Treaty Organisation (SEATO) ceases to exist after 23 years of acting as the anti-Communist buffer in the region.

July 7

The ALP adopts a policy of indefinite deferral of further uranium mining and processing in Australia.

July 14

Cloud cover pictures of Australia to assist in meteorological observation and prediction are first received from a Japanese satellite.

July 14

Anti-drugs campaigner Donald Mackay goes missing and is feared murdered after his blood-stained vehicle is found abandoned near Griffith, NSW.

August 10

The New South Wales Government is the first to announce a Royal Commission into drug trafficking.

August 25

The Federal Government gives approval to uranium mining and processing, subject to certain safeguards being put into place.

August

Four weeks annual leave is adopted universally throughout New South Wales.

September 24

The VFL Grand Final is televised for the first time.

October 5

A crippling power strike at the La Trobe Valley power stations causes the Victorian Government to declare a state of emergency.

October 8

The re-built Tasman Bridge, Hobart, is reopened for traffic.

October 21

Roman Catholic Cardinal Sir Norman Thomas Gilroy dies, age 81.

November 1

Prince Charles begins an 11-day tour of Australia.

November 3

The Supporting Mothers Pension is to be extended to include supporting fathers under a new name – the Supporting Parents Pension.

November 12

172 demonstrators are arrested on the streets of Brisbane in a protest march against Queensland Premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen ‘s ban on street marches.

November 18

Federal treasurer Philip Lynch resigns in the wake of accusations of financial misdealings.

December 4

Retailer Sir George Coles, founder of Coles Stores, dies age 92.

December 12

The Fraser Government is returned to power in a landslide Federal Election. in the wake of the result, ALP leader Gough Whitlam resigns and Don Chipp wins the fifth Senate seat in Victoria for the Australian Democrats Party.


1978

January 1

The Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) is established to provide radio and television programming for ethnic communities.

January 26

The Aboriginal Land Rights Act (NT) is proclaimed, giving some lands back to their traditional owners.

February 10

The union movement agrees to permit the fulfillment of existing uranium sales contracts.

February 13

Melbourne gets its first pedestrian mall when part of Bourke Street is closed to vehicular traffic.

February 14

Two garbage collectors are killed when a bomb explodes outside the Hilton Hotel, Sydney.

March 3

Former Governor-General Sir John Robert Kerr resigns from his new appointment as Australia’s ambassador to UNESCO in Paris on the day he was supposed to have taken up the post. The resignation follows an outburst of public disapproval over the appointment.

April 12

The end of a three week long strike against the export of live sheep is negotiated by ACTU President, Bob Hawke.

April

Cyclone Alby causes damage throughout the south west of Australia.

May 11

Australia’s first open university, Deakin, is established in Geelong, Vic.

May 15

Former Prime Minister Robert Gordon Menzies dies, age 83.

July 1

The Northern Territory is granted the right of self government.

July 3

Australia buys Cocos (Keeling) Islands for $6.25 million from John Clunes-Ross.

July 11

The Australian Coastal Surveillance Centre is established to patrol a 200 mile nautical zone between Geraldton, WA, and Cairns, Qld, in an attempt to stop an influx of illegal immigrants and increased smuggling of goods.

July 20

Australia signs its first nuclear safeguards agreement with Finland.

July 25

The right to tribal land is granted to the Pitjantjatara tribe in South Australia’s north west.

July 28

All passenger rail services are suspended indefinitely in Tasmania because of the lack of demand.

July 28

Former Prime Minister (Edward) Gough Whitlam resigns from Federal Parliament to become a visiting fellow at the Australian National University.

August 1

Australia’s last whaling station, at Cheynes Beach near Albany, WA, closes down.

August 27

Ninety three people taking part in a march for homosexual rights are arrested in Sydney.

November 15

Seven years in construction, Melbourne’s West Gate Bridge opens at a cost of $195 million and 35 lives.

November 22

Federal Parliament agrees to build a new Parliament House on Capital Hill, Canberra.

November 25

The ACT rejects a referendum on the granting of self government to the territory.

December 6

The number of refugees arriving from South East Asia reaches 1,700 with the arrival in Darwin of a boat carrying 67 Vietnamese people.

December 15

Artist Brett Whiteley becomes the first person to win the top three art prizes in one year – the Archibald, the Wynne and the Sulman prizes.


1979

January 4

Australia’s highest rainfall, 1140 mm, is recorded at Bellenden Ker station, Qld.

January 9

Mining of uranium at the Ranger mines in the Northern Territory given the go-ahead.

January 14

Singer Marjorie Lawrence dies, age 71.

February 9

Australia’s fourth largest finance company, Associated Securities limited, goes into liquidation.

March 9

The right to six weeks of unpaid maternity leave granted to Australia’s working women by the Arbitration Commission.

April 4

A Pan American Airlines aircraft is hijacked at Sydney Airport. The hijacker, Dominico Spearanza, is shot dead by police after a 4 1/2 hour siege.

April 11

A 10-day blockade of Razorback Range on the Hume Highway, NSW, by truck drivers comes to an end. They were protesting over state road taxes and low cartage rates.

April 21

Conservationists show their outrage at the night-time demolition of Brisbane’s old Bellevue Hotel, an historic building dating back to 1886.

May 25

An Adelaide man, James William Miller, appears in court charged with four murders in the Truro area of South Australia. A further three women went missing in the area in 1976 and 1977 and are also presumed to have been murdered. He was later charged and found guilty of six of the seven murders. His accomplice and lover, Christopher Worrell, died in a car accident on 19th February 1977.

