1987 in Australia
Encyclopedia
Incumbents
- Monarch – Elizabeth II
- Governor-GeneralGovernor-General of AustraliaThe Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia is the representative in Australia at federal/national level of the Australian monarch . He or she exercises the supreme executive power of the Commonwealth...
– Sir Ninian StephenNinian StephenSir Ninian Martin Stephen, is a retired politician and judge, who served as the 20th Governor-General of Australia and as a Justice in the High Court of Australia.-Early life:... - Prime MinisterPrime Minister of AustraliaThe Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Australia is the highest minister of the Crown, leader of the Cabinet and Head of Her Majesty's Australian Government, holding office on commission from the Governor-General of Australia. The office of Prime Minister is, in practice, the most powerful...
– Bob HawkeBob HawkeRobert James Lee "Bob" Hawke AC GCL was the 23rd Prime Minister of Australia from March 1983 to December 1991 and therefore longest serving Australian Labor Party Prime Minister....
Premiers and Chief Ministers
- Premier of New South Wales – Barrie UnsworthBarrie UnsworthBarrie John Unsworth was an Australian politician, representing the Australian Labor Party in the Parliament of New South Wales from 1978 to 1991. He served as the 36th Premier from July 1986 to March 1988.-Early years:...
- Premier of Queensland – Sir Joh Bjelke-PetersenJoh Bjelke-PetersenSir Johannes "Joh" Bjelke-Petersen, KCMG , was an Australian politician. He was the longest-serving and longest-lived Premier of Queensland, holding office from 1968 to 1987, a period that saw considerable economic development in the state...
(until 1 December), then Mike Ahern - Premier of South Australia – John BannonJohn BannonJohn Charles Bannon AO is a former Australian politician. He was the 39th Premier of South Australia, leading the Labor Party to government at the 1982 election. The Bannon Labor government was re-elected at the 1985 election and the 1989 election...
- Premier of Tasmania – Robin GrayRobin Gray (Australian politician)Robin Trevor Gray is a former Australian politician who was Premier of Tasmania from 1982 to 1989. A Liberal, he was elected Liberal state leader in 1981 and in 1982 defeated the Labor government of Harry Holgate on a policy of "state development," particularly the building of the Franklin Dam, a...
- Premier of Victoria – John CainJohn Cain IIJohn Cain , Australian Labor Party politician, was the 41st Premier of Victoria, holding office from 1982 to 1990.-Biography:...
- Premier of Western AustraliaPremier of Western AustraliaThe Premier of Western Australia is the head of the executive government in the Australian State of Western Australia. The Premier has similar functions in Western Australia to those performed by the Prime Minister of Australia at the national level, subject to the different Constitutions...
– Brian BurkeBrian BurkeBrian Thomas Burke was Labor premier of Western Australia from 25 February 1983 until his resignation on 25 February 1988... - Chief Minister of the Northern TerritoryChief Minister of the Northern TerritoryThe Chief Minister of the Northern Territory is appointed by the Administrator, who in normal circumstances will appoint the head of whatever party holds the majority of seats in the legislature of the territory...
– Stephen HattonStephen HattonStephen Paul Hatton is an Australian politician, who was Chief Minister of the Northern Territory of Australia from 1986 to 1988. From 1983 until his retirement in 2001, he was MLA for the seat of Nightcliff...
Governors and Administrators
- Governor of New South Wales – Sir James Rowland
- Governor of Queensland – Sir Walter Campbell
- Governor of South Australia – Sir Donald DunstanDonald Dunstan (Australian Governor)Lieutenant General Sir Donald Beaumont Dunstan, AC, KBE, CB was an Australian Army officer who was Governor of South Australia from 23 April 1982 until 5 February 1991.-Military career:...
- Governor of Tasmania – Sir James PlimsollJames PlimsollSir James Plimsoll AC, CBE, KStJ was an Australian diplomat and Governor of Tasmania.-Life and career:Plimsoll was born in Sydney and educated at Sydney Boys' High School . He graduated with a Bachelor of Economics from the University of Sydney 1938 and was appointed to the Bank of New South...
- Governor of Victoria – Davis McCaugheyDavis McCaugheyJohn Davis McCaughey, AC was a bible scholar, church and university administrator, and was Governor of Victoria from 1986–1992.-Working life:...
