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1978 in Australia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The following lists events that happened during 1978 in Australia.
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Incumbents
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- Monarch – Elizabeth II
- Governor-General – Sir Zelman Cowen
- Prime Minister – Malcolm Fraser
- Chief Justice – Sir Garfield Barwick
State and territory leaders
- Premier of New South Wales – Neville Wran
- Opposition Leader – Peter Coleman (until 7 October), then John Mason
- Premier of Queensland – Joh Bjelke-Petersen
- Opposition Leader – Tom Burns (until 28 November), then Ed Casey
- Premier of South Australia – Don Dunstan
- Premier of Tasmania – Doug Lowe
- Premier of Victoria – Rupert Hamer
- Premier of Western Australia – Sir Charles Court
- Opposition Leader – Colin Jamieson (until 21 February), then Ron Davies
- Majority Leader/Chief Minister of the Northern Territory – Paul Everingham
Governors and administrators
- Governor of New South Wales – Sir Roden Cutler
- Governor of Queensland – Sir James Ramsay
- Governor of South Australia – Sir Keith Seaman
- Governor of Tasmania – Sir Stanley Burbury
- Governor of Victoria – Sir Henry Winneke
- Governor of Western Australia – Sir Wallace Kyle
- Administrator of Norfolk Island – Desmond O'Leary
- Administrator of the Northern Territory – John England (from 1 June)
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Events
January
- 1 January –
- Another Vietnamese refugee boat arrives at night, from a camp off the Malaysian coast.[1]
- The Festival of Sydney begins.
- A jail warder, Victor Sullivan is struck on the head by a prisoner at Parramatta Jail.
- 2 January – Senator Neville Bonner attacks the Queensland Government over delays in its housing reconstruction programme for Mornington Island, which was ravaged by Cyclone Ted more than a year ago.[2]
- 3 January –
- Bela Csidei, a prominent Sydney businessman, is alleged in the Darwin Magistrates' Court to have been involved in growing marijuana in the Northern Territory.[3]
- Acting Health Minister Mr McLeay reiterates the Federal Government's election promise to keep the Medibank levy and ceiling at the same level for the next six months.
- Queensland Premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen announces that he will ask churches throughout Queensland to hold a day of prayer for rain, suggesting a date of 15 January.[4]
- 4 January –
- The Australian dollar is devalued from 89.4 to 89.2 due to a drop in the US dollar to bring the effect devaluation since November 1976 to 15.3%.[5]
- Acting Prime Minister Doug Anthony announces that the Federal Government knew that Arab nations operated a blacklist for more than 20 years and that some Australian companies were on it, but that the Government had never been told officially that certain companies were being boycotted.[6]
- 5 January –
- Corrective Services Commissioner, W. McGeechan, talks 120 maximum security prisoners back into their cells after a 5-hour protest sit-in at Parramatta jail.[7]
- Aboriginal Senator Neville Bonner makes a complaint to the Queensland State Licensing Commission about the Mount Isa hotel which refused him service on Boxing Day.[8]
- Immigration and Ethnic Affairs Minister Michael MacKellar reverses a department decision thereby allowing a Uruguayan woman to join her widowed brother, Ruben Molina, in Sydney.[9]
- 18 January – New South Wales Premier Neville Wran meets with prison union officials about their demand that Bathurst Jail be reopened to relieve over crowding and staff shortages in other prisons.
