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| Australian Timeline: 1970s |
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January 7
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A fire at Port Adelaide, SA, causes $1 million damage to the survey ship Polaris.
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February 10
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Poseidon Nickel shares soar to $280 each as the mining boom continues.
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March 4
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Three armed men steal $587,000 from a security truck at a Sydney suburban shopping centre.
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March 5
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The Australian Film Development Corporation formed.
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May 8
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Hundreds of thousands of people protest across the country at Australia's continued involvement in the Vietnam War. An estimated 100,000 protests on the streets of Melbourne alone.
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September 15
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Tennis player Margaret Jean Court became only the second woman ever to win the women's Grand Slam.
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September 22
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Australian yacht Gretel II fails in its bid to win the America's Cup from the New York Yacht Club.
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October 16
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Australia's oil industry works become the first to be granted four weeks annual leave.
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November 12
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The withdrawal of troops from Vietnam begins with the return home of one battalion.
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November
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The ACTU makes a move into retailing with the opening of its retail store, Bourke's.
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December 3
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Huge crowds greet Pope Paul VI on his visit to Australia.
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January 1
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Victoria becomes the first state to make the wearing of seat belts in motor vehicles compulsory.
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February 5
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The mining share boom ends with the collapse in Sydney of Mining Securities of Australia.
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February 7
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The National Times commences publication.
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March 10
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John Grey Gorton steps down as Prime Minister and Leader of the Liberal Party.
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March 18
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Popular quiz show host Bob Dyer and his wife-sidekick, Dolly, retire from nearly a quarter of a century in radio and television.
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March
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The Australian Film Development Commission is established.
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April 17
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Australia joins a pack with four other nations (New Zealand, Britain, Malaysia and Singapore) in an effort to bring peace to South East Asia.
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April 27
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The Northern Territory Supreme Court rejects the land right claim of the Yirrkala Aboriginal people at Gove, NT.
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May 25
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Neville Bonner becomes Australia's first Aboriginal member of Parliament.
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May 27
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A man who threatened to blow up a Qantas aircraft is the company failed to pay him $500,000 is charged with a number of offences.
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May 29
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Pioneer Australian actor Chips Rafferty (John William Goffage) dies at Rose Bay, Sydney, age 62.
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May
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The Commonwealth Department of Environment, Aborigines and Arts is established.
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June 18
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A number of housewives join the Builders Labourers Federation in a campaign to save Kelly's Bush, a track of bush in the Sydney suburb of Hunters Hill.
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June 30
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Some miners in NSW, Qld and Tas are awarded a 37 1/2 hour week.
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July 11
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Spectators at a Rugby Union Match between NSW and the South African Springboks are arrested as they protest against the policy of apartheid adopted by the Government of South Africa.
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August 1
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The wearing of seatbelts becomes compulsory in NSW.
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August 19
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Prime Minister William McMahon pledges to have all Australian troops in Vietnam home by the end of the year.
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September 19
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Trams are replaced by buses in Ballarat, Vic.
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November 1
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Victoria, NSW and NT reintroduce daylight savings after 27 years of standard time.
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December 14
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Late night trading is introduced for shops in New South Wales.
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December 17
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The cost of Australia's 24 F-111 fighter aircraft for the RAAF has increased by $10 million to $310 million on the price quoted eight years previous when the jets were first ordered. As yet, no aircraft have been delivered.
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December 26
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Townsville, Qld, is declared a disaster area after being hit by cyclone Althea.
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January 26
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An Aboriginal tent embassy is erected on the lawns outside Parliament House, Canberra.
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April 3
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Japan replaces Britain as Australia's major trading partner and customer.
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April 16
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Trams are withdrawn from service in Bendigo, Vic.
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July 3
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Author Martin Boyd dies, age 78.
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July 22
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The National Review is born as a result of the amalgamation of The Nation and the Sunday Review.
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July 31
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17 miners die in an explosion in a coal mine near Ipswich, Qld.
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August 24
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The Federal Government approves the export of uranium ore from mines at Mary Kathleen, NT, and Queensland Mines.