- Governor of Western AustraliaGovernor of Western AustraliaThe Governor of Western Australia is the representative in Western Australia of Australia's Monarch, Queen Elizabeth II. The Governor performs important constitutional, ceremonial and community functions, including:* presiding over the Executive Council;...
– Gordon ReidGordon Reid (Governor)Gordon Stanley Reid AC was an Australian academic who was Governor of Western Australia from 1984 to 1989.... - Administrator of the Northern TerritoryAdministrator of the Northern TerritoryThe Administrator of the Northern Territory is an official appointed by the Governor-General of Australia to exercise powers analogous to that of a state governor...
– Eric JohnstonEric Johnston (NT Administrator)Commodore Eric Eugene Johnston AO, OBE, RAN was Administrator of the Northern Territory from 1 January 1981 to 1 July 1989. Earlier he was a serving officer in the Royal Australian Navy and commanded HMAS Perth in action during the Vietnam War... - Administrator of Norfolk Island – John Alexander Matthew
Events
- 23 February – first mobile phoneMobile phoneA mobile phone is a device which can make and receive telephone calls over a radio link whilst moving around a wide geographic area. It does so by connecting to a cellular network provided by a mobile network operator...
call made in Australia - 7 March – An Election in the Northern TerritoryNorthern Territory general election, 1987A general election was held in the Northern Territory on Saturday 7 March 1987. Although the incumbent Country Liberal Party won a majority under new leader Stephen Hatton, the party's vote was down almost 20 percentage points....
returns CLPCountry Liberal PartyThe Northern Territory Country Liberal Party is a Northern Territory political party affiliated with both the National and Liberal parties...
government of Stephen HattonStephen HattonStephen Paul Hatton is an Australian politician, who was Chief Minister of the Northern Territory of Australia from 1986 to 1988. From 1983 until his retirement in 2001, he was MLA for the seat of Nightcliff...
to power. - 16 June – Crazed German tourist Joseph SchwabJoseph SchwabJoseph Schwab was a serial killer who murdered five tourists in the Northern Territory and Western Australia in June 1987. Schwab was dubbed "The Kimberley Killer" by the Australian press after the region in which he committed the murders....
, known as the "Kimberley killer", is shot dead in a shootout with Western Australia PoliceWestern Australia PoliceThe Western Australia Police services an area of 2.5 million square kilometres, the world's largest non-federated area of jurisdiction. In 2008, its 7,526 employees included 5,647 police officers.-History:-Early history:...
at Fitzroy CrossingFitzroy Crossing, Western AustraliaFitzroy Crossing is a small town in the Kimberley region of Western Australia, 400 km east of Broome and 300 km west of Halls Creek. It is approximately 2,524 km from the state capital of Perth....
. Schwab had already killed three people that day, and two others a week previously in the Northern TerritoryNorthern TerritoryThe Northern Territory is a federal territory of Australia, occupying much of the centre of the mainland continent, as well as the central northern regions...
. - 11 July – With a good deal of help from the Joh for CanberraJoh for CanberraThe Joh for Canberra or Joh for PM campaign was an attempt by the Queensland branch of the National Party of Australia to install Queensland Premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen as Prime Minister of Australia....
campaign which splits the conservative vote between his National PartyNational Party of AustraliaThe National Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Traditionally representing graziers, farmers and rural voters generally, it began as the The Country Party, but adopted the name The National Country Party in 1975, changed to The National Party of Australia in 1982. The party is...
and the Liberal PartyLiberal Party of AustraliaThe Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office...
's John HowardJohn HowardJohn Winston Howard AC, SSI, was the 25th Prime Minister of Australia, from 11 March 1996 to 3 December 2007. He was the second-longest serving Australian Prime Minister after Sir Robert Menzies....
, prime ministerPrime Minister of AustraliaThe Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Australia is the highest minister of the Crown, leader of the Cabinet and Head of Her Majesty's Australian Government, holding office on commission from the Governor-General of Australia. The office of Prime Minister is, in practice, the most powerful...
Bob Hawke's ALPAustralian Labor PartyThe Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...