February
- 13 February – Terrorism arrives in Australia for the very first time with the Sydney Hilton bombing killing 3 people and injuring 11 others.[10]
March
- 14 March – Stephen Matthews, aged 20, swept from the Natural Bridge off Albany, by a King Wave. Rescued by whale ship, the Cheynes II. First recorded survival of someone swept into the sea at The Gap and Natural Bridge.[11]
- 30 March – Commonwealth Police (Federal Police) begin arresting 180 Greek-Australians said to be involved in a conspiracy to defraud the Department of Social Security.[12]
April
- 4 April – Cyclone Alby kills 5 people in Western Australia.[13]
May
- 15 May –
- Australia's longest serving prime minister Robert Menzies dies.[14]
- Australia's first Timezone arcade opens in Perth.[citation needed]
June
- 24 June – The inaugural Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras parade, a gay rights march is held in Oxford Street, Sydney to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots in New York.[15]
- 25 June – Trudie Adams disappears from the Surf Life Saving Club in Newport, New South Wales.[16]
July
- 1 July – The Northern Territory attains self-government; Majority Leader Paul Everingham becomes the inaugural Chief Minister.[17]
August
October
- 7 October – The ALP New South Wales state government of Neville Wran is re-elected with a massively increased majority, leading to his win being dubbed as a "Wranslide".[19]
- 8 October – Australia's Ken Warby sets the world water speed record to 510 km/h (317.60 mph) at Blowering Dam, New South Wales.[20]
- 21 October - Cessna pilot Frederick Valentich disappears while flying over Bass Strait.[21]
November
- 21 November – Last day of commercial whaling in Australia.[citation needed] No sperm whales caught that day by the chaser ships (Cheynes II, III and IV) operated by the Cheynes Beach Whaling Company at Albany, Western Australia.[citation needed] The last whale caught by an Australian whaling company was the day before, 20 November.[citation needed]
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Arts and literature
- Brett Whiteley wins the Archibald Prize with Art, Life and the other thing.[22]
- Jessica Anderson's novel Tirra Lirra By the River wins the Miles Franklin Award.[23]
- Helen Garner becomes the first woman to win the National Book Council Award for her novel Monkey Grip, selected as Book of the Year.[24]
Film
Sport
- 7 March – Western Australia wins the 1977–78 Sheffield Shield season.[26]
- 6 May – Melbourne and St Kilda set a still-standing record VFL/AFL aggregate score of 52.33 (345).[citation needed]
- 1 July – Footscray kick a record VFL score of 33.15 (213) beating the previous record by three points.[citation needed] Kelvin Templeton and Ian Dunstan combine for 22 of the 33 goals.[citation needed]
- 6 August – James Langford wins the men's national marathon title, clocking 2:19:29 in Caboolture.[27]
- 19 September – After a controversial NSWRFL finals series with two draws, Manly thrash Cronulla 16–0 to win their fourth premiership with Graham Eadie dominating.[28] Newtown finish in last position, claiming their third straight and final wooden spoon before their departure from the premiership five years later.
- 30 September – Hawthorn 18.13 (121) defeats North Melbourne 15.13 (103) for its fourth VFL premiership.[29]
- 7 November – Arwon wins the Melbourne Cup.[30]
- 30 December – Apollo claims line honours in the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race.[31]
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Births
- 4 January – Paul Licuria, Australian rules footballer
- 14 January – James Mathison, TV host
- 25 January – Jason Johnson, Australian rules footballer
- 1 February – Tim Harding, singer (Hi 5)
- 2 February – Annabel Ellwood, tennis player
- 7 February – Frank Drmic, basketball player
- 8 February – Mick de Brenni, politician
- 16 February – Lance Thompson, rugby league player (d. 2018)
- 1 March – Gavin Woods, water polo player
- 14 March – Karyne Di Marco, hammer thrower
- 18 March – Brooke Hanson, swimmer
- 4 April – Sam Moran, singer (The Wiggles)
- 16 April – Matthew Lloyd, footballer and coach
- 2 June – Luke Williamson, rugby league player
- 30 June – Ben Cousins, AFL Footballer
- 8 August – Kate Ritchie, actress, radio & television personality
- 16 August – Ben Galea, rugby player
- 11 September – Ben Lee, singer-songwriter, guitarist and actor
- 18 September – Melanie Gibbons, politician
- 20 September – Scott Minto, rugby league player
- 22 September – Harry Kewell, soccer player
- 20 October – Michael Johns, Australian singer (d. 2014)
- 25 October – Matt Shirvington, track and field athlete
- November – Allyson McConnell, convicted killer who drowned her two children in Alberta, Canada[32]
- 22 November – Steven King, plays with Geelong Football Club
- 2 December – Peter Moylan, baseball player
- Fiona McFarlane - author[33]
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Deaths
- 9 January – Eddie Gilbert, (born 1905), Queensland cricketer[34]
- 5 February – Frank McIver, (born 1904), soccer player and administrator[citation needed]
- 14 May – Sir Robert Menzies, (born 1894), Prime Minister of Australia[14]
- 27 July – Bob Heffron, (born 1890), Premier of New South Wales[35]
- 18 September – Dame Alice Berry, (born 1900), social activist[36]
- 6 October – Johnny O'Keefe, (born 1935), rock and roll singer[37]
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See also
References
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