The following lists events that happened during 1979 in Australia.

1979 in Australia
MonarchElizabeth II
Governor-GeneralSir Zelman Cowen
Prime ministerMalcolm Fraser
Population14,359,255
Australian of the YearNeville Bonner and Harry Butler
ElectionsVIC, TAS, SA

←

 1979
in
Australia

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Decades:
  • 1950s
  • 1960s
  • 1970s
  • 1980s
  • 1990s
See also:

Incumbents

Sir Zelman Cowen
Malcolm Fraser

State and territory leaders

Governors and administrators

Events

January

February

  • 9 February – Associated Securities Limited, Australia's fourth-largest finance company, is placed into receivership. In a statement to the stock exchange, ASL directors state that the results for the six months to 31 December had shown a loss of $2.5 million, plus an extraordinary loss of $1 million from foreign exchange movements.[3]
  • 12 February – Harry M. Miller's Computicket theatre and sporting booking agency collapses.[4]

March

  • 9 March – The Arbitration Commission awards Australian women the right to six weeks' compulsory unpaid maternity leave with the option of extending the leave to one year.[5] The provisions, which will flow to all awards covering women in the private sector, will take effect on 2 April.[5]

April

  • 4 April – Domico Speranza hijacks a Pan-Am plane at Sydney Airport for 4 1/2 hours until shot dead by police.[6]
  • 11 April – A truck drivers' blockade, which had disrupted the eastern states for 10 days, ends.[7] The truck drivers had been protesting against state road taxes and low cartage rates.[7]

May

  • 24 May – James William Miller, aged 39, is charged with the Truro murders - the murders of four young women 100 kilometres north-east of Adelaide.[8] A fifth body is been found with police searching for two more bodies, bringing the number of victims to a total of seven.[8][9] Miller is charged with murdering Veronica Knight, 18, Sylvia Michelle Pittmann, 16, Vicki May Mowell, 26, and Connie Iordanides, 16.[8]

June

  • 8 June – Philip Silleny attempts to hijack a TAA aircraft near Brisbane but is disarmed by hostess Esme Qazim and other crew.[10]
  • 9 June –
    • A fire at Luna Park Sydney kills seven.[11] Four young boys, a father and his two young sons die when the fire, believed to be caused by an electrical fault, engulf the ride.[12] The park is forced to close.
    • Australia's first modern uranium mine opens at Nabarlek in Arnhem Land.[13] A $25,000 party is held to celebrate the launch of the mine, which is also the first to open on Aboriginal tribal land.[13]
  • 21 June – Up to a million workers stop work across the country to protest the arrest of unionists in Western Australia for addressing a public meeting without police permission, causing public transport, industry and commercial services to be thrown into disarray.[14][15]
  • 23 June – New South Wales Premier Neville Wran opens the Eastern Suburbs six-station railway line which runs from Sydney city to Bondi Junction.[16] The railway line has been a source of continuing controversy since work on it began. In 1976, Neville Wran referred to the project as probably "the most monumental financial scandal" in the state's history.[17]

July

August

September

  • 22 September – The standing conference of Canonical Orthodox churches in Australia is established.
  • 26 September – New South Wales Attorney-General Frank Walker tables the 960-page Finnane Report in state parliament.[26] The New South Wales Government gags Opposition calls for a debate report only 30 minutes after it is tabled.[26]
  • 27 September –
    • Australia announces the abolition of traditional trade preferences with Britain.
    • Ian Sinclair resigns as Federal Primary Industry Minister following allegations that he forged his father's signature on his family's annual returns.[26] According to the Finnane Report tabled in State Parliament, Ian Sinclair was dishonest in arranging loans from a group of companies of which he was "de facto managing director" to the family pastoral company.[26] Sinclair had denied the allegations the day before.[26]

October

  • 7 October – The Australia Refugee Advisory Council is established.[27]
  • 14 October – Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) President Bob Hawke wins preselection for the safe ALP federal seat of Wills, making way for him to enter federal politics.[28] Hawke defeated the Socialist Left candidate Gerry Hand winning 38 votes from the 70-member selection panel.[28]
  • 19 October – The Australian Federal Police is established under the command of Colin Woods.[29]
  • 20 October – Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser proclaims the first section of the Great Barrier Reef (the Capricornia section) a national park, making it the third Australian national park to be declared this year.[30] Malcolm Fraser also announces the allocation of $300,000 to research projects to be set up in the region to increase the Federal Government's knowledge of this area.[30]

November

  • 5 November – The first New South Wales Lotto draw takes place. No-one chose the six winning numbers in the draw, so only half of the first prize – $193,576 – will be divided among the five members of the in the Money syndicate.
  • 6 November – The Royal Commission into Drug Trafficking (Woodward Royal Commission) reports to the New South Wales Parliament, recommending increased penalties and no concessions for soft drugs.
  • 30 November – The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), at a meeting of 24 major unions, rejects proposals to block the mining export of uranium.

December

  • 16 December – Sunday trading in Sydney public bars begins.

