1991 in Australia

1991 in Australia
Monarchy	Elizabeth II
Governor-General	Bill Hayden
Prime minister	Bob Hawke, then Paul Keating
Population	17,284,036
Elections	NSW

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1991
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Decades:

1970s
1980s
1990s
2000s
2010s

Incumbents

Monarch – Elizabeth II
Governor-General – Bill Hayden
Prime Minister – Bob Hawke (until 20 December), then Paul Keating

Premiers and Chief Ministers

Premier of New South Wales – Nick Greiner
Premier of Queensland – Wayne Goss
Premier of South Australia – John Bannon
Premier of Tasmania – Michael Field
Premier of Victoria – Joan Kirner
Premier of Western Australia – Carmen Lawrence
Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory – Trevor Kaine (until 6 June), then Rosemary Follett
Chief Minister of the Northern Territory – Marshall Perron

Governors and Administrators

Governor of New South Wales – Peter Sinclair
Governor of Queensland – Sir Walter Campbell
Governor of South Australia – Sir Donald Dunstan (until 5 February), then Dame Roma Mitchell
Governor of Tasmania – Sir Phillip Bennett
Governor of Victoria – Davis McCaughey
Governor of Western Australia – Sir Francis Burt
Administrator of the Northern Territory – James Muirhead
Administrator of Norfolk Island – Herbert Bruce MacDonald

Events

January

2 January – Warship HMAS Westralia (O 195) leaves for they Persian Gulf.
3 January – The musical ‘The Buddy Holly Story’ premieres in Sydney.
4 January – In Melbourne, 35,000 march to demand the resignation of the government.
7 January – Flooding in Rockhampton is the worst in 36 years.
- The Gulf War – In 1991 Australia sent troops to assist the United Nations with the Gulf War.
10 January – The State Government of South Australia was forced to bail out the State Bank of South Australia with A$944 million. The bailout is increased to $2.4 billion in August.
- Australia orders its diplomats out of Baghdad, Iraq.^[1]
12 January – Six people drown in floods in Queensland.
13 January – A Victorian factory which supplies United States Armed Forces is destroyed by fire.^[2]
14 January – Across the nation, thousands attend church services and protest rallies urging peace.
- A flood emergency is declared in the Queensland Gulf country.^[3]
16 January – Widespread flooding isolates Normanton.
- A Sydney mother is charged with the murder of her baby daughter.^[4]
17 January – The Gulf War begins, with Prime Minister Hawke giving battle orders to the Navy stationed in the Gulf after a telephone call from President Bush.^[5]
- A siege takes place in Brisbane after an off-duty policeman is taken hostage.
- The unemployment rate falls to 8.1%
- Victorian Premier Joan Kirner axes two government departments.
18 January – Prime Minister Bob Hawke calls on Israel not to retaliate against Iraq.
19 January – Peace marches across Australia demand the withdrawal of Australian forces from the Gulf.
- A shark attacks a midnight swimmer in a Gold Coast canal.
21 January – A mini cyclone leaves a trail of destruction in Sydney.
- Sydney’s Australia Square is evacuated after a parcel bomb scare.^[6]
23 January – Fierce storms lash Adelaide and Melbourne
- Insurance companies react angrily to Federal Treasurer Paul Keating’s levy ruling.
- Billy Joel arrives for his Australian Tour.
24 January – An Islamic mosque in Sydney’s west is fire bombed.
- Ford announces plans to retrench 1,600 works at its Geelong and Broadmeadows factories.
25 January – Australia sends Navy divers to join the Gulf task force.
26 January – Professor Fred Hollows is named Australian of the Year.
- The most senior Iraqi diplomat in Australia is asked to leave.

