1996 in Australia

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Incumbents

• Queen of Australia – Elizabeth II
• Governor-General – Bill Hayden (until 16 February), then Sir William Deane.
• Prime Minister – Paul Keating (until 11 March), then John Howard

Premiers and Chief Ministers

• Premier of New South Wales – Bob Carr
• Premier of Queensland – Wayne Goss (until 20 February), then Rob Borbidge
• Premier of South Australia – Dean Brown (until 28 November), then John Olsen
• Premier of Tasmania – Ray Groom (until 18 March), then Tony Rundle
• Premier of Victoria – Jeff Kennett
• Premier of Western Australia – Richard Court
• Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory – Kate Carnell
• Chief Minister of the Northern Territory – Shane Stone

Governors and Administrators

• Governor of New South Wales – Peter Sinclair (until 29 February), then Gordon Samuels
• Governor of Queensland – Leneen Forde
• Governor of South Australia – Dame Roma Mitchell (until 21 July), then Sir Eric Neal
• Governor of Tasmania – Sir Guy Green
• Governor of Victoria – Richard McGarvie
• Governor of Western Australia – Michael Jeffery
• Administrator of the Northern Territory – Austin Asche
• Administrator of Norfolk Island – Alan Gardner Kerr

Events

• 19 February – Rob Borbidge becomes Premier of Queensland after winning a by-election from the Labor Party and winning the support of Independent MP Liz Cunningham.
• 24 February – A state election is held in Tasmania. The Liberal Party government of Ray Groom is re-elected, however Groom's promise to only govern in a majority saw him resign.
• 2 March – A federal election is held. The Liberal/National coalition defeats the Labor government of Paul Keating.
• 11 March – John Howard is sworn in as Australia's 25th Prime Minister.
• 30 March – A state election is held in Victoria The Liberal/National coalition government of Jeff Kennett is re-elected for a second term.
• 4 April – The Wiggles' sixth album, Wake up Jeff is released.
• 28 April – Port Arthur massacre: Martin Bryant kills 35 people and injures 21 in a shooting spree at the Port Arthur historic site in Tasmania. Bryant is captured the next day after an 18½ hour standoff with the Special Operations Group of the Tasmania Police.
• 10 May – Prime Minister John Howard announces new gun control measures, which involve the banning of self-loading rifles, shotguns and pump-action shotguns, as well as tightening of other gun laws.
• May – Floods in southern Queensland and northern New South Wales kill five people and cause more than A$55 million in farm losses.
• 12 June – Two Blackhawk Helicopters collide near Townsville, killing 18 people.
• 1 July – The Northern Territory legalises voluntary euthanasia. The legislation would be later be repealed by a conscience vote in the federal parliament in 1997.
• 27 July - HMAS Collins; the first of the Collins Class Submarine, is officially commissioned into service by the RAN
• 6 August – The Australian Bureau of Statistics conducts the 1996 National Census.
• 6 September – The Wiggles' Wiggly Wiggly Christmas album is released.
• 19 November – Martin Bryant is sentenced to 35 consecutive sentences of life imprisonment plus 1,035 years without parole for the Port Arthur massacre.
• 19 November – U.S President Bill Clinton makes a visit to Australia in which he addresses both Houses of Parliament.
• 28 November – Dean Brown is ousted in a party-room ballot as Premier of South Australia by John Olsen.
• 14 December – A state election is held in Western Australia. The Liberal/National coalition government of Richard Court is re-elected.

Arts and literature

• Wendy Sharpe wins the Archibald Prize with Self Portrait – as Diana of Erskineville
• William Robinson wins the Wynne Prize with Creation Landscape Earth and Sea
• National Biography Award established, first winner, Abraham Biderman for The world of my past
• Highways to a War by Christopher Koch wins the Miles Franklin Award

Film

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Television

• Jessica Rowe joins Ten News Sydney in January to co-anchor with Ron Wilson for the next nine years.
• Australian television celebrates its 40th birthday with celebrations lasting throughout the year. The actual birthday was on 16 September.
• April – John Burgess is shelved from the Seven Network after being long-time host of Wheel Of Fortune. The show begins to repeat the 1988 episodes.
• July – Wheel Of Fortune returns and starts in mid 1996 with the relocation from Adelaide to Sydney.
• August – After a court battle, the first series of Friends screens on the Seven Network, almost two years after it premiered in the United States. Subsequent series is picked up by the Nine Network.

Sport

AFL

• 18 May – The Fitzroy Lions (16.11.107) defeat the Fremantle Dockers (10.16.76) at the Whitten Oval in what would be Fitzroy's final ever victory as a stand-alone club.

• 8 June – About 2/3 of the way into the 3rd quarter of the match between Essendon & the St Kilda Saints at Waverley Park, the ground lighting fails. The remainder of the game is played the following Tuesday, Essendon won, 13.11.89 to 9.13.67.

• 4 July – The AFL teams endorse a merger between the Fitzroy Lions & the Brisbane Bears.

• 17 August – Fitzroy & Brisbane play each other for the last time before merging. At Optus Oval, Brisbane win 29.13.187 to 14.16.100.

• 25 August – Fitzroy play their last game in Melbourne, against the Richmond Tigers at the MCG. Richmond win, 28.19.187 to 5.6.36. Despite losing by 151 points, the Fitzroy song is played after the game and their fans flood the field.

• 1 September – Fitzroy play their last ever game of Australian rules football as a stand-alone entity. Against Fremantle at Subiaco Oval, Fremantle win, 24.13.157 to 10.11.71.

• 21 September – Tony Lockett kicks a memorable behind to ensure the Swans (10.10.70) defeat the Essendon Bombers (10.9.69) & thus qualify for Sydney's first grand final appearance since 1945.

• 28 September – The North Melbourne Kangaroos (19.17.131) defeat the Sydney Swans (13.10.88) to win the 100th VFL/AFL premiership. It is the Kangaroos third premiership and they are presented with the only gold premiership cup to mark the centenary season.

Cricket

• 17 March – Sri Lanka win the Cricket World Cup, defeating Australia in the final.

Rugby

• 23 February – Super League's challenge to club loyalty contracts signed with the ARL is ruled out of order & orders banning Super League until 2000 are made.

• 22 March – Clubs aligned with the Super League forfeit opening round of matches in the ARL competition.

• 26 May – Melbourne Knights win the NSL for the second season in a row, defeating minor premiers Marconi Fairfield 2–1 in the Final at Olympic Park.

• 29 September – The Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles defeat the St. George Dragons 20–8 to win the 89th NSWRL/ARL premiership.

• 4 October – The full bench of the Federal Court overturn the earlier decision to ban Super League, meaning the competition can start in 1997.

Motorsport

• 10 March – The first Australian Grand Prix to be held at the Albert Park grand prix circuit takes place. Damon Hill, of the Williams team wins.

Track And Field

• 7 March – First day of the Australian Track & Field Championships for the 1995–1996 season, which are held at the Sydney Athletic Field in Sydney. The 10,000 metre championship was conducted at the Zatopek Meet in Melbourne, Victoria on 14 December 1995.

• 21 July – Magnus Michelsson wins the men's national marathon title, clocking 2:20:20 in Brisbane, while Sylvia Rose claims the women's title in 2:40:17.

Racing

• 5 November – Saintly wins the Melbourne Cup giving Bart Cummings his 10th win as a trainer.

Births

• 2 January - James Hadfield, racing driver

Deaths

• 28 March – Peter Dombrovskis, 51, photographer
• 28 August – Beverley Whitfield, 42, swimmer