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 MelbourneMelbourneMelbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
—the (Hoddle St Massacre). - 14 August – All the children held at Kia Lama, a rural property on Lake EildonLake EildonLake Eildon is the impoundment created by Eildon Weir on the Goulburn River in southern Victoria, Australia. At 3,334,158 megalitres when full, it contains six times as much water as Sydney Harbour and is the second largest water storage in Victoria after Dartmouth Dam...
run by the Santiniketan Park AssociationSantiniketan Park AssociationThe Santiniketan Park Association, also known as The Family and The Great White Brotherhood, is a controversial New Age group formed in Australia under the leadership of the Yoga teacher Anne Hamilton-Byrne.-Beginnings:...
, are released after a police raid. - 3 October – Australia finally notes the contribution of the Vietnam WarVietnam WarThe Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
veterans with a Welcome Home parade held in Sydney – 15 years after the last soldiers and national service men have returned. - 20 October – Black MondayBlack MondayBlack Monday is a term used to refer to certain events which occur on a Monday. It has been used in the following cases:* Black Monday, Dublin, 1209 – when a group of 500 recently arrived settlers from Bristol were massacred by warriors of the Gaelic O'Byrne clan...
: After the largest fall in the Dow JonesDow Jones Industrial AverageThe Dow Jones Industrial Average , also called the Industrial Average, the Dow Jones, the Dow 30, or simply the Dow, is a stock market index, and one of several indices created by Wall Street Journal editor and Dow Jones & Company co-founder Charles Dow...
's history, stock marketStock marketA stock market or equity market is a public entity for the trading of company stock and derivatives at an agreed price; these are securities listed on a stock exchange as well as those only traded privately.The size of the world stock market was estimated at about $36.6 trillion...
s nosedive around the world. AustraliaAustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
is no exception as the All OrdinariesAll OrdinariesEstablished in January 1980, the All Ordinaries is the oldest index of shares in Australia, so called because it contains nearly all ordinary shares listed on the Australian Securities Exchange...
falls 25%, making it the biggest one-day drop in the market's history. - 24 November – Sir Joh 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 QueenslandQueenslandQueensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
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 MassacreQueen Street massacreThe Queen Street massacre was a spree killing suicide that occurred on 8 December 1987 at the Australia Post offices at 191 Queen Street in Melbourne, Australia...
: 22-year-old Frank Vitkovic kills 8 and injures another 5 in an Australia PostAustralia PostAustralia Post is the trading name of the Australian Government-owned Australian Postal Corporation .-History:...
office building in Queen Street before committing suicide by jumping from the 11th floor.
Arts and literature
- Glenda AdamsGlenda AdamsGlenda Emilie Adams was an Australian novelist and short story writer, probably best known as the winner of the 1987 Miles Franklin Award for Dancing on Coral...
's novel Dancing on CoralDancing on CoralDancing on Coral is a Miles Franklin Award winning novel by Australian author Glenda Adams.-Awards:*Miles Franklin Literary Award, 1987: winner*New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards, Christina Stead Prize for Fiction, 1987: winner-Notes:...
wins the Miles Franklin AwardMiles Franklin AwardThe Miles Franklin Literary Award is an annual literary prize for the best Australian ‘published novel or play portraying Australian life in any of its phases’. The award was set up according to the will of Miles Franklin , who is best known for writing the Australian classic My Brilliant Career ...
Television
- January – Alan BondAlan Bond (businessman)Alan Bond is an Australian businessman noted for his criminal convictions and high-profile business dealings, including what was at the time the biggest corporate collapse in Australian history. Bond was born in the Hammersmith district of London, England, and emigrated to Australia with his...
, who already owns QTQ-9QTQ-9QTQ is an Australian television station, licensed to, and serving Brisbane, Queensland. It is owned by the Nine Entertainment Co., and is part of the Nine Network. It broadcasts on VHF channel 9 and VHF channel 8 . QTQ began broadcasting on 16 August 1959, the first of the Brisbane stations to...
& STW-9STW-9STW is an Australian television station owned by the WIN Corporation that is based in Perth, Australia.Based in Dianella, Western Australia, STW broadcasts with a transmitter mast located in Walliston...
purchases TCN-9TCN-9TCN is the Sydney flagship television station of the Nine Network in Australia and is located at Willoughby. The licence, issued to a company named Television Corporation Ltd headed by Frank Packer, was one of the first four licences to be issued for commercial television stations in...