April

2 April - New South Wales Premier Nick Greiner makes an address to the National Press Club of Australia in which he criticises Federal Treasurer Paul Keating, accusing him of dragging the chain on microeconomic reform and claiming that Keating's apparent disinterest in fixing Federal-State financial relations may thwart attempts to lower inflation. ^[7]
4 April - Prime Minister Bob Hawke announces that a Telecom proposal to increase the price of local phone calls by 2 cents to 24 cents and increase business charges may be accepted provided they were below the Consumer Price Index. ^[8]
7 April - Prime Minister Bob Hawke rebukes Employment, Education and Training Minister John Dawkins during a Cabinet meeting over a speech he made the day before, in which he called for a review of the floating exchange rate, in direct opposition to the Government's policy on the issue. Dawkins also suggested that the Government's pursuit of low inflation may have to be sacrificed in the interests of stabilising the exchange rate. The Prime Minister warns the other ministers that they will face the same fate if they speak on issues outside their normal portfolio responsibilities. ^[9]
11 April - Prime Minister Bob Hawke volunteers to give evidence to the WA Inc Royal Commission and announces that the former West Australian Premier Brian Burke will return from Ireland next week to testify to the Commission. Mr. Hawke also reverses his earlier categorical denial, given repeatedly in Parliament during the week, that there had been discussion of a gold tax at a lunch with Mr Burke, the failed merchant banker Laurie Connell, Alan Bond and others on June 15, 1987. In evidence before the royal commission, Laurie Connell said he received an assurance from the Prime Minister that the Government would not introduce a new gold tax, and that he subsequently donated $250,000 to the Labor Party. ^[10]
15 April - The Australian Industrial Relations Commission hands down a national wage decision which will give Australia's 7 million workers a 2.5% pay rise. Federal Treasurer Paul Keating joins with the ACTU in condemning the decision which rejects the Accord agreement on wages for the first time since the Hawke Government came to power in 1983. The Commission also rejects Accord proposals for a more flexbile wage system. ^[11]
17 April – The bulk carrier MV Mineral Diamond disappears of the coast of Western Australia. The vessel is believed to have been sunk during adverse conditions caused by Cyclone Fifi.^[12]
25 April - Prime Minister Bob Hawke secures a compromise agreement with the ACTU to end the stalemate on waterfront reform and fix a timetable for pay rises to stevedores linked to the Accord Mark VI. Mr Hawke proposes a two-year contract for waterside workers that would allow a $12-a-week rise from May 16 and further average rises of 4 per cent in exchange for new job classifications. ^[13]
30 April - Federal Treasurer Paul Keating intensifies speculation about a change of leadership of the Labor Party by saying publicly that the Labor Party could not demand to have both him and Prime Minister Bob Hawke in the Government at the time of the next election. ^[14]

May

9 May – The report of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody is released. No criminal charges were recommended, nor was compensation for victims' families, but changes were recommended to the way that Aboriginal people were dealt with in police custody.
25 May – The state election in New South Wales produces a hung parliament. The ruling Liberal/National coalition government of Nick Greiner manages to form a minority government with the support of four Independent MPs.
30 May – A television report reveals that Prime Minister Bob Hawke made a secret deal in 1988, known as the "Kirribilli agreement", to hand over the Australian Labor Party (ALP) leadership at a suitable time after the 1990 federal election to Paul Keating.

June

3 June – After the secret deal emerged, Paul Keating makes his first challenge against Bob Hawke for the Australian Labor Party leadership. Hawke wins 66–44, and Keating resigns as Treasurer the same day.
- The Federal Government’s monthly deficit blew out to more than 1.2 billion dollars.

ACTU President Martin Ferguson says Labor Party should get on with the job of governing and stop petty leadership disputes.

August

2 August – The Palm Grove Hostel fire kills 12 people in Dungog, New South Wales.
5 August – Former Queensland Police Commissioner Terry Lewis is sentenced to 14 years in prison for corruption.
17 August – Strathfield massacre: Wade Frankum kills seven people, mostly women, in a killing spree in Strathfield Plaza in Sydney.

October

19 October – The perjury trial of former Premier of Queensland Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen ends in a hung jury. Prosecutors decide against a retrial on the basis of Joh’s advancing age and divided public opinion.
23 October – The first general strike in Australia in 65 years takes place in New South Wales.
October to December – The world’s largest blue-green algal bloom takes place on the Darling River, and after the deaths of over a thousand livestock, leads the New South Wales Government to declare a state of emergency.

December

19 December – Paul Keating makes his second Labor leadership challenge. This time, he wins 56-51 and becomes Australia’s 24th Prime Minister the next day.
20 December – Barely a year after starting up, Compass Airlines Mk I is shut down. The shutdown is somewhat controversial, coming shortly before the peak Christmas travelling period and partially coming about as a result of debts owed to a government authority.

Arts and literature

Cloudstreet adapted for the stage by Nick Enright and Justin Monjo, the theatrical adaptation opened in Sydney under the direction of Neil Armfield. Seasons followed in Perth, Melbourne, London, Dublin, New York and Washington, D.C., with the Company B cast touring the production until 2001 with minimal recasting. A lengthy adaptation at 5 and a half hours, the play attracted rave reviews around the world. The adaptation is published by Currency Press. There are plans to produce a TV miniseries version of Cloudstreet.
David Malouf's novel The Great World wins the Miles Franklin Award

Film

Television

January - Network Ten relaunches with a new logo, which is still in use to this day.
10 February - American animated comedy series The Simpsons debuts on Network Ten.
31 December - The Northern New South Wales television market is aggregated, with Prime Television taking a Seven Network affiliation, NBN taking a Nine Network affiliation & NRTV (now Southern Cross Ten) taking a Network Ten affiliation.