Arts and literature

Film

Television

Sport

Births

Deaths

See also

References

  1. ↑ Thomas, Tony (10 January 1979). "U sales: '$150m by 1980s'". The Age. p. 1. Retrieved 1 January 2024.
  2. ↑ "Rainfall and temperature records". Bureau of Meteorology. 2024. Retrieved 1 January 2024.
  3. ↑ Haley, Ken (10 February 1979). "Probe into ASL starts". The Age. p. 1. Retrieved 1 January 2024.
  4. ↑ "Computicket closes its doors". The Age. 13 February 1979. p. 3. Retrieved 1 January 2024.
  5. 1 2 Innes, Prue (10 March 1979). "Commission backs maternity leave". The Age. p. 5. Retrieved 1 January 2024.
  6. ↑ Robertson, David (5 April 1979). "Man dies, shot in hijack attempt". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 1. Retrieved 1 January 2024.
  7. 1 2 Robertson, David (12 April 1979). "Trucks roll, city gets food supplies". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 2. Retrieved 1 January 2024.
  8. 1 2 3 "Search continues as fifth Truro body found - Man, 39, in Adelaide court". The Sydney Morning Herald. 25 May 1979. p. 3. Retrieved 1 January 2024.
  9. ↑ "Identity of sixth Truro victim known, police say". The Sydney Morning Herald. 26 May 1979. p. 3. Retrieved 1 January 2024.
  10. ↑ "Pilot held at gunpoint on TAA plane in Brisbane". The Sydney Morning Herald. Australian Associated Press/Associated Press. 9 June 1979. p. 1. Retrieved 1 January 2024.
  11. ↑ Molloy, Paul (11 June 1979). "Ghost Train toll rises to 7". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 1. Retrieved 1 January 2024.
  12. ↑ "Ghost Train checked in 1977". The Sydney Morning Herald. 12 June 1979. p. 2. Retrieved 1 January 2024.
  13. 1 2 "Aust uranium mine opens". Papua New Guinea Post-Courier. 12 June 1979. p. 8. Retrieved 1 January 2024.
  14. ↑ Martin, Keith (21 June 1979). "300,000 to strike in New South Wales". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 2. Retrieved 1 January 2023.
  15. ↑ Gordon, Michael; Doyle, Michael; Mayman, Jan; Elias, David (22 June 1979). "More strikes threatened - Drop charges, change WA law: unions". The Age. p. 1. Retrieved 1 January 2024.
  16. ↑ Stephens, Tony (24 June 1979). "Century late but Premier still says Eastward Ho!". The Sun-Herald. p. 5. Retrieved 1 January 2024.
  17. ↑ O'Hara, John (30 June 1976). "Board to consider rail line's future". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 1. Retrieved 1 January 2024.
  18. ↑ Sandilands, Ben; Macey, Richard; Steketee, Mike (12 July 1979). "Skylab hits West Aust". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 1. Retrieved 1 January 2024.
  19. ↑ Mayman, Jan; Haley, Ken (13 July 1979). "Hundreds hunt Skylab bounty". The Age. p. 1. Retrieved 1 January 2024.
  20. ↑ Mayman, Jan (21 July 1979). "Upstaged, downtaged". The Age. p. 3. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
  21. ↑ Campbell, Lance (21 July 1979). "Beauty and the beholders". The Age. p. 19. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
  22. ↑ Nasht, Simon (20 July 1979). "A power take-off". The Age. p. 9. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
  23. ↑ O'Donnell, Michael; Molloy, Paul; Brooks, Geraldine (26 July 1979). "All 14 bodies out of Appin disaster pit; Appin: a town of tired, haggard faces". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 1. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
  24. ↑ "Heliport opened". The Sydney Morning Herald. 30 August 1979. p. 8. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
  25. ↑ Murdoch, Lindsay; Comerford, Damien (31 August 1979). "Plane crash kills six". The Age. p. 1. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
  26. 1 2 3 4 5 Kruger, Andrew; Bowers, Peter; Ellercamp, Paul (27 September 1979). "2am: Sinclair resigns". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 1. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
  27. ↑ "Govt refugee body set up". The Sydney Morning Herald. 8 October 1979. p. 3. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
  28. 1 2 Ballantyne, Tom (15 October 1979). "Hawke wins selction, but MP loses seat". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 1. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
  29. ↑ "Federal police force 'change for better' for ACT". The Canberra Times. 19 October 1979. p. 3. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
  30. 1 2 Kruger, Andrew (22 October 1979). "First stage of Barrier Reef park declared". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 3. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
  31. ↑ "Advertisement: 60 Minutes premiere". The Sydney Morning Herald. 11 February 1979. p. 86. Retrieved 13 January 2024. The National Nine Network and BHP proudly present 60 Minutes
  32. ↑ Courtis, Brian (27 February 1979). "Arresting view of the inside". The Age. p. 2. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
  33. ↑ Harry Gordon (2002). John Ritchie; Diane Langmore (eds.). Stedman, Ivan Cuthbert (1895–1979). Australian Dictionary of Biography. Vol. 16. Melbourne University Press. Retrieved 4 January 2022.
  34. ↑ "Sir David, a man of 'foresight and drive'". The Sydney Morning Herald. 16 April 1979. p. 8. Retrieved 14 January 2024.
  35. ↑ "Frank Stewart, MP, 'dedicated Labor man'". The Sydney Morning Herald. 17 April 1979. p. 8. Retrieved 14 January 2024.
  36. ↑ "SKELTON, Walter Peden Joyce MBE". The Sydney Morning Herald. 23 May 1979. p. 25. Retrieved 14 January 2024.
  37. ↑ O'Connor, Desmond. "Helping People Has Been My Happiness: The Contribution of Elena Rubeo to the Italian Community in South Australia" (PDF). Retrieved 29 December 2012.
  38. ↑ "Ion Idriess: he sold 3m books". The Sydney Morning Herald. 7 June 1979. p. 4. Retrieved 14 January 2024.
  39. ↑ "SOUTHEE, James Bernard". The Sydney Morning Herald. 2 July 1979. p. 24. Retrieved 14 January 2024.
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