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50 years
in 50 days
What were the biggest events of the past half-century, and how did The Australian cover them? Every day until July 15, we present a snapshot of one year in the news. Discover great journalism, photography, cartoons and illustrations from 1964 to 2014, with readable front pages from our archives.
1990
Hold the front page ...
Two editors of The Australian – Les Hollings and David Armstrong - considered a Brisbane French polisher to be front page news, and did so 15 years apart.
Packer’s sweet deal
In July, Kerry Packer regains control of family jewel the Nine network for less than $250m, having sold it to Alan Bond for more than $1bn in 1987.
A hearty pioneer
In May, heart transplant pioneer Victor Chang showed us his invention: a world-first artificial heart valve.
1991
The Kirribilli showdown
The often insoluble complexities of managing an economy in decline were taking their toll on Prime Minister Bob Hawke as 1991 dawned, despite having led his party to victory less than a year earlier.
1991 in film
In the cinema, Thelma & Louise showed us that women could achieve true freedom if they, er, (spoiler alert) died, and The Silence of the Lambs ruined our taste for “fava beans and a nice Chianti” forever.
Soviet States fall
A domino-fall of Soviet states, from Estonia and Ukraine to Moldova, Belarus and Uzbekistan, declare independence, until on August 26 we reported (on editor Paul Kelly’s first day in the job) nothing less than the “Death of Communism”.
1992
The landscape diversifies
These days we take for granted the overseas success of Australian artists, but even during the life time of The Australian that has not always been the case.
Awesome foursome grab gold
Aussie rowers the Oarsome Foursome (aka the Men’s Coxless Four) are memorable gold medal-winners in Barcelona.
Vale Lang
Controversy surrounds the death of iron ore magnate Lang Hancock in the guest house of his Perth mansion only hours after a restraining order against his third wife, Rose, is granted.
1993
No cakewalk for Hewson
The headline history of the 1993 federal election sounds simple enough.Incumbent, but unelected, Prime Minister Paul Keating calls an election...
Bosnia begins
As the Yugoslav republic falls to pieces, Bosnian Serbs backed by Serbian president Milosevic crack down on pro-independence forces and civilians in Bosnia Herzegovina.
Music to her ears
Jane Campion becomes the first female film director in history to win the Palme d’Or at Cannes.
1994
Death of a campaigner
The heart of the issues around the biggest local story of 1994 – the assassination of Labor MP John Newman - was best captured by The Australian’s cartoonist Peter Nicholson.
Dancing Queens
Give us lashings of lycra and a truckload of sequins, and we’ll give you an Aussie film phenomenon – or three
Skase Chase
The bid to retrieve fugitive businessman Christopher Skase from Spain, where he’d fled from debtors in the early 90s, is intensifies and the media hordes descend on Majorca.
1995
Howard pledges a new deal
It was the year that saw the last of the old guard of Australian politics – those who took part in our federal life even before the formation of the Liberal Party – pass away.
Rogue Trader
Leaving a note that says “I’m sorry”, broker Nick Leeson flees Singapore in February after running up losses of £827 million at Barings Bank, which duly collapses.
League Wars
A revolution in rugby league begins in March as the first elite Australasian players sign with News Corporation’s alternative competition, Super League.
1996
Rebirth in deadly times
Labor’s long era in Government had stretched from 1983, but Newspolls published in The Australian had indicated for a year that a revitalised Opposition under the born-again John Howard would prevail at the federal election.
Babelicious
That pugnacious pig Babe wins an Oscar for best visual effects and Mel Gibson wins best director and best film awards for Braveheart.
Top honour
Aussie Peter Doherty wins the Nobel Prize in medicine for his discovery of how the immune system recognises virus-infected cells.
1997
Death of a princess
When the most famous woman in the world was killed in a Paris underpass, freelance photographers were quickly blamed.
Mourning for Michael
At 11.50am on November 22 the body of Michael Hutchence, INXS frontman, is found naked behind the door of his Sydney hotel room.
Shine on
Geoffrey Rush becomes the first Aussie since Peter Finch two decades earlier to win an Oscar for best actor.
1998
Status quo under threat
While we debated monarchism, industrial relations and the GST, unrest in Indonesia spurred Suharto’s exit.
The world at his feet
Enter the Thorpedo, best in the world at 15.
No smutty headline here!
What’s this that’s popped up? Viagra, the male impotence drug, gets approval for use in March
1999
The republic can wait
By the late 1990s many Australians wanted history to get a hurry on.
