1997 in Australia

1997 in Australia
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Governor-General	William Deane
Prime Minister	John Howard
Population	18,517,564
Elections	NT, SA

Years in Australia:	1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000
Centuries:	19th Century · 20th century · 21st century
Decades:	1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s
Years:	1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000

Contents 1 Incumbents 1.1 Premiers and Chief Ministers 1.2 Governors and Administrators 2 Events 3 Arts and literature 4 Film 5 Television 6 Sport 6.1 Full date unknown 7 Births 7.1 Unknown Dates 8 Deaths 8.1 Unknown Dates 9 References

Incumbents

• Queen of Australia – Elizabeth II
• Governor-General – Sir William Deane
• Prime Minister – John Howard

Premiers and Chief Ministers

• Premier of New South Wales – Bob Carr
• Premier of Queensland – Rob Borbidge
• Premier of South Australia – John Olsen
• Premier of Tasmania – Tony Rundle
• Premier of Victoria – Jeff Kennett
• Premier of Western Australia – Richard Court
• Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory – Kate Carnell
• Chief Minister of the Northern Territory – Shane Stone
• Chief Minister of Norfolk Island – George Charles Smith (from 5 May)

Governors and Administrators

• Governor of New South Wales – Gordon Samuels
• Governor of Queensland – Leneen Forde (until 29 July), then Peter Arnison
• Governor of South Australia – Sir Eric Neal
• Governor of Tasmania – Sir Guy Green
• Governor of Victoria – Richard McGarvie (until 23 April), then Sir James Gobbo
• Governor of Western Australia – Michael Jeffery
• Administrator of the Northern Territory – Austin Asche (until 17 February), then Neil Conn
• Administrator of Norfolk Island – Alan Gardner Kerr (until 30 June), then Tony Messner (from 4 August)

Events

• 9 January – Yachtsman Tony Bullimore is found alive five days after his boat capsized in the Southern Ocean.^[1]
• 1 May – Tasmania becomes the last state in Australia to decriminalise homosexuality.
• 1 May – Melbourne's HM Prison Pentridge is closed.
• 5 May – The position of Chief Minister of Norfolk Island is restored.
• 20 May – A Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission report calls for an apology for an early government policy of removing Aboriginal children from their parents and placing them in institutions.
• 1 July – The telecommunications market is deregulated, allowing the entry of competitors other than Telstra and Optus.
• 13 July – A crowd of over 100,000 people watches the Royal Canberra Hospital implosion. A 12-year-old girl, Katie Bender, is killed instantly and nine others are injured when debris from the site travels across Lake Burley Griffin.
• 30 July – The Thredbo landslide occurs, killing 17 people.
• 2 August – Stuart Diver, a ski instructor, is rescued as the sole survivor of the Thredbo landslide.
• 30 August – Elections in the Northern Territory re-elect the Country Liberal Party government of Shane Stone.
• 31 August – The head of Yagan, a Noongar warrior, is repatriated to Australia 164 years after being taken to the United Kingdom.^[2]
• 11 October – A state election is held in South Australia. The Liberal/National coalition government of John Olsen is re-elected for another term, albeit with a substantially reduced minority.
• 15 October – Cheryl Kernot, leader of the Australian Democrats, defects to the Australian Labor Party.

Arts and literature

• Mark Raphael Baker's novel The Fiftieth Gate wins the New South Wales Premier's Literary Award
• David Foster's novel The Glade within the Grove wins the Miles Franklin Award

Film

The Castle

Television

• 1 July – Prime Television comes to Mildura, ending a monopoly on commercial television held by STV-8 since 1965.
• 1 November – TCN-9 stages the first trial of digital television in the Southern Hemisphere.