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August 26 - September 11
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Australia is represented by 177 athletes (148 men and 29 women) at the Munich Olympic Games. All of Australia's 17 medals were won in just four sports: aquatics (swimming), athletics, cycling and sailing (yachting). Australia's medal tally: 8 gold, 7 silver, 2 bronze.
Gold medal wins: Shane Gould (200m freestyle, 400m freestyle and 200 individual medley); Gael Neall (women's 400m individual medley); Beverley Whitfield (women's 200m breaststroke); Brad Cooper (men's 400m freestyle); Tom Anderson, John Cuneo and John Shaw (yachting Dragon class); John Anderson and David Forbes (yachting Star class)
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October 5
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The Federal Government passes a bill that authorises Federal financial assistance to non-profit childcare centres.
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October 20
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The controversial book, Portnoy's Complaint, by Philip Roth, is banned and destroyed in Victoria.
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October 21
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British rock singer Joe Cocker and six band members are deported from Australia after they were convicted of drugs charges in Adelaide.
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October 22
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Amid outcries of environmental vandalism, Lake Pedder, Tas, is flooded as part of a new Hydro-Electric scheme.
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November
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The women's magazine Cleo is launched.
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December 3
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After 33 years in Opposition, the Labor Party, under the leadership of (Edward) Gough Whitlam, wins the Federal Election. Much of it success is pinned on a successful advertising campaign built around the slogan, "It's Time".
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December 8
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The Whitlam Government announces the abandonment of the Australian Imperial Honours list, which is to be replaced by an Australian Honours list.
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December 9
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The Whitlam Government bans all racially selected sporting teams from competing in Australia, in particular those from South Africa.
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December 14
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The end of conscription for the Vietnam War is introduced on Labor's first day in office. From January 1965 to December 1972, some 63,740 were conscripted. Of these, 15,542 saw active service in Vietnam.
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December 16
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Miss Elizabeth Evatt becomes the first woman to be appointed to the Commonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration Commission.
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December 16
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Equal pay for Equal work granted to women by the Commonwealth Arbitration Commission.
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December 19
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The last of 67 Australian servicemen on military duty in Vietnam fly home.
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December 19
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The Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs established.
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December 23
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The Whitlam Government recognises the Governments of China and East Germany by beginning the re-establishment of diplomatic relations with both.
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December
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A Royal Commission is launched into Aboriginal land rights in federal territories.
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January 11
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The Commonwealth Government prohibits the export of kangaroo skins.
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February 11
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Australia's first legal casino opens at Wrest Point near Hobart, Tas.
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February
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Britain joins the European Economic Community, ending its preferential tariff arrangement with Australia.
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March 7
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The headquarters of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation in Melbourne are raided by police led by the Attorney-General, Lionel Murphy.
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March 18
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The legal voting age is lowered from 21 to 18 years.
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March 30
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The Commonwealth Government abolishes university fees.
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April 3
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Extended maternity and paternity leave for commonwealth public servants announced.
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June 22
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At Australia's request, the International Court of Justice orders France to stop nuclear resting in the Pacific and Indian Oceans.
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July 3
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Supporting Mother's Benefit introduced.
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July 18
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The Whitlam Government ignores the pleas of Australian business and reduces import tariffs across the board by 25 per cent.
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July 24
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Australia signs a three year trade agreement with China.
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August 13
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15 people die in a Brisbane nightclub fire.
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September 7
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A Constitutional Convention is held in Sydney.
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September
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The death penalty is abolished in ACT and the Northern Territory.
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September
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Wine is sold in casks for the first time.
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October 13
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The coastal freighter Blythe Star capsizes and sinks off the coast of Tasmania near South West Cape.
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October 23
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As part of its decentralisation programme, the Federal Government backs a plan to develop the Albury-Wodonga Growth Centre.
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October 24
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After demonstrators are arrested, Building Unions place a green ban on the demolition of part of Sydney's historic Rocks area.
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November 6
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600 homes in south-western Brisbane are badly damaged by a cyclone.
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November 17
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The DLP wins its only seat in the NSW lower house elections because the sitting Liberal member for Gordon forgot to nominate.
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November 24
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Aborigines across the country vote to elect members of the National Aboriginal Consultative Committee.
