1989 in Australia - Events

Events

• 1 January – HECS is introduced with the commencement of the Higher Education Funding Act 1988.
• 10 January – Assistant Australian Federal Police commissioner Colin Winchester is shot dead in the driveway of his Canberra home by a sniper, later identified as David Harold Eastman.
• 1 February – Joan Kirner becomes Victoria's first female Deputy Premier after the resignation of Robert Fordham over the VEDC (Victorian Economic Development Corporation) crisis.
• 1 March – The Industrial Relations Commission replaces the Australian Conciliation & Arbitration Commission.
• 4 March – First ACT (Australian Capital Territory) elections held
• 6 March – Former National Safety Council boss John Friedrich is arrested in Western Australia over allegations that he defrauded investors of $237 million.
• 20 March – Prime Minister Bob Hawke weeps on national television, as he admits marital infidelity.
• 9 May – Andrew Peacock deposes John Howard as Federal Opposition Leader and Leader of the Liberal Party.
• 11 May – The ACT Legislative Assembly meets for the first time
• 15 May – Australia's first private tertiary institution, Bond University, opens on the Gold Coast.
• 29 May – The Australian Labor Party in Tasmania signs the Labor–Green Accord with the Tasmanian Greens to form government.
• 30 May – Ananda Marga member Tim Anderson is arrested on charges related to the 1978 Hilton bombing.
• 5 July – Findings from the Fitzgerald Inquiry are released in Queensland.
• 13 August – Thirteen people die in a hot air balloon accident near Alice Springs, Northern Territory.
• 23 August – All of Australia's 1,645 domestic airline pilots resign over an airline's move to sack and sue them over a dispute, following a strike.
• 17 September – Six people die in the Downunder Hostel fire in Sydney's Kings Cross.
• 20 October – Grafton bus crash – 21 people are killed and 22 are injured when a tourist bus collides with a semi-trailer on the Pacific Highway near Grafton.
• 10 November – Gaby Kennard becomes the first Australian woman to fly non-stop around the world.
• 25 November – Elections in South Australia narrowly return the Labor government of John Bannon to power.
• 2 December – After 32 years in power, 19 of those under Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen, the National Party government is voted out of office in Queensland amid widespread allegations of corruption & is replaced by the Australian Labor Party. led by Wayne Goss.
• 22 December – Kempsey bus crash – Two tourist coaches collide on the Pacific Highway north of Kempsey, New South Wales, 35 are killed and 39 injured.
• 28 December – A magnitude 5.6 earthquake hits Newcastle, New South Wales, killing 13 people.