& GTV-9GTV-9GTV is a commercial television station in Melbourne, Australia owned by the Nine Network. The station is currently based at a new high-tech, purpose-built studios at 717 Bourke Street, Docklands.-History:...
from Kerry PackerKerry PackerKerry Francis Bullmore Packer, AC was an Australian media tycoon. The son of Sir Frank Packer and Gretel Bullmore, the Packer family company owned controlling interest in both the Nine television network and leading Australian publishing company Australian Consolidated Press, which were later...
for $1.055 billion. The expanded Nine NetworkNine NetworkThe Nine Network , is an Australian television network with headquarters based in Willoughby, a suburb located on the North Shore of Sydney. For 50 years since television's inception in Australia, between 1956 and 2006, it was the most watched television network in Australia...
becomes the first coast-to-coast network. - February – Fairfax, owners of ATN-7ATN-7ATN is the Sydney flagship television station of the Seven Network in Australia. The licence, issued to a company named Amalgamated Television Services, a subsidiary of Fairfax, was one of the first four licences to be issued for commercial television stations in Australia...
& BTQ-7BTQ-7BTQ is the Brisbane station of the Australian Seven Network. BTQ was the second television station to launch in Brisbane, going to air on 1 November 1959, after QTQ launched three months earlier....
purchase HSV-7HSV-7HSV is a television station in Melbourne. It is part of the Seven Network, one of the three main commercial television networks in Australia, and its first and oldest station, having been launched in time for the 1956 Summer Olympic Games in Melbourne....
from The Herald and Weekly Times LtdThe Herald and Weekly Times LtdThe Herald and Weekly Times Limited is a newspaper publishing company based in Melbourne, Australia. It is owned and operated by Rupert Murdoch's News Limited, who purchased HWT in 1987.-Newspapers:...
for $Australian dollarThe Australian dollar is the currency of the Commonwealth of Australia, including Christmas Island, Cocos Islands, and Norfolk Island, as well as the independent Pacific Island states of Kiribati, Nauru and Tuvalu...
320 million. The move sees the replacement of most Melbourne-produced programming with networked programming from SydneySydneySydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, including long-running shows such as World of SportWorld of Sport (Australian TV series)World of Sport was an Australian sports program that was broadcast live by HSV 7 in Melbourne from 1959 to 1987 on Sundays between 11am and 2pm...
& sees Mal WaldenMal WaldenMal Walden is an Australian journalist and television news presenter based in Melbourne.Walden is currently presenter of Melbourne's Ten News at Five with Helen Kapalos....
sacked as newsreader. The revamped news service, read by former STW-9 newsreader Greg PearceGreg PearceGreg Pearce is currently presenter of Nine News Perth, a position he has held since early 2008.Originally a journalist with the ABC Greg became best known as presenter of the Ten News bulletin for Perth, prior to that he had been a news presenter for Seven News in Melbourne and had a short stint...
plunges to as low as zero in the ratings. - July – WestfieldThe Westfield GroupThe Westfield Group is an Australian shopping centre group undertaking ownership, development, design, construction, funds/asset management, property management, leasing and marketing activities...
buys Network TenNetwork TenNetwork Ten , is one of Australia's three major commercial television networks. Owned-and-operated stations can be found in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth, while affiliates extend the network to cover most of the country...
from Rupert Murdoch's News LimitedNews LimitedNews Limited is one of Australia's largest diversified media companies. The publicly listed company's interests span newspaper and magazine publishing, Internet, Pay TV, National Rugby League, market research, DVD and film distribution, and film and television production trading assets.News Limited...
for $842 million. - 19 July – Long-running ABCAustralian Broadcasting CorporationThe Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...
music program CountdownCountdown (TV series)Countdown was a long-running popular weekly Australian music television show broadcast by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation from 8 November 1974 until 19 July 1987. It was created by Executive Producer Michael Shrimpton, producer/director Robbie Weekes and record producer and music journalist...
broadcasts its final episode. - August – New cross-media ownership rules force the sale of the Seven NetworkSeven NetworkThe Seven Network is an Australian television network owned by Seven West Media Limited. It dates back to 4 November 1956, when the first stations on the VHF7 frequency were established in Melbourne and Sydney.It is currently the second largest network in the country in terms of population reach...