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December 1
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Papua New Guinea granted self government.
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December 8
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A referendum over Government control of prices and incomes to help fight inflation is defeated.
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December 13
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Australia ratifies its international treaties on nuclear arms control, originally signed in 1970-71.
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December
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During the year, inflation spiraled upwards, peaking at at 13.2 per cent.
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January 1
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The Commonwealth Government abolishes tertiary education fees.
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February 4
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Buildings are burnt to the ground and prisoners are shot at a gaol riot at Bathurst, NSW.
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February 12
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Six children and their teacher are kidnapped at the Faraday School, Victoria. The kidnapper, Edward Charles Eastwood, is convicted and sentenced to 21 years gaol on 3rd November 1977 after having escaped from Geelong Prison and re-offended in a similar manner.
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March 26
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Ruth Lissant Dobson becomes Australia's first woman Ambassador, on her appointment to the Embassy in Denmark.
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April 1
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Authors are granted the right to royalties for their books held in lending libraries.
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April 3
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Prime Minister (Edward) Gough Whitlam is accused of skullduggery when he appoints former DLP leader, Senator Vince Gair to the post of Ambassador to Eire, giving Labor a chance to gain an extra seat in the Senate.
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April 4
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A Government report indicates that over 1 million Australians are now living in poverty.
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April
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The first episode of the ABC-TV historical drama, 'Rush', premieres. Set in the days of the Australian goldrush, the series saw 25 episodes produced and starred John Waters, Olivia Hamnett, Brendon Lunney and Alain Douty.
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May 20
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A referendum on four changes to the Australian constitution is defeated on all four proposals.
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May 21
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The Whitlam Labor Government is returned to power with a greatly decreased majority in one of the closest General Elections in Australia's history.
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May 27
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The 53,000 tonne Norwegian bulk carrier Sygnia runs aground on Stockton Beach, NSW.
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June 22
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The Builders' Labourers' Federation (BLF) is deregistered by the Australian Industrial Court in Melbourne.
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June 28
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Lawrence Street is appointed Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of NSW, and in so doing becomes the third family member to fulfill the role.
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July 11
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Former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of NSW, Sir John Robert Kerr, is appointed Governor-General.
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August 7
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An historic joint sitting of both houses of Parliament votes to implement electoral boundary changes designed to ensure the principle of 'one man, one vote'.
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September 13
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Cambridge Credit Corporation goes into receivership in the largest corporate failure in Australia's history to date.
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September 14
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The abolition of the license required to possess a radio and television is announced.
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October 4
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Australia's first consumer credit card - Bankcard - is introduced by seven of the nation's trading banks and two of its savings banks.
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October 19
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The ABC makes its first colour television transmission in a test in Melbourne.
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December 1
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The Mungo Man, an adult male skeleton believed to be around 30,000 years old, is found at Lake Mungo, NSW.
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December 4
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The new MP for Bennelong, John Winston Howard, uses an adjournment debate to ask why Dr Jim Cairns had employed a woman who was under investigation by the NSW Corporate Affairs Commission. The woman involved was later revealed as Ms Juni Morosi and the questions over Dr Cairns' relationship with her became known as The Morosi Affair.
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December 15
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The first regular FM radio broadcast in Australia commences with Sydney station 2MBS-FM broadcasting classical music from its Crows Nest studio.
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January 20
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The ABC launches its rock radio station, 2JJ.
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February 9
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Attorney-general Lionel Murphy resigns his post to take up his appointment as Justice of the High Court.
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February
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Australia's first legal nude beach declared in Adelaide, SA.
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March 1
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Colour television broadcasts commence.
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April 24
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Victoria abolishes capital punishment by hanging.
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May 1
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Quarterly wage indexation introduced.
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May 29
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New divorce laws introduced. Irretrievable breakdown of marriage after 12 months of separation becomes the only ground for divorce.
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June 2
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Deputy Prime Minister Lance Herbert Barnard resigns to take up a post as Australian Ambassador to Sweden.
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June 1
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Racial discrimination is outlawed in Australia.
