1988 in Australia
From Freepedia
See also: 1987 in Australia, other events of 1988, 1989 in Australia
See also:
Contents |
Incumbents
- Premier of New South Wales - Barrie Unsworth, then Nick Greiner
- Premier of South Australia - John Bannon
- Premier of Queensland - Mike Ahern
- Premier of Tasmania - Robin Gray
- Premier of Western Australia - Brian Burke, then Peter Dowding
- Premier of Victoria - John Cain
- Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory - Post did not exist in 1988
- Chief Minister of the Northern Territory - Stephen Hatton, then Marshall Perron
Events
- Australia's Bicentenary year, celebrations lasting throughout year.
- January 26 - Australia Day, Australia celebrates its bicentennial day with a tall ships parade in Sydney Harbour.
- March 19 - Nick Greiner & the Liberal Party win NSW election in a landside, removing the ALP government of Barrie Unsworth.
- April 30 - 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.
- May 9 - Queen Elizabeth II opens the New Parliament House in Canberra
- September 1 - Acacia pycnantha proclamed Australia's national floral emblem.
- September 3 - Federal referendums on 4-year parliamentary terms, recognition of local Government + other issues are defeated
- October 1 - The ALP government of John Cain is narrowly re-elected for a third term in Victoria.
- October 12 - Two officers of the Victoria Police are gunned down executional style in the Walsh Street police shootings.
- October 30 - Expo '88 draws to a close after a 6 month spectacular.
- November 26 - Main act granting the ACT self-government is given royal assent.
Arts and literature
Film
Television
- January 2 - Imparja starts broadcasting to remote Central Australia via satellite It would have its official launch on January 15.
- January 24 - Network Ten unveils new logo, the "X" logo.
- April 29 - QSTV (now Seven Central) starts broadcasting to remote Eastern Australia via satellite.
- May 20 - Perth's third commercial television station NEW-10 opens, giving Perth the same number of stations as the eastern states.
- September 10 - Brisbane's TVQ-0 becomes TVQ-10. On the same day, Toowoomba's DDQ-10 became DDQ-0.
- Christopher Skase buys Perth's TVW-7 & SAS-7 from Alan Bond's Bell Group for $130 million, meaning that all stations in the Seven Network were owned by the one company for the first time.
- The Comedy Company debuts on Network 10 (1988-1990)
Sport
- 50m penalty introduced in the VFL.
- March 4 - First game of Rugby League played at the newly-built Sydney Football Stadium (now Aussie Stadium). St. George defeat Eastern Suburbs 24-14.
- March 5 - 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.
- March 6 - Brisbane Broncos make their debut at Lang Park (now Suncorp Stadium), defeating defending premiers Manly 44-10.
- June 11 - In the 100th test between the two nations, Australia defeat Great Britain 17-6.
- September 11 - 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.
- September 24 - Hawthorn Hawks (22.20.152) defeat Melbourne Demons (6.20.56) to with the 92nd VFL premiership.
- October 9 - 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
Deaths
- March 31 - William McMahon, twentieth Prime Minister of Australia