. Fairfax sells its stations to Christopher SkaseChristopher SkaseChristopher Charles Skase was an Australian businessman who later became one of his country's most wanted fugitives, after his business empire crashed spectacularly and he fled to Majorca in Spain.-Early life:...
's QintexQintexQintex Ltd. was an Australian company that came to prominence during the 1980s, until its collapse in 1989. Its main shareholder and Managing Director was Christopher Skase....
company for $780 million. - 27 December – Rupert MurdochRupert MurdochKeith Rupert Murdoch, AC, KSG is an Australian-American business magnate. He is the founder and Chairman and CEO of , the world's second-largest media conglomerate....
's ownership of ADS-7, combined with TVW-7TVW-7TVW is a television station broadcasting in Perth, Western Australia, wholly owned by the Seven Network. It was the first television station in Western Australia, commencing service on 16 October 1959. It broadcasts analogue on VHF 7 and digital on VHF 6 from Bickley located in the Perth Hills...
's ownership of SAS-10, result in the stations deciding to swap callsigns & affiliations. So, on this day, ADS-7 becomes ADS-10ADS-10ADS Adelaide is an Australian television station, owned by, and affiliated with the Ten Network.-History:ADS-10 began as ADS-7 on 24 October 1959, before being owned by those affiliated with the Ten Network. On 27 December 1987, ADS-7 and SAS-10 switched affiliations, ADS moving to channel 10, SAS...
& SAS-10 becomes SAS-7SAS-7SAS is a television station in Adelaide, South Australia. It is part of the Australian Seven Network.SAS-7 was originally known as SAS-10, commencing broadcasting on 26 July 1965. On 27 December 1987, SAS-10 and ADS-7 switched broadcast channels, ADS moving to channel 10, SAS moving to channel 7...
.
Sport
- 22 March – Steve MoneghettiSteve MoneghettiStephen James "Steve" Moneghetti is an Australian long-distance runner. Moneghetti has a degree in civil engineering, a graduate diploma in education and an honorary doctorate from the University of Ballarat...
is Australia's best finisher in the men's competition at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships1987 IAAF World Cross Country ChampionshipsThe 15th IAAF World Cross Country Championships were held on March 22, 1987 in Warsaw, Poland. There were a total number of 576 participating athletes from 47 countries.- Individual :- Team :- Individual :- Team :- Individual :- Team :...
, 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 BearsBrisbane BearsThe Brisbane Football Club, formerly nicknamed The Bears was an Australian rules football club and the first Queensland-based club in the Victorian Football League . The club played its first match in 1987, but struggled on and off the field until it made the finals for the first time in 1995...
(now the Brisbane LionsBrisbane LionsThe Brisbane Lions is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League . The club is based in Brisbane, Queensland. The club was formed from the merger of the Brisbane Bears and the Fitzroy Lions in 1996...
) make their debut in the VFLAustralian Football LeagueThe Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...
. At the MCGMelbourne Cricket GroundThe Melbourne Cricket Ground is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne and is home to the Melbourne Cricket Club. It is the tenth largest stadium in the world, the largest in Australia, the largest stadium for playing cricket, and holds the world record for the highest light...
, the BearBearBears are mammals of the family Ursidae. Bears are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans, with the pinnipeds being their closest living relatives. Although there are only eight living species of bear, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout the Northern...
s upset North MelbourneNorth Melbourne Football ClubThe North Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed The Kangaroos, is the fourth oldest Australian rules football club in the Australian Football League and is one of the oldest sporting clubs in Australia and the world...
19.23.137 to 15.12.104. - 29 March – The West Coast EaglesWest Coast EaglesThe West Coast Eagles are an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League. The club is based in Perth, Western Australia. The club was founded in 1986 and played its first games in the 1987 season. Its current home ground is Subiaco Oval...
make their debut in the Victorian Football League. At Subiaco OvalSubiaco OvalSubiaco Oval , known colloquially as Subi, is the highest capacity sports stadium in Perth, Western Australia...