June 6

An attempt to hijack a Trans Australian Airlines Airbus near Brisbane is thwarted by hostess Esme Qazim and other crew members.

June 9

Australia’s first modern uranium mine at Nabarlek in Arnhem Land opens.

June 11

Seven people die in a fire at Sydney’s Luna Park, which leads to its closure.

June 23

Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs Railway is opened by NSW Premier Neville Wran.

June

Three members of the Ananda Marga sect are convicted in the NSW Supreme Court of conspiracy to murder the leader of the National Front.

July 1

Commonwealth gift and estate duties are abolished.

July 9

Anthropologist Adolphus Peter Elkin dies, age 88.

July 12

The derelict US Space Station Skylab disintegrates over Australia as it re-enters Earth’s atmosphere. Debris lands near the WA town of Esperance.

July 26

14 miners die in a coal mine explosion at Appin Colliery, NSW.

July 29

Poet David Campbell dies, age 64.

August 17

Gillian Armstrong‘s acclaimed feature film, ‘My Brilliant Career‘, is released.

August 29

A heliport is opened at Darling Harbour, Sydney.

August

Logging at Terania Creek in northern NSW is interrupted by conservationists who clash with police.

September 27

Australia formally rescinds its policy of trade preferences to Britain.

September 27

Federal Minister for Primary Industry, Ian Sinclair, resigns amid allegations that he forged his father’s signature on his family company’s annual returns.

October 19

The Federal Police Force comes into being.

October 21

The Great Barrier Reef is declared a National Park.

November 6

The Woodward Royal Commission into drug trafficking in NSW announces its findings. It estimates that there are over 20,000 heroin addicts in Australia.

November 6

No one picks the six winning numbers in New South Wales’ first Lotto draw.

December 16

Sunday trading for hotels introduced in New South Wales, bringing that state into line with Qld, WA, NT and ACT.


1980

January 11

Australia imposes sanctions against the Soviet Union after it invades Afghanistan.

January 17

Ansett employee Debbie Wardley becomes Australia’s first commercial pilot.

January 24

The first section of Melbourne’s underground railway city loop opens.

January 26

Historian Professor Manning Clarke is proclaimed Australian of the Year.

January

Veterans of the Vietnam war begin their campaign for a full investigation into the effects of Agent Orange.

February 22

Thirteen people die when a twin-engine King Air Beechcraft plane crashes and explodes at Sydney Airport.

April 12

Australian Rules Football is first shown on American television.

April

Calls are first made for an investigation into the long term effects of nuclear weapons testing at Maralinga, SA, during the 1950s.

May 1

Japanese manufacturer Mitsubishi takes over the Australian operations of car manufacturer Chrysler Australia.

May 2

Cricketer Clarence Victor (Clarrie) Grimmett dies, age 88.

May 15

The feature film ‘Breaker Morant‘ has its premiere screening in Adelaide, SA.

May 15

The Communications Tower on Black Mountain, Canberra, opens.

May 24

An Australian team goes to the Moscow Olympic Games, in defiance of the Federal Government which requested that the team boycott the games in protest against the Soviet invasion and continued occupancy of Afghanistan.

May 26

The High Court Building, Canberra, is opened by Queen Elizabeth II during a visit to Australia by her and Prince Philip.

June 24

Family Court judge, Justice David Opas, dies after being shot by an unknown assailant at his Sydney home.

June 24

Candice Elizabeth Reed becomes Australia’s first test tube baby.

June 26

Australian Richard Thorp, of the US firm Mitchell, Guirgola and Thorp, wins a competition to design the new Parliament House, Canberra.

June

Scientists uncover the world’s oldest known fossil of a bacterium, estimated by them as being approx. 3.5 billion years old, near Marble Bar, WA.

July 1

Women are allowed to join surf clubs as full members for the first time.

July 6

Australian tennis player Evonne Fay Cawley (nee Goolagong) wins her second Wimbledon singles final.

August 18

10-week old Azaria Chamberlain goes missing near Ayers Rock. Her mother, Lindy, is later charged with the murder of her daughter. The child’s father, Seventh Day Adventist Pastor Michael Chamberlain, is charged as an accessory.

September 5

Composer Don Banks dies, age 56.

October 1

Bob Hawke resigns as president of the ACTU to pursue a career in Federal politics. He is replaced by Cliff Nolan.

October 19

The Fraser Liberal government is returned to office in a Federal Election with a comfortable win, but with a reduced majority.

October 24

SBS Television first goes to air in Melbourne and Sydney.

November 16

Australian World Formula One Racing Champion Alan Jones wins the Australian Grand Prix at Calder Raceway, Melbourne.

November 20

Australia’s 23rd Prime Minister, John McEwan, dies, age 80.

December 9

The last train on the Healesville, Vic, line travels between Yarra Glen and Healesville.

December 18

The Turkish Consul to Australia, Sarik Aryyak, is assassinated on the street outside the Turkish Consulate at Dover Heights in suburban Sydney.

December 26

A $250,000 reward is offered for information leading to an arrest and conviction over a spate of bombings of Woolworths stores. It is the largest reward offered in Australia’s history. Woolworth’s Town Hall store in Sydney was bombed on Christmas Eve, becoming the third of the company’s stores to be bombed in nine days.



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