1988 in Australia

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Incumbents

• Monarch – Elizabeth II
• Governor-General – Sir Ninian Stephen
• Prime Minister – Bob Hawke

Premiers and Chief Ministers

• Premier of New South Wales – Barrie Unsworth (until 25 March), then Nick Greiner
• Premier of Queensland – Mike Ahern
• Premier of South Australia – John Bannon
• Premier of Tasmania – Robin Gray
• Premier of Victoria – John Cain
• Premier of Western Australia – Brian Burke (until 25 February), then Peter Dowding
• Chief Minister of the Northern Territory – Stephen Hatton (until 14 July), then Marshall Perron

Governors and Administrators

• Governor of New South Wales – Sir Roden Cutler
• Governor of Queensland – Peter Arnison
• Governor of South Australia – Sir Donald Dunstan
• Governor of Tasmania – Sir Phillip Bennett
• Governor of Victoria – Davis McCaughey
• Governor of Western Australia – Gordon Reid
• Administrator of the Northern Territory – Eric Johnston
• Administrator of Norfolk Island – John Alexander Matthew

Events

• Australia's Bicentenary year, celebrations lasting throughout year.
• 26 January – 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.
• 19 March – Nick Greiner & the Liberal Party win NSW election in a landside, removing the ALP government of Barrie Unsworth.
• 30 April – 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.
• 9 May – Elizabeth II opens the New Parliament House in Canberra
• 1 June - the British Government fail to stop the publication of Spycatcher by the ex-MI5 agent Peter Wright
• 1 September – Acacia pycnantha proclaimed Australia's national floral emblem.
• 3 September – Federal referendums on 4-year parliamentary terms, recognition of local government and other issues are defeated
• 1 October – The ALP government of John Cain is narrowly re-elected for a third term in Victoria.
• 12 October – Two officers of the Victoria Police are gunned down execution-style in the Walsh Street police shootings.
• 15 October – Aus Steam '88 commenced in Melbourne, Victoria
• 30 October – World Expo 88 draws to a close after a 6 month spectacular.
• 12 November - Debra Palmer (now Debra Fern) marries Mark Cunningham.
• 29 November – The four acts granting the ACT self-government are given Royal Assent.
• Olympic Dam, the world's largest uranium deposit and the largest underground mine in Australian opens

Arts and literature

• No Miles Franklin Award winner is announced as date changed from year of publication to year of announcement

Film

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Television

• 1 January – Australia Live, a four-hour celebration for Australia's bicentennial of European settlement airs on the ABC, SBS, the Nine Network and regional solus stations.
• 2 January – Imparja starts broadcasting to remote Central Australia via satellite It will have its official launch on 15 January.
• 17 January – The first episode of Home and Away goes to air.
• 17 January – A Current Affair debuts on Channel Nine, hosted by Jana Wendt.
• 24 January – Network Ten unveils its new logo, the "X" logo.
• 16 February – The Comedy Company debuts on Network 10 (1988–1990)
• 29 April – QSTV (now Seven Central) starts broadcasting to remote Eastern Australia via satellite.
• 20 May – Perth's third commercial television station NEW-10 opens, giving Perth the same number of stations as the eastern states.
• 10 September – Brisbane's TVQ-0 becomes TVQ-10. On the same day, Toowoomba's DDQ-10 becomes DDQ-0.
• Christopher Skase buys Perth's TVW-7 and SAS-7 from Alan Bond's Bell Group for $130 million, meaning that all stations in the Seven Network are owned by the one company for the first time.

Sport

• 50m penalty introduced in the VFL.
• 4 March – First game of rugby league played at the newly-built Sydney Football Stadium. St. George defeat Eastern Suburbs 24-14.
• 5 March – Newcastle Knights play their first game in the NSWRL. At Newcastle International Sports Centre (later EnergyAustralia Stadium), Parramatta win 28–4. On the same day, the Gold Coast Giants (later Seagulls & finally Chargers) play their first game in the same competition. At Seagulls Stadium, Canterbury win 21–10.
• 6 March – Brisbane Broncos make their debut at Lang Park (now Suncorp Stadium), defeating defending premiers Manly 44-10.
• 11 June – In the 100th rugby league test between the two nations, Australia defeat Great Britain 17-6.
• 17 July – Australia thrash reigning World Champions Argentina 4-1 in the Bicentennial Gold Cup, at Sydney Football Stadium.
• 24 July – Patrick Carroll wins the men's national marathon title, clocking 2:10:44 in Brisbane, while Karen McCann claims the women's title in 2:44:05.
• 11 September – Canterbury defeat Balmain 24-12 to win the 81st NSWRL premiership. It is the first Grand Final played at the S.F.S. & the last game for Steve Mortimer. The Grand Final was played early so that Channel Ten could broadcast the 1988 Seoul Olympics.
• 24 September – Hawthorn Hawks (22.20.152) defeat Melbourne Demons (6.20.56) to with the 92nd VFL premiership.
• 9 October – Australia defeat New Zealand 25-12 in the final of the Rugby League World Cup, played at Eden Park in Auckland
• 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 over Anders Holmertz of Sweden & race favourite Matt Biondi of the United States.
• Brownlow Medal awarded to Gerard Healy (Sydney)

Births

• 26 May – Dani Samuels, discus thrower
• 4 August – Liam Zamel-Paez, high jumper
• 22 August – Mitchell Langerak, football (soccer) goalkeeper
• 7 December – Emily Browning, actress

Deaths

• 31 January – David Ahern, composer
• 28 February – Kylie Tennant, author
• 31 March – William McMahon, twentieth Prime Minister of Australia
• 1 December – Lloyd Rees, artist