Sport

• 27 February – First day of the Australian Track & Field Championships for the 1996–1997 season, which are held at the Olympic Park in Melbourne, Victoria. The 5,000 metres was conducted at the Nike Classic, Melbourne on 20 February. The men's decathlon event was conducted at the Hobart Grand Prix on 15–16 February 1997.
• 1 March – The Australian Super League competition commences with 2 matches, with the Brisbane Broncos defeating the Auckland Warriors 14-2 in Brisbane & the North Queensland Cowboys defeating the Adelaide Rams 24-16 in Townsville.
• 2 March – Greg Blewett and Steve Waugh bat the whole day during the first test match at Johannesburg against South Africa.
• 7 March – The ARL competition kicks off with the Parramatta Eels defeating the North Sydney Bears 10-8 at Parramatta Stadium.
• 19 May – In the one and only Super League Tri-series, New South Wales defeat Queensland 23-22 in the longest (104 minutes) & one of the most exciting games of representative rugby league ever played.
• 25 May – Brisbane Strikers create history by winning the NSL Grand Final, a 2–0 victory over Sydney United. The achievement was the first NSL title in their history, the first time a Queensland side had won the title, and all in front of a record crowd of 40,446 at Suncorp Stadium.
• 13 July – Patrick Carroll wins his second men's national marathon title, clocking 2:11:21 in Brisbane, while Susan Hobson claims her second women's title in 2:32:43.
• 22 August – The Melbourne Phoenix defeat the Adelaide Thunderbirds 58-48 in the inaugural Commonwealth Bank Trophy netball grand final
• 17 September – The Melbourne Storm rugby league team is founded.
• 20 September – The Brisbane Broncos defeat the Cronulla Sharks 26-8 at ANZ Stadium (now Elizabeth II stadium) to become premiers of the Super League (Australia) season 1997. It is the first ever night grand final played in rugby league.
• 27 September – The Adelaide Crows (19.11.125) defeat the St Kilda Saints (13.16.94) to win the 101st VFL/AFL. It is the first premiership for Adelaide & the first time the AFL flag has left Victoria since 1994.
• 28 September – In one of, if not the most exciting grand final ever played, the Newcastle Knights defeat the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 22-16 to win the 90th NSWRL/ARL premiership. It is the first premiership for Newcastle & it was the third consecutive grand final appearance for Manly.
• 29 November – In what has come to be known as The Iran Game, the Socceroos draw 2–2 with Iran at the MCG after leading 2–0. The game is interrupted when serial pest Peter Hore cut up Iran's goal net. Iran qualifies for the 1998 FIFA World Cup on the away goals rule.
• 19 December – After a series of meetings at the Sydney Football Stadium (now Aussie Stadium), the Super League war is declared over. The ARL & Super League agree to form the National Rugby League, and the Perth Reds, Hunter Mariners & South Queensland Crushers are shut down to give a 20-team competition for 1998. The NRL is to be reduced to 14 teams for 2000 after reform.

==

• 11 January - Cody Simpson, singer
• 11 May - Morgan Baker, actor

Full date unknown

• Felix Dean, actor

Births

• 10 January - Isaac Gorman, actor
• 10 June - Fletcher O'Leary, actor

Unknown Dates

• Felix Dean, actor

Deaths

• 17 January – Bert Kelly (b. 1912), Federal politician
• 31 January – John Panizza (b. 1931), Senator
• 16 March – Harry Holgate (b. 1933), Premier of Tasmania (1981–1982)
• 10 April – Clinton Haines (b. 1976), computer hacker
• 25 April – Brian May (b. 1934), composer
• 21 May – William Arthur (b. 1918), Federal politician
• 21 May – William Aston (b. 1916), Federal politician
• 15 June – Jaidyn Leskie (b. 1996), murder victim
• 11 July – Jock Sturrock (b. 1915), Olympic yachtsman and 1962 Australian of the Year
• 14 July – Sir Garfield Barwick (b. 1903), Chief Justice of the High Court
• 6 August – Lance Barnard (b. 1919), Federal politician
• 18 August – Burnum Burnum (b. 1936), Aboriginal activist and actor
• 5 September – Brian Grieve (b. 1907), botanist
• 12 September – Archer Denness (b. 1914), soldier
• 16 September – Anne Kerr, Lady Kerr (b. 1914), wife of Sir John Kerr
• 5 November – Peter Jackson (b. 1964), rugby league footballer
• 6 November – Jane Thurgood-Dove, murder victim
• 22 November – Michael Hutchence (b. 1960), musician

Unknown Dates

• Laurence Henry Hicks, composer (b. 1912)

References