2000 in Australia

2000 in Australia
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Governor-General	William Deane
Prime Minister	John Howard
Population	19,153,380

See also: 1999 in Australia, other events of 2000, 2001 in Australia

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Years in Australia:	1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003
Centuries:	19th Century · 20th century · 21st century
Decades:	1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s 2030s
Years:	1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003

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 7 Births 8 Deaths

Incumbents

• Monarch – 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 – Peter Beattie
• Premier of South Australia – John Olsen
• Premier of Tasmania – Jim Bacon
• Premier of Western Australia – Richard Court
• Premier of Victoria – Steve Bracks
• Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory – Kate Carnell (until 18 October), then Gary Humphries
• Chief Minister of the Northern Territory – Denis Burke
• Chief Minister of Norfolk Island – George Charles Smith (until 28 February), then Ronald Coane Nobbs

Governors and Administrators

• Governor of New South Wales – Gordon Samuels
• Governor of Queensland – Peter Arnison
• Governor of South Australia – Sir Eric Neal
• Governor of Tasmania – Sir Guy Green
• Governor of Western Australia – Michael Jeffery (until 11 May), then John Sanderson (from 18 August)
• Governor of Victoria – Sir James Gobbo
• Administrator of the Northern Territory – Neil Conn
• Administrator of Norfolk Island – Tony Messner

Events

• 14 January – CASA grounds 5000 light aircraft that had used contaminated Mobil fuel.
• February – A 15 year old Aboriginal boy dies in a Northern Territory prison, sparking controversy about the Territory's mandatory sentencing laws & those of neighboring Western Australia.
• May – 250,000 people walk across the Sydney Harbour Bridge in support of reconciliation with Australia's Aboriginal people.
• 21 May - The Airport Rail Link opens in Sydney.
• 23 June – The Childers backpacker hostel fire kills 15 people.
• 1 July – Goods and Services Tax introduced.
• 11–13 September – The World Economic Forum is held in Melbourne. The S11 movement organises protests that overshadow the meeting.
• 15 September to 1 October – Sydney Olympics held & are a massive success. Outgoing International Olympic Committee president Juan Antonio Samaranch regards them as the 'best Olympic Games ever'.
• November – New South Wales suffers its worst floods in 40 years, with 240 cm of rain falling in one week.

Arts and literature

• ARIA Music Awards of 2000
• Thea Astley's novel Drylands and Kim Scott's novel Benang are co-winners of the Miles Franklin Award

Film

• 27 June – Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones begins principal photography at Fox Studios Australia in Sydney.
• 2 October – Queen of the Damned, based on the novel by Anne Rice, begins principal photography in a converted biscuit factory in St Albans, Melbourne.

Television

• 1 January – The Seven Network introduces a new logo to celebrate the 2000 Sydney Olympics, the first one not to have the 7 inside a circle.
• February – Popstars becomes the first Australian reality talent show, earns massive ratings for the Seven Network & leads to Bardot, the end product of the show, becoming the first Australian act to debut at no.1 on the ARIA charts,
• September – The Sydney Olympics earn record ratings for Channel 7 with the Olympic Opening & Closing Ceremonies & its continuous coverage.
• 19 December – The Seven Network loses the TV rights to the AFL for the first time since televised football began in 1957. The rights are won by a Nine Network-Network Ten-Foxtel consortium.

Sport

• 24 February – First day of the Australian Track & Field Championships for the 1999–2000 season, which are held at the Stadium Australia in Sydney. The 10,000 metres was conducted at the Melbourne Grand Prix on 2 March 2000.
• 9 March – Colonial Stadium (now Telstra Dome) plays host to its first game of Australian rules football. Essendon defeats Port Adelaide (24.12.156) to (8.14.62)
• 3 May – Anthony Mundine, after going AWOL from the St George Illawarra Dragons for 10 days, announces his retirement from rugby league and switches to boxing.
• 5 June, Suncorp Stadium – The 2000 State of Origin is wrapped up by New South Wales in game two of the series against Queensland.
• 11 June – Wollongong Wolves come from 3–0 behind at half-time to defeat Perth Glory and win the NSL Grand Final on penalties after the game finished 3–3. The attendance at Subiaco Oval was 43,242, the record attendance in Australian domestic football history until broken in 2006.
• 11 August – The Melbourne Phoenix defeat the Adelaide Thunderbirds 52-51 in the Commonwealth Bank Trophy netball grand final.
• 27 August – The Brisbane Broncos defeat the Sydney Roosters 14-6 at Stadium Australia (now Telstra Stadium) to win the 93rd NSWRL/ARL/NRL premiership. It is the fifth premiership for the Broncos & the last grand final played during the day.
• 2 September – Essendon (19.21.135) defeats Melbourne (11.9.75) to win the 104th VFL/AFL premiership. It is the last occasion until 2010 that the grand final has been an all Melbourne affair & the last occasion until 2008 that the grand final has been an all-Victorian affair.
• 7 November – Horse Brew wins the Melbourne Cup.
• 19 November – Garth Tander and Jason Bargwanna win the FAI Bathurst 1000 for Garry Rogers Motorsport, a first for the team and both drivers.
• 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia result in a record 58 medals for Australia.

Births

• 25 February - Joey Massey, actor

Deaths

• 5 March – Dame Roma Mitchell (b. 1913), Governor of South Australia (1991–1996)
• 30 March – Michael Pitman (b. 1933), biologist
• 2 April – Bunney Brooke (b. 1921), actor
• 19 June – Ron Casey (b. 1927), Australian rules footballer and television commentator
• 3 July – Vivian Bullwinkel (b. 1915), army nurse
• 14 July – Mark Oliphant (b. 1901), physicist
• 14 June – Greg Wilton (b. 1955), Labor politician
• 7 September – Bruce Gyngell (b. 1929), television personality
• 19 October – Charles Perkins (b. 1936), Aboriginal activist
• 1 December – Doug Waterhouse (b. 1916), entomologist