1987 in Australia

Infobox Australian year
monarch = Elizabeth II
governor-general = Ninian Stephen
pm =Bob Hawke
population = 16,263,874
australian =
elections =Federal, NT"See also:"
1986 in Australia,
other events of 1987,
1988 in Australia----

See also:
* 1987 Australian incumbents

Incumbents

*Queen of Australia - HM Queen Elizabeth II
*Governor General - Sir Ninian Stephen
*Prime Minister - Bob Hawke
*Premier of New South Wales - Barrie Unsworth
*Premier of South Australia - John Bannon
*Premier of Queensland - Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen, then Mike Ahern
*Premier of Tasmania - Robin Gray
*Premier of Western Australia - Brian Burke
*Premier of Victoria - John Cain
*Chief Minister of the Northern Territory - Stephen Hatton

Events

*23 February - first mobile phone call made in Australia [ cite news|title=Mobile phone technology in Australia turns 20|url=http://www.smh.com.au/news/mobiles--handhelds/history-calls/2007/02/23/1171734007650.html|publisher=The Sydney Morning Herald|date=2007-02-23|accessdate=2007-11-22]
*March 7 - Elections in the Northern Territory return CLP government of Stephen Hatton to power.
*June 16 – 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.
*July 11 - With a good deal of help from the Joh for Canberra campaign which splits the conservative vote between his National Party & the Liberal Party's John Howard, Prime Minister Bob Hawke's ALP government is re-elected for a 3rd term.
*August 9 - 7 people killed and 19 injured when 19 year old Julian Knight goes on a shooting rampage in Melbourne (Hoddle St Massacre)
*October 20 - 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 single biggest one day drop in the market's history.
*November 24 - Sir Joh sacks three ministers from his cabinet, accusing them of gross disloyalty.
*November 26 - 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.
*December 1 - 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.
*December 8 - 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.

Arts and literature

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

Film

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.
*July 19 - 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.
*December 27 - 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.

port

*March 22 – 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).
*March 27 – 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.
*March 29 – 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.
*April 5 – It is announced that Newcastle will join the NSWRL in 1988. They are later joined by Brisbane & the Gold Coast to form a 16-team competition.
*June 7 – 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.
*September 26 – The Carlton Blues (15.14.104) defeat the Hawthorn Hawks (9.17.71) to win the 91st VFL/AFL premiership.
*September 27 – 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.
*Brownlow Medal is shared by John Platten (Hawthorn) & Tony Lockett (St Kilda). Lockett becomes the first full-forward to win the Brownlow Medal.

Births

*April 30 — Nikki Webster, singer and model
*July 17 — Gemma Beadsworth, water polo player

Deaths

* July 28 - Jack Renshaw (b. 1909), Premier of New South Wales

References