2005 in Australia

Incumbents

• Queen of Australia - HM Queen Elizabeth II
• Governor General - Michael Jeffery
• Prime Minister - John Howard
• Premier of New South Wales - Bob Carr, then Morris Iemma
• Premier of South Australia - Mike Rann
• Premier of Queensland - Peter Beattie
• Premier of Tasmania - Paul Lennon
• Premier of Western Australia - Geoffrey Gallop
• Premier of Victoria - Steve Bracks
• Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory - Jon Stanhope
• Chief Minister of the Northern Territory - Clare Martin

Events

• January 11 - 9 people are killed in Bushfires in South Australia, making them the worst fires seen in Australia since Ash Wednesday.
• February 25 - Parts of the Sydney suburb of Macquarie Fields erupt into rioting following the death of a 19 year old in a police car chase.
• February 26 - The ALP government of Geoff Gallop is re-elected in Western Australia for a second term.
• April 2 - The Shark 02 Royal Australian Navy Westland Sea King helicopter crashes off the coast of Nias, killing nine people.
• April 17 - Bali Nine are arrested for drug smuggling in Indonesia
• May 2 - Douglas Wood taken hostage in Iraq. He was rescued on June 15.
• May 6 - The scandal concerning the 2001 deportation of Vivian Solon first came to light.
• May 26 - National Sorry Day renamed National Day of Healing
• May 27 - Schapelle Corby convicted of drug smuggling by an Indonesian court & sentenced to 20 years in gaol, later reduced to 15 & then reverted to 20 years.
• June 1 - 2005 Indonesian embassy bioterrorism hoax
• July 27 - After 10 years in power Bob Carr resigns as Premier of New South Wales & is replaced by Morris Iemma on August 3.
• August 21 - Michelle Leslie is arrested in Bali after being found with two ecstasy pills in her handbag at an open-air dance party just outside of Kuta. She is found guilty & sentenced to three months in prison on November 18, but is released on November 20 as she had already served her sentence.
• August 29 - After describing Bob Carr's wife Helena as a "mail-order bride", NSW Opposition Leader John Brogden resigns. He attempts suicide on August 30.
• October 1 - The 2005 Bali bombings take place, killing 23 people (including the 3 suicide bombers) & injuring 129. Of these, 4 of the dead & 19 of the injured are Australian.
• December 2 - Van Tuong Nguyen is hanged in Singapore for drug offences. He is the first Australian to be executed since 1993.
• December 11 & December 12 - 2005 Cronulla riots take place, with the rioting centred around Cronulla & other beachside suburbs. There is also rioting in the Greater Western Suburbs area of Sydney & attacks on people of Middle Eastern descent are reported in Perth & Adelaide.
• December 31 - Sections of the Trans-Australian Railway near Nurina on the Nullarbor Plain were washed away by flooding, halting passenger and freight services for up to five days.

Arts and literature

Film

• October 13 - The Australian government passes a bill granting film directors a share of the copyright in their films.
• November 26 - Look Both Ways wins best film at the Australian Film Institute Awards 2005.

Television

• January 8 - Australia Unites: Reach Out To Asia raises $20 million for the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami relief effort. It is also the first time that Australia's three major commercial television stations have co-operated to broadcast such an event.
• May 25 - Graham Kennedy dies at age 71. The network on which most of his shows aired, the Nine Network, passes up the offer to broadcast his funeral & the Seven Network arrives, axes Nine's coverage and Seven picks it up and wins it. Nine does eventually show parts of the funeral live.
• June 26 - Douglas Wood is interviewed by Sandra Sully about his time as a captive after Network Ten pays a reported $400,000 for an exclusive interview.
• August 15: Big Brother: Greg Mathew, along with twin brother David Mathew, also known as "The Logan Twins" is announced the winner of the fifth series.
• November 20 - Madonna's Warner Bros. single "Hung Up" defeats Gold Digger by Kanye West and Jamie Foxx to be crowned the title of the ARIA single debuting at #1. This was the last Top 50 ARIA charts on ABC TV's Rage to be shown on the Seven Network. Only Seven Local TV and ABC TV will continue the Rage's Top 50 Charts until the end of July 2006, when it launches jtv.
• December 16: Good Morning Australia finishes its 12 year run on Network Ten from the studios of ATV-10. Host Bert Newton leaves Ten and signs up and returns the Nine Network to host game show Bert's Family Feud.