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June 16
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Australia's first ethnic radio station, 2EA, begins broadcasting in Sydney.
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July 1
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Telecom Australia - now Telstra - formed.
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July 1
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Medibank, a national health insurance scheme financed by a levy on income, introduced.
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July 2
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Deputy Prime Minister Dr Jim Cairns resigns after misleading parliament over attempts to raise government loans overseas.
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July 7
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Sydney publisher Juanita Neilsen disappears, presumed murdered, after her involvement in a campaign to stop the heavy redevelopment of Victoria Street, Kings Cross, where she lives.
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July 16
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An inquiry begins into plans to mine uranium on Aboriginal lands at Jabiru, NT.
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August 16
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Northern Territory Aboriginal tribe, the Gurindji, reclaim 3,250 square kms of tribal land from a British pastoral company. The land was officially handed over by the Prime Minister, (Edward) Gough Whitlam.
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August
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An inquiry into the effects of mining the sands of Fraser Island, Qld, begins.
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September 16
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Papua New Guinea gains full independence after 69 years under Australian rule.
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September 21
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13 miners die in a coal mine explosion at Moura, Qld.
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October 14
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Minerals and Energy Minister Reginald Francis Xavier (Rex) Connor resigns over his involvement in the Overseas Loans Affair that led to the resignation of Dr Jim Cairns.
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October 24
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Eleven people die in a plane crash in a canefield near Cairns, Qld.
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October
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The Australian Heritage Act becomes law.
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November 11
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Governor-General Sir John Robert Kerr dismissed the government of Prime Minister, (Edward) Gough Whitlam, and appoints the Leader of the Opposition, Malcolm Fraser, as caretaker Prime Minister. The news that both houses of Parliament were dissolved was announced in a proclamation by the Governor-General's official secretary, David Smith. These steps were taken by the Governor-General because of the Whitlam Government's inability to continue to govern following the blocking of the supply of funds it needed to function.
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November 19
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A letter bomb addressed to the Premier of Queensland, Joh Bjelke-Petersen, explodes, injuring two of the premier's staff members.
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December 13
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The General Election called in the wake of the sacking of the Whitlam Government is won by the Liberal Party in a landslide victory. Malcolm Fraser is appointed Australia's 22nd Prime Minister.
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December 17
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The High Court rules in favour of the Federal Government's claim of ownership of the offshore waters around Australia and their wealth. The ruling settled a six state challenge that had been in dispute for five years.
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December 25
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A fire in a Kings Cross private hotel, Sydney, kills 15 people.
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January 5
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The Family Law Court opens.
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January 23
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Sydney's tallest building, the MLC Centre, opens.
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January 30
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For the first time ever, Australians are permitted by law to own gold and to buy and sell unlimited amounts of it.
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February
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A coaxial communications cable between Sydney and Auckland, New Zealand, is laid.
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April 1
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The Commonwealth Government rules uranium mining ventures can only go ahead with a minimum of 75 per cent Australian participation.
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April 1
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Direct telephone dialing becomes possible. Up until this time, connection to overseas numbers had to be made via an operator.
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April 20
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Six armed bandits pull off Australia's biggest armed robbery to date when they enter the Victoria Club, Melbourne, waving machine guns and escape with the $1.4 million Easter race meeting takings.
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April 24
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The ABC's FM stations go online in Adelaide, Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra.
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April 28
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The first refugees to arrive in Australian waters as a direct result of the Vietnam War reach Darwin by boat.
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May 21
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Singer and teacher Harry Blair dies, age 51.
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May 21
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Family Allowance Scheme introduced.
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June 16
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Australia and Japan sign a treaty of friendship and co-operation.
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July 17 - August 1
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Montreal Olympic Games: Australia, represented by 184 athletes (149 men and 35 women), wins the smallest number of medals since the 1936 Berlin Olympics, when Australia sent 33 athletes and won a solitary bronze medal. In total, just five medals were won: four silver and a bronze. It was the first time Australia had not won a gold medal at the Games since 1936, and also the lowest medal total since then.
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September 1
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All cigarette advertising in Australia is banned.
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September 30
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The radio serial Blue Hills reaches the end of its 32-year long continuous run.
