Late 80’s

1985

• Live Aid concert was held at Philadelphia’s JFK Stadium in the US
• AM stereo broadcasting starts in Australia
• Australia cancels its involvement in US led MX missile tests
• John Howard replaces Andrew Peacock as federal Liberal leader
• John Farnham releases Whispering Jack which contains hit singles You’re The Voice & Pressure Down
• Capital gains tax is introduced
• Neighbours premiers on the Seven Network. Six months later Neighbours is axed by HSV-7, but Network Ten bought the rights and picks up the soap and it becomes a massive hit for them
• New South Wales win their first Rugby League State of Origin series
• The first Formula One Australian Grand Prix takes place on the streets of Adelaide
• Australia are unable to undo a 2-0 deficit from the first leg and draw 0-0 with Scotland in the World Cup qualifying playoff at Olympic Park, failing to qualify for the 1986 FIFA World Cup.

1986

• After 10 years in power, Neville Wran resigns as Premier of NSW & is replaced by Barrie Unsworth
• Barlow & Chambers are executed at Malaysia’s Pudu Prison for drug trafficking. Prime Minister Hawke condemns the move as ‘barbaric’
• Crocodile Dundee is released in Australia. The film will go on to become a worldwide smash hit, becoming the highest grossing Australian film ever
• AUSS AT satellites are launched, bringing television to remote areas for the first time
• Neighbours makes its debut on Network Ten & comes to dominate the 7pm weeknight timeslot
• Last game of rugby league is played at the Sydney Sports Ground. Eastern Suburbs Roosters defeat the North Sydney Bears 21-14

1987

• First mobile phone call made in Australia
• 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
• 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
• Long-running ABC music program Countdown broadcasts its final episode
• 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
• 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

 


1988

• Australia’s Bicentenary year, celebrations last throughout year
• Australia Day, Australia celebrates its bicentennial day with the arrival of the First Fleet Re-enactment voyage and a tall ships parade in Sydney Harbour
• World Expo ‘88 opens in Brisbane, Queensland. The exhibition runs for 6 months hosting pavilions from over 70 countries and thrusts Brisbane into the international spotlight
• Queen Elizabeth II opens the New Parliament House in Canberra
• Acacia pycnantha proclaimed Australia’s national floral emblem
• Olympic Dam, the world’s largest uranium deposit and the largest underground mine in Australian opens
  Australia Live, a four-hour celebration welcoming a year of celebrations for Australia’s bicentennial of European settlement airs
• The first episode of Home and Away one of the longest running Australian TV soaps
• The very first episode of funny home video and public current affairs program, A Current Affair debuts on Channel Nine and hosted by Jana Wendt
• First game of rugby league played at the newly-built Sydney Football Stadium (now Aussie Stadium). St. George defeat Eastern Suburbs 24-14
• Newcastle Knights play their first game in the NSWRL. At Newcastle International Sports Centre (later EnergyAustralia Stadium), Parramatta win 28-4
• In the 100th rugby league test between the two nations, Australia defeat Great Britain 17-6
• Debbie Flintoff-King wins gold in the women’s 400m over Tatyana Ledovskaya (Soviet Union) in a photo finish by 0.01s
• Duncan Armstrong wins gold in the men’s 200m freestyle
• The Jamaica national bobsled team received major media attention and stunned the world at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Canada

 


1989

• Saw the dismantling of the Berlin Wall
• HECS is introduced
• Prime Minister Bob Hawke weeps on national television, as he admits marital infidelity
• Australia’s first private tertiary institution, Bond University, opens on the Gold Coast
• Gaby Kennard becomes the first Australian woman to fly non-stop around the world
• 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
• A magnitude 5.6 earthquake hits Newcastle, killing 13 people
• Alan Bond’s Bond Corporation goes into receivership with the largest debt in Australian history
• Young Talent Time is cancelled before the new series goes to air
• Acropolis Now and The Big Gig premier
• NSWRL unveils massive advertising campaign featuring rock legend Tina Turner singing What You Get is What You See
• Australia regains The Ashes on English soil for the first time in 40 years defeating England 4-0