1989 in Australia

See also:

1989 Australian incumbents

1 Incumbents
2 Events
3 Arts and literature
4 Film
5 Television
6 Sport
7 Births
8 Deaths

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Incumbents

Prime Minister - Bob Hawke
Governor General - Sir Ninian Stephen, then Bill Hayden

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Events

January 10 - Assistant Australian Federal Police commissioner Colin Winchester is shot dead in the driveway of his Canberra home
February 1 - Joan Kirner becomes Victoria's 1st female Deputy Premier after resignation on Robert Fordham, over VEDC (Victorian Economic Development Co-operation) Crisis
March 1 - Industrial Relations Commission replaces Australian Conciliation + Arbitration Commission
March 4 - First ACT (Australian Capital Territory) elections held
March 6 - Fmr National Safety Council boss John Friedrich arrested In Western Australia over defrauding investors of $237 Million
March 20 - Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke weeps on national television as he admits marital infidelity.
May 9 - Andrew Peacock Deposes John Howard as Federal Opposition Leader
May 11 - ACT Legislative Assembly meets for the 1st time
May 15 - Australia's 1st private tertiary institution Bond University opens on the Gold Coast
May 30 - Ananda Marga member Tim Anderson is arrested on charges related to the 1978 Hilton bombing
July 6 - At 01:23:45 AM the time and date by Australian reckoning was 01:23:45 6/7/89. This was also true 12 hours later excepting 24-hour time.
August 13 - 13 people die in hot air balloon accident near Alice Springs, NT.
August 23 - All of Australia's 1,645 domestic airline pilots resign over an airline's move to sack and sue them over a dispute.
October 20 - Grafton bus crash-21 people are killed & 22 are injured when a tourist bus collides with a semi-trailer on the Pacific Highway near Grafton.
November 10 - Gaby Kennard becomes the first Australian woman to fly non-stop around the world.
December 22 - Two tourist coaches collide on the Pacific Highway north of Kempsey, New South Wales, 35 killed + 39 injured
December 28 - A magnitude 5.6 earthquake hits Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia, killing 13 people.

Unknown Dates

Western Australia decriminilizes homosexual acts between consenting adults
Alan Bond's Bond Corporation goes into receivership with the largest debt in Australian history

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Arts and literature

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Film

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Television

January - Young Talent Time is cancelled before the new season goes to air.
March 31 - Phase 1 of Aggregation of television services occurs in Southern NSW, with WIN Television becoming the Nine Network affiliate, Prime Television becoming the Seven Network affiliate & Capital Television (now Southern Cross Ten) becoming the Network Ten affiliate.
April 12 - Fast Forward premieres in Australia (1989-1992).
July - Bob Shanks takes over as managing director of Network Ten due to ailing ratings & totally revamps the network, giving it the name 10 TV Australia as well as introducing a new lineup with increased game show content. Most of the new shows are axed by the end of the year.
August - Acropolis Now premieres in Australia (1989-1992).
September - Network Ten is sold to Steve Cosser, head of Broadcom Australia, for $22 million.
December 31 - Phase 2 of Aggregation of Television services occurs in Orange & Wagga Wagga, with aggregation occurring in Wollongong & Canberra in March
The Big Gig premieres in Australia (1989-1992).

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Sport

March 13 - NSWRL unveils massive advertising campaign featuring rock legend Tina Turner singing "What You Get is What You See.
August 11 - Canterbury Bulldogs & Canberra Raiders meet at the WACA Ground in Perth in the first NSWRL match played outside the eastern states. On the same day, it is announced that the VFL will become known as the AFL from next season.
September 24 - Canberra upset Balmain 19-14 in extra time at the Sydney Football Stadium (now Aussie Stadium) to win one of the most dramatic & exicting grand finals ever & take the NSWRL premiership outside Sydney for the first time.
September 30 - Hawthorn (21.18.144) defeat Geelong (21.12.138) to win the 93rd and indeed final VFL premiership until 1996, when the VFA would become known as the VFL.
Brownlow Medal awarded to Paul Couch (Geelong).
Cricket - Australia regains The Ashes on English soil for the first time in 40 years defeating England 4-0 in the 6 test series.