1987 in Australia

Incumbents

• Monarch – Elizabeth II
• Governor-General – Sir Ninian Stephen
• Prime Minister – Bob Hawke

Premiers and Chief Ministers

• Premier of New South Wales – Barrie Unsworth
• Premier of Queensland – Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen (until 1 December), then Mike Ahern
• Premier of South Australia – John Bannon
• Premier of Tasmania – Robin Gray
• Premier of Victoria – John Cain
• Premier of Western Australia – Brian Burke
• Chief Minister of the Northern Territory – Stephen Hatton

Governors and Administrators

• Governor of New South Wales – Sir James Rowland
• Governor of Queensland – Sir Walter Campbell
• Governor of South Australia – Sir Donald Dunstan
• Governor of Tasmania – Sir James Plimsoll
• Governor of Victoria – Davis McCaughey
• Governor of Western Australia – Gordon Reid
• Administrator of the Northern Territory – Eric Johnston
• Administrator of Norfolk Island – John Alexander Matthew

Events

• 23 February – first mobile phone call made in Australia^[1]
• 7 March – An Election in the Northern Territory returns CLP government of Stephen Hatton to power.
• 16 June – Crazed German tourist Joseph Schwab, known as the "Kimberley killer", is shot dead in a shootout with Western Australia Police at Fitzroy Crossing. Schwab had already killed three people that day, and two others a week previously in the Northern Territory.
• 11 July – With a good deal of help from the Joh for Canberra campaign which splits the conservative vote between his National Party and the Liberal Party's John Howard, prime minister Bob Hawke's ALP government is re-elected for a third term.
• 9 August – Seven people are killed and 19 injured when 19-year-old Julian Knight goes on a shooting rampage in Melbourne—the (Hoddle St Massacre).
• 14 August – All the children held at Kia Lama, a rural property on Lake Eildon run by the Santiniketan Park Association, are released after a police raid.
• 3 October – Australia finally notes the contribution of the Vietnam War veterans with a Welcome Home parade held in Sydney – 15 years after the last soldiers and national service men have returned.
• 20 October – Black Monday: After the largest fall in the Dow Jones's history, stock markets nosedive around the world. Australia is no exception as the All Ordinaries falls 25%, making it the biggest one-day drop in the market's history.
• 24 November – Queensland Premier Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen sacks three ministers from his cabinet, accusing them of gross disloyalty.
• 26 November – The National Party deposes Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen as party leader, but he refuses to resign as premier. He was not present at the caucus meeting.
• 1 December – Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen resigns as premier of Queensland after 19 years at the top. He is replaced by Mike Ahern, who becomes the only premier never to contest an election as premier.
• 8 December – Queen Street Massacre: 22-year-old Frank Vitkovic kills 8 and injures another 5 in an Australia Post office building in Queen Street before committing suicide by jumping from the 11th floor.
• 29 December – 19-year-old Neighbours star Kylie Minogue enters the charts with her first single "I Should Be So Lucky".

Arts and literature

• Glenda Adams's novel Dancing on Coral wins the Miles Franklin Award

Film

• Howling III
• Travelling North
• The Lighthorsemen
• The Year My Voice Broke

Television

• January – Alan Bond, who already owns QTQ-9 & STW-9 purchases TCN-9 & GTV-9 from Kerry Packer for $1.055 billion. The expanded Nine Network becomes the first coast-to-coast network.
• February – Fairfax, owners of ATN-7 & BTQ-7 purchase HSV-7 from The Herald and Weekly Times Ltd for $320 million. The move sees the replacement of most Melbourne-produced programming with networked programming from Sydney, including long-running shows such as World of Sport & sees Mal Walden sacked as newsreader. The revamped news service, read by former STW-9 newsreader Greg Pearce plunges to as low as zero in the ratings.
• July – Westfield buys Network Ten from Rupert Murdoch's News Limited for $842 million.
• 19 July – Long-running ABC music program Countdown broadcasts its final episode.
• August – New cross-media ownership rules force the sale of the Seven Network. Fairfax sells its stations to Christopher Skase's Qintex company for $780 million.
• 27 December – Rupert Murdoch's ownership of ADS-7, combined with TVW-7's ownership of SAS-10, result in the stations deciding to swap callsigns & affiliations. So, on this day, ADS-7 becomes ADS-10 & SAS-10 becomes SAS-7.

Sport

• 22 March – Steve Moneghetti is Australia's best finisher in the men's competition at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships, staged in Warsaw, Poland. He finishes in 11th place (37:11.0) in the long-distance race over 11,950 metres. In the women's competition Krishna Stanton ends up in 8th place in the long event (5.050 metres).
• 27 March – The Brisbane Bears (now the Brisbane Lions) make their debut in the VFL. At the MCG, the Bears upset North Melbourne 19.23.137 to 15.12.104.
• 29 March – The West Coast Eagles make their debut in the Victorian Football League. At Subiaco Oval, they defeat the Richmond Tigers 20.13.133 to 16.12.119.
• 5 April – It is announced that Newcastle will join the NSWRL in 1988. They are later joined by Brisbane and the Gold Coast to form a 16-team competition.
• 7 June – Daniel Boltz wins the men's national marathon title, clocking 2:14:36 in Sydney, while Tani Ruckle claims the women's title in 2:37:53.
• 15 July - Queensland win the 1987 State of Origin series by defeating New South Wales 10-8 in the third and deciding game.
• 26 September – The Carlton Blues (15.14.104) defeat the Hawthorn Hawks (9.17.71) to win the 91st VFL/AFL premiership.
• 27 September – Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles defeat the Canberra Raiders 18-8 to win the 80th NSWRL premiership. It is the last grand final ever to be played at the SCG.
• The Dally M Medal and the Rothmans Medal are won by Parramatta Eels halfback Peter Sterling.
• The Brownlow Medal is shared by John Platten (Hawthorn) and Tony Lockett (St Kilda). Lockett becomes the first full-forward to win the Brownlow Medal.

Births

• 15 January – Greg Inglis, rugby league footballer
• 30 January – Lance Franklin, Australian Rules footballer
• 18 April – Samantha Jade, singer
• 30 April – Nikki Webster, singer and model
• 17 July – Gemma Beadsworth, water polo player
• 17 July – Darius Boyd, rugby league footballer
• 16 August – Kyal Marsh, actor
• 18 August – Robert McNamara, figure skater
• 18 October – Sam Clark, actor
• 29 October – Cleopatra Coleman, actress
• 10 December – Ben Nicholas, actor

Deaths

• 3 April – Lynda Heaven (born 1902), first female Labor MHR in Tasmania
• 28 July – Jack Renshaw (born 1909), Premier of New South Wales

References