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October 21
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Lady Bay Beach and Reef Beach, both on Sydney Harbour, are proclaimed as nude beaches.
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October 24
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Star gazers from around the country descend on Bombala, NSW, regarded as the best vantage point in the country to view a total eclipse of the sun.
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November 11
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Mining of any nature is banned on Fraser Island, Qld.
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November 29
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The Australian dollar is devalued by 17.5 per cent.
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November 30
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Rape in marriage becomes a criminal offence in South Australia.
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December 9
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The Federal Court is created with the merging of the Australian Industrial Court and the Bankruptcy Court.
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December 16
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Racial discrimination becomes illegal in South Australia.
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December 16
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Northern Territory Aborigines granted the right to claim tribal lands.
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January 1
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The Australian Broadcasting Tribunal replaces the Australian Broadcasting Control Board.
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January 19
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Eight people die and 87 are injured in Australia's worst rail disaster when a Blue Mountains commuter train derails and collides with a stanchion supporting the Bold Street railway bridge at Granville in suburban Sydney.
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January
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Queensland becomes the first state to abolish death duties.
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February 12
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Fire ravishes the western district of Victoria, destroying the town of Streatham.
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February 21
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Smoking is banned on Sydney's public transport on a 6-month trial basis.
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March 17
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The Centenary Cricket Test in Melbourne ends with Australia defeating England by 45 runs, the same winning margin as the very first 1877 test which the game commemorated.
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March 17
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Professor J.E. Richardson is appointed as Australia's first Commonwealth Ombudsman.
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March 18
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The Moonta-Sydney natural gas pipeline becomes operational.
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March 19
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The short animated film, 'Leisure', designed by political cartoonist Bruce Petty and produced by Suzanne Baker, becomes the first Australian film to win an Oscar at the Academy Awards.
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March 24
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The New South Wales Government passes Anti-Discrimination legislation, outlawing discrimination based on sex, race and marital status.
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April 13
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A Premier's conference agrees to a three month wages and prices freeze.
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May 9
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Media magnate Kerry Packer announces the introduction of the rival World Series Cricket during the next season, having signed up many leading players of the game.
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May
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The Canberra Times becomes the first Australian newspaper to convert to computer typesetting in the face of major objections by unions.
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June
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Citizens Band (CB) radio operation is approved on the VHF band.
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July 1
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The South East Asia Treaty Organisation (SEATO) ceases to exist after 23 of acting as the anti-Communist buffer in the region.
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July 7
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The ALP adopts a policy of indefinite deferral of further uranium mining and processing in Australia.
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July 14
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Cloud cover pictures of Australia to assist in meteorological observation and prediction are first received from a Japanese satellite.
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July 14
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Anti-drugs campaigner Donald Mackay goes missing and is feared murdered after his blood-stained vehicle is found abandoned near Griffith, NSW.
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August 10
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The New South Wales Government is the first state to announce a Royal Commission into drug trafficking.
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August 25
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The Federal Government gives approval to uranium mining and processing, subject to certain safeguards being put into place.
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August
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Four weeks annual leave is adopted universally throughout New South Wales.
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September 24
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The VFL Grand Final is televised for the first time.
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October 5
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A crippling power strike at the La Trobe Valley power stations causes the Victorian Government to declare a state of emergency.
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October 8
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The re-built Tasman Bridge, Hobart, is reopened for traffic.
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November 3
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The Supporting Mothers Pension is to be extended to include supporting fathers under a new name - the Supporting Parents Pension.
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November 12
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172 demonstrators are arrested on the streets of Brisbane in a protest march against Queensland Premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen 's ban on street marches.
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November 18
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Federal treasurer Philip Lynch resigns in the wake of accusations of financial misdealings.
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December 4
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Retailer Sir George Coles, founder of Coles Stores, dies age 92.
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January 26
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The Aboriginal Land Rights Act (NT) is proclaimed, giving some lands back to their traditional owners.
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February 10
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The union movement agrees to permit the fulfillment of existing uranium sales contracts.
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February 13
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Melbourne gets its first pedestrian mall when part of Bourke Street is closed to vehicular traffic.