Sport

2 January – Australian Nicole Provis loses in the Danone Women's Open Tennis Championship.
3 January – Jana Novotina is out of the Danone Women’s Open Tennis Championship.
4 January – The last remaining player Rachel McQuillan is out of the Danone Women's Open.
5 January – The Danone Women’s Open is delayed due to rain.
- Greg Matthews puts Australia on top in the Third Ashes Test.
6 January – Czech player Helena Sukova wins the Danone Women's Hard Court Championship.
7 January – Hayley Lewis makes it into the finals of the World Swimming Championships.
26 January – Monica Seles becomes the youngest winner of the Australian Open Tennis Championship.
27 January – Boris Becker beats Ivan Lendl in the Australian Open Tennis Championship and takes the world's top ranking.
22 February – First day of the Australian Track & Field Championships for the 1990-1991 season, which are held at the Sydney Athletic Field in Sydney, New South Wales. The combined events were conducted in Perth on 22 and 23 March, while the relays were conducted at Hobart on 6 January 1991.
22 March – The Adelaide Crows play their first game in the AFL. In front of a sellout crowd at Football Park (now AAMI Stadium), they defeat Hawthorn 24.11.155 to 9.15.69
May – South Melbourne, managed by legendary Hungarian Ferenc Puskás, defeat Melbourne Croatia on penalties after a thoroughly entertaining 1-1 draw in the National Soccer League Grand Final at Olympic Park.
2 June – Carlton go within thirty seconds of becoming the first goalless team in the VFL/AFL since 1961 and only the second since 1921. Mark Arceri kicks a goal from a free kick with 33 seconds remaining.
3 June – England soccer team scores a one-nil victory over Australia.
21 July – Sean Quilty wins the his first men's national marathon title, clocking 2:14:59 in Brisbane, while Karen Gobby claims the women's title in 2:36:42.
22 September – Penrith defeat Canberra 19-12 to win the 84th NSWRL premiership. It is the first premiership for Penrith, who had been trying since 1967 to win one.
28 September – Hawthorn (20.19.139) defeat the West Coast Eagles (13.8.86) to win the 95th VFL/AFL premiership. It is the most recent grand final that was not played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, it was played at Waverley Park instead as the MCG was being renovated.

Births

2 January – Steele Sidebottom, footballer
7 January – Michael Walters, Australian rules footballer
20 March - Ethan Lowe, rugby league player
2 April – Luke Jones, rugby player
17 April – Tessa James, actress
25 May – Joe Robinson, musician
1 June – Sally Peers, tennis player
7 June – Olivia Rogowska, tennis player
23 July – Lauren Mitchell, gymnast
17 August – Michael Hepburn, cyclist
19 September – Demelza Reveley, model
17 October –
- Gabriella Cilmi, singer
- Joseph Dare, footballer
20 October – Mitchell Marsh, cricketer
10 December – Thomas Oar, soccer player
27 December – Sam Reid, Australian rules footballer

Deaths

24 March – Sir John Kerr (born 1914), Governor-General of Australia (1974–1977)
23 May – Manning Clark (born 1915), historian
14 June – Vladimir Petrov (born 1907), defected Soviet spy
29 June – Russ Hinze (born 1919), Queensland politician
29 June - Sheree Beasley (born 1985), schoolgirl
4 July – Victor Chang (born 1936), heart surgeon
7 October – Darren Millane (born 1965), Australian rules footballer
28 December – Cassandra Harris (born 1941), actress

References

↑ TAS TV News 10 January 1991
↑ TAS TV News 13 January 1991
↑ NBN 3 News 14 January 1991
↑ NBN 3 News 16 January 1991
↑ NBN 3 News 17 January 1991
↑ ATN 7 Sydney News 21 January 1991
↑ "Greiner Attacks Keating on Reform". Sydney Morning Herald p.4. 3 April 1991.
↑ "Telecom Charges May Rise Soon". Sydney Morning Herald p2. 5 April 1991.
↑ "Dawkins Risking the Sack, Says PM". Sydney Morning Herald p1. 8 April 1991.
↑ "Hawke: I'll Give Evidence". Sydney Morning Herald p.1. 12 April 1991.
↑ "Unions, Govt Blast Wage Rise Decision". Sydney Morning Herald p1. 16 April 1991.
↑ Investigation into foundering of MV Mineral Diamond, Australian Transport Safety Bureau, 1991.
↑ "PM Breaks Pay Deadlock". Sydney Morning Herald, p.1. 26 April 1991.
↑ "Keating Fuels Speculation". Sydney Morning Herald, p.3. 1 May 1991.

Years in Australia (1788–present)

1788 1789 1790 1791 1792 1793 1794 1795 1796 1797 1798 1799 1800

1801 1802 1803 1804 1805 1806 1807 1808 1809 1810 1811 1812 1813 1814 1815 1816 1817 1818 1819 1820 1821 1822 1823 1824 1825 1826 1827 1828 1829 1830 1831 1832 1833 1834 1835 1836 1837 1838 1839 1840 1841 1842 1843 1844 1845 1846 1847 1848 1849 1850 1851 1852 1853 1854 1855 1856 1857 1858 1859 1860 1861 1862 1863 1864 1865 1866 1867 1868 1869 1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900

1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Timeline of Australian history

1991 in Oceania

Sovereign states	Australia Federated States of Micronesia Fiji Kiribati Marshall Islands Nauru New Zealand Palau Papua New Guinea Samoa Solomon Islands Tonga Tuvalu Vanuatu

Associated states of New Zealand	Cook Islands Niue

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