, they defeat the Richmond Tigers 20.13.133 to 16.12.119. - 5 April – It is announced that NewcastleNewcastle, New South WalesThe Newcastle metropolitan area is the second most populated area in the Australian state of New South Wales and includes most of the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie Local Government Areas...
will join the NSWRLNew South Wales Rugby LeagueThe New South Wales Rugby League is the governing body of rugby league in New South Wales and is a member of the Australian Rugby League. It was formed in Sydney on 8 August 1907 and was known as the New South Wales Rugby Football League until 1984 when forward thinking marketing managers decided...
in 1988. They are later joined by BrisbaneBrisbaneBrisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
and the Gold CoastGold Coast, QueenslandGold Coast is a coastal city of Australia located in South East Queensland, 94km south of the state capital Brisbane. With a population approximately 540,000 in 2010, it is the second most populous city in the state, the sixth most populous city in the country, and also the most populous...
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.
- 26 September – The Carlton Blues (15.14.104) defeat the Hawthorn Hawks (9.17.71) to win the 91st VFL/AFLAustralian Football LeagueThe Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...
premiership. - 27 September – Manly-Warringah Sea EaglesManly-Warringah Sea EaglesThe Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles are an Australian professional rugby league club based on the Northern Beaches of Sydney. They compete in the National Rugby League's Telstra Premiership, the premier rugby league competition of Australasia...
defeat the Canberra RaidersCanberra RaidersThe Canberra Raiders are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the national capital city of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. They have competed in Australasia's elite rugby league competition, the National Rugby League premiership since 1982...
18-8 to win the 80th NSWNew South WalesNew South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
RL premiership. It is the last grand final ever to be played at the SCGSydney Cricket GroundThe Sydney Cricket Ground is a sports stadium in Sydney in Australia. It is used for Australian football, Test cricket, One Day International cricket, some rugby league and rugby union matches and is the home ground for the New South Wales Blues cricket team and the Sydney Swans of the Australian...
. - The Brownlow MedalBrownlow MedalThe Chas Brownlow Trophy, better known as the Brownlow Medal , is awarded to the "fairest and best" player in the Australian Football League during the regular season as determined by votes cast by the officiating field umpires after each game...
is shared by John PlattenJohn PlattenJohn Patrick "The Rat" Platten is a former Australian rules footballer. With his unruly tangle of curls he was a distinctive figure on the field with tremendous tenacity and the ability to accumulate possessions week after week.-Career:Platten began his career with the Central District Bulldogs...
(HawthornHawthorn Football ClubThe Hawthorn Football Club, nicknamed the Hawks, is a professional Australian rules football club in the Australian Football League . The club, founded in 1902, is the youngest of the Victorian-based teams in the AFL. The team play in Brown & Gold vertically striped guernseys...
) and Tony LockettTony LockettAnthony Howard "Tony" Lockett is a former Australian rules football player. Lockett is the highest goal scorer in the history of the VFL/AFL with 1,360 goals in a career of 281 games, that commenced in 1983 with the St Kilda Football Club, and finished in 2002 with the Sydney Swans...
(St Kilda). Lockett becomes the first full-forward to win the Brownlow Medal.
Births
- 30 January – Lance FranklinLance FranklinLance "Buddy" Franklin, Jr is a professional Australian rules footballer currently playing for the Hawthorn Football Club in the Australian Football League . Nicknamed 'Buddy', Franklin primarily plays as a centre half-forward, but also spends some time in the midfield, where he plays along the wing...
, Australian Rules footballer - 30 April – Nikki WebsterNikki WebsterNikki Webster is an Australian pop performer. She is best known for her starring role in the 2000 Sydney Summer Olympics Opening Ceremony and her single "Strawberry Kisses".-Recording career:...
, singer and model - 17 July – Gemma BeadsworthGemma BeadsworthGemma Beadsworth is an Australian water polo centre forward, who joined the women's national team in 2005...
, water polo player - 17 July - Darius BoydDarius BoydDarius Boyd is an Australian professional rugby league footballer currently playing for the Newcastle Knights in the NRL. Boyd plays at fullback, however he is also very capable as a three-quarter back, as proven by his selection for Australia and Queensland as a winger...
, rugby league footballer