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March 3
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Former Governor-General Sir John Robert Kerr resigns from his new appointment as Australia's ambassador to UNESCO in Paris on the day he was supposed to have taken up the post. The resignation followed an outburst of public disapproval over the appointment.
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April 12
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The end of a three week long strike against the export of live sheep is negotiated by ACTU President, Bob Hawke.
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April
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Cyclone Alby causes damage throughout the south west of Australia.
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May 11
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Australia's first open university, Deakin, is established in Geelong, Vic.
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July 1
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The Northern Territory is granted the right of self government.
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July 11
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The Australian Coastal Surveillance Centre is established to patrol a 200 mile nautical zone between Geraldton, WA, and Cairns, Qld, in an attempt to stop an influx of illegal immigrants and increased smuggling of goods.
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July 20
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Australia signs its first nuclear safeguards agreement with Finland.
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July 25
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The right to tribal land is granted to the Pitjantjatara tribe in South Australia's north west.
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July 28
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All passenger rail services are suspended indefinitely in Tasmania because of the lack of demand.
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July 28
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Former Prime Minister (Edward) Gough Whitlam resigns from Federal Parliament to become a visiting fellow at the Australian National University.
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August 1
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Australia's last whaling station, at Cheynes Beach near Albany, WA, closes down.
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August 27
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Nine three people taking part in a march for homosexual rights are arrested in Sydney.
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November 15
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Seven years in construction, Melbourne's West Gate Bridge opens at a cost of $195 million and 35 lives.
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November 22
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Federal Parliament agrees to build a new Parliament House on Capital Hill, Canberra.
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November 25
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The ACT rejects a referendum on the granting of self government to the territory.
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December 6
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The number of refugees arriving from South East Asia reaches 1,700 with the arrival in Darwin of a boat carrying 67 Vietnamese people.
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December 15
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Artist Brett Whiteley becomes the first person to win the top three art prizes in one year - the Archibald, the Wynne and the Sulman prizes.
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January 4
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Australia's highest rainfall, 1140 mm, is recorded at Bellenden Ker station, Qld.
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January 9
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Mining of uranium at the Ranger mines in the Northern Territory given the go-ahead.
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February 9
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Australia's fourth largest finance company, Associated Securities limited, goes into liquidation.
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March 9
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The right to six weeks of unpaid maternity leave granted to Australia's working women by the Arbitration Commission.
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April 11
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A 10-day blockade of Razorback Range on the Hume Highway, NSW, by truck drivers comes to an end. They were protesting over state road taxes and low cartage rates.
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May 25
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An Adelaide man, James William Miller, appears in court charged with four murders in the Truro area of South Australia. A further three women went missing in the area in 1976 and 1977 and are also presumed to have been murdered. He was later charged and found guilty of six of the seven murders. His accomplice and lover, Christopher Worrell, died in a car accident on 19th February 1977.
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June 6
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An attempt to hijack a Trans Australian Airlines Airbus near Brisbane is thwarted by hostess Esme Qazim and other crew members.
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June 9
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Australia's first modern uranium mine at Nabarlek in Arnhem Land opens.
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June
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Three members of the Ananda Marga sect are convicted in the NSW Supreme Court of conspiracy to murder the leader of the National Front.
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July 1
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Commonwealth gift and estate duties are abolished.
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July 26
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14 miners die in a coal mine explosion at Appin Colliery, NSW.
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August 29
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A heliport is opened at Darling Harbour, Sydney.
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August
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Logging at Terania Creek in northern NSW is interrupted by conservationists who clash with police.
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September 27
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Australia formally rescinds its policy of trade preferences to Britain.
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September 27
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Federal Minister for Primary Industry, Ian Sinclair, resigns amid allegations that he forged his father's signature on his family company's annual returns.
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November 6
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The Woodward Royal Commission into drug trafficking in NSW announces its findings. It estimates that there are over 20,000 heroin addicts in Australia.
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November 6
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No one picks the six winning numbers in New South Wales' first Lotto draw.
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December 16
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Sunday trading for hotels introduced in New South Wales, bringing that state into line with Qld, WA, NT and ACT.
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