Sport

• March 6 - Giancarlo Fisichella wins the Australian Grand Prix in his first race for Renault F1 at Albert Park.
• March 19 - Sydney Kings defeat Wollongong Hawks 112-85 in Game 3 of a series sweep in the NBL Grand Final series. The win completed the first and only three-peat in league history.
• April 3 - Suzuki rider Troy Corser takes both race victories in front of his home crowd, Phillip Island at the Superbike World Championship round.
• May 27 - AFL: Richmond centre-half-forward Nathan G. Brown horrifically breaks his leg under the impact of Matthew Whelan in front of a shocked Telstra Dome crowd. He missed the rest of the season.
• July 3 – Brett Cartwright wins the men's national marathon title, clocking 2:18:16 in Brisbane, while Jackie Fairweather claims the women's title in 2:34:34.
• August 26 - The inaugural A-League national football (soccer) season begins. In the first game, Adelaide United FC defeat the Newcastle United Jets 1-0 at EnergyAustralia Stadium in front of 13,000 people.
• September 3 - The Melbourne Phoenix defeat the Sydney Swifts 61-44 in the Commonwealth Bank Trophy netball grand final.
• September 12 - Cricket: England wins The Ashes back from Australia for the first time since 1987 in The 2005 Ashes series
• September 24 - The Sydney Swans (8.10.58) defeat the West Coast Eagles (7.12.54) to win the 109th VFL/AFL premiership. It is the first flag for the Swans in 72 years.
• October 2 - The Wests Tigers defeat the North Queensland Cowboys 30-16 to win the 98th NSWRL/ARL/NRL premiership. It was the first finals series for the Wests Tigers.
• October 2 - With heavy rain cancelling the second race at Imola, Troy Corser secures his second Superbike World Championship.
• October 9 - Mark Skaife and Todd Kelly win the Super Cheap Auto Bathurst 1000 for the Holden Racing Team. It was Skaife's fifth win, and Kelly's first. It was also a seventh consecutive win for Holden, extending the longest winning streak in the races history.
• October 16 - Valentino Rossi wins his fifth consecutive Australian motorcycle Grand Prix on his Yamaha at Phillip Island.
• November 1 - Makybe Diva wins the Melbourne Cup horse racing event for a historic 3rd time in a row and is immediately retired.
• November 13 - French rallyist François Duval and co-driver Stephane Prevot take victory for in their Citroen Xsara at the season ending Rally Australia.
• November 16 - The Socceroos qualify for the 2006 FIFA World Cup for the first time since 1974, by defeating Uruguay in a penalty shootout at Telstra Stadium.

Births

• October 15 - Prince Christian of Denmark, the first child of Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark & Mary, Crown Princess of Denmark, who was born in Hobart, Tasmania.

Deaths

• January 8 - Campbell McComas, 52, impersonator, broadcaster, comedian
• January 11 - Miriam Hyde, composer and pianist
• January 24 - June Bronhill, soprano opera singer
• March 16 - Bob Bellear, first indigenous judge
• March 25 - Davis McCaughey, Governor of Victoria
• March 26 - Paul Hester, drummer for Split Enz and Crowded House (suicide)
• April 23 - Joh Bjelke-Petersen, 94, Premier of Queensland from 1968-1987.
• April 23 - Al Grassby, politician and minister in the Whitlam government
• April 29 - Sara Henderson, 69, author
• May 1 - René Rivkin, 60, Australian stockbroker
• May 25 - Graham Kennedy, 71, radio and television, performer
• June 9 - Gloria Ida Logan, 78, artist and lecturer
• June 16 - Ross Stretton, ballet dancer and director
• June 25 - Harry Gibbs, Chief Justice of the High Court
• July 3 - W. Rubuntja, Aboriginal artist and activist
• July 15 - Ronald Wilson, Justice of the High Court
• July 17 - Joe Vialls, conspiracy theorist
• July 18 - Amy Gillett, cyclist
• August 29 - Margaret Scott, 70, author and poet
• September 8 - Donald Horne, academic and social critic
• September 9 - John Wayne Glover, serial killer
• October 12 - Frank Galbally, 82, lawyer, criminal advocate, defender in celebrated murder trials; described as the “father of Australian multiculturalism”.
• October 18 - William Evan Allan, World War I veteran
• October 24 - Frank Wilson, actor
• November 1 - Michael Thwaites, intelligence officer and participant in the Petrov Affair
• November 5 - Hugh Alexander Dunn, diplomat
• November 10 - Kristian Fredrikson, stage and costume designer
• December 2 - Peter Menegazzo, cattle baron
• December 3 - Peter Cook, Labor senator
• December 3 - Lance Dossor, concert pianist
• December 5 - Kevin "Big Kev" McQuay, entrepreneur
• December 12 - Eric D'Arcy, Roman Catholic archbishop emeritus
• December 26 - Kerry Packer, Australia's richest man & the major shareholder in PBL, which owns the Nine Network, Crown Casino & a large number of magazines.

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