We are the champions
In the small hours of Monday June 21, millions of Aussies are up watching TV. And they are richly rewarded. Australia inflicts a crushing defeat on Pakistan in the cricket World Cup one-day final at Lord’s in London. Mark Taylor has retired as Australian captain on February 2, having captained 50 Tests, to be replaced by Steve Waugh.
But wait, there's more
In November the Wallabies do us proud as well. Skippered by John Eales they trounce France in the rugby union World Cup in Cardiff, Wales
2000
Sorry before the Games
Reconciliation got short shrift from a scandalised PM but the Sydney Olympics lifted everyone’s mood
The hardest word
Sorry, the people said, all 200,000 of them, as they walked across Sydney Harbour Bridge in a symbolic act of reconciliation between black and white Australians. Prime minister John Howard stayed home.
Fast disappearing
It’s a dreadful moment in July when an Air France Concorde crashes after take-off from Charles de Gaulle Airport, Paris, en route for New York. The crash claims 113 lives. It spells the end of the era of supersonic passenger travel, with a fall-off in demand after the crash coupled with the hit civil aviation takes after 9/11. After 23 years, the last Concorde flies in 2003.
2001
World struck by tragedy
The US election had been tight. With Bill Clinton ineligible for a third term, his vice-president, Al Gore, challenged for the nation’s leadership and won 500,000 votes more than George W Bush.
A river rescue
From February, The Australian’s Amanda Hodge travels the length of the Murray River documenting the destruction of an icon.
Oscar glory
Russell Crowe battles it out for the Academy Award, winning best actor for his performance in Gladiator. In an entertainment battle of another kind, Big Brother, the daddy of reality TV, debuts on the Ten Network.
2002
Blood and tears in Bali
Islamist terror left a deep scar in Australia’s neighbourhood, and we bade farewell to the Queen Mother.
Accusation and apology
Liberal senator Bill Heffernan accuses openly gay High Court judge Michael Kirby of using a commonwealth car to “trawl” for sex with rentboys in Sydney’s Darlinghurst. Within days it is revealed that the document Heffernan has relied on is false and fabricated. He apologises to Kirby at the insistence of prime minister John Howard.
A state of independence
After four centuries of foreign occupation, the people of East Timor wake to their first day of freedom and independence on May 20. President-elect Xanana Gusmao says: “ Today we stand on an equal footing with all other peoples of the world.”
2003
Where there is smoke....
THE year began with the federal capital in flames, then the war on Iraq began. And a governor-general quit.
Dusty departure
In town and country they drank to the memory of Slim Dusty, who took that last big road journey on September 19.
Shuttle disaster
The oldest craft in NASA’s shuttle fleet, Columbia, breaks apart in a ball of fire on February 1 after re-entering the Earth’s atmosphere at the end of its 28th mission. Seven astronauts die.
2004
Playing their last innings
STEVE Waugh retired, David Hookes died and Mark Latham exposed his wickets in the year of the tsunami.
Athens’turn
The torch has passed hands and now it’s time for the Olympics after Sydney’s “best ever”. The Games return home to Greece and Aussies go well although the medal count falls from 58 in Sydney to 50. But we win one more gold – 17. IOC chief Jacques Rogge calls the event “unforgettable”
Fairytale corner
A chance encounter in Sydney bar the Slip Inn during the Olympics ends up as a wedding in Denmark when real estate agent and Tasmanian Mary Donaldson marries Crown Prince Frederik, heir to Europe’s oldest throne. They now have four little princes and princesses.
2005
Not what they seemed
TONY Abbott almost found a son, the ALP lost another leader, and an old foe gave Sir Joh a state funeral.
An actress enters
Cate Blanchet wins richly deserved recognition with an Oscar for best supporting actress in her role as Katharine Hepburn in the movie The Aviator, about the life of Howard Hughes. In playful mood she tells the press after the presentation:
“Will it change me? Absolutely, you asshole.” Cate picks up her second Oscar, for best actress, in 2014 for her role in Woody Allen’s Blue Jasmine.
A politician exits
Early in the new year, Mark Latham decides to call it a day as Labor leader, remarking that “public office can take it out of people”. He is replaced by Kim Beazley, now ambassador to the US and sometimes referred to as the best Labor prime minister we never had (or was that Bill Hayden?)
2006
He shall not be moved
THE AWB scandal and Peter Costello’s dummy-spit leave John Howard standing, but Kim Beazley bows out.
Yes! We have no bananas
In late March, Larry, the most powerful cyclone in nearly a century, leaves thousands of north Queenslanders homeless, reduces Innisfail to a “bomb site” and destroys about $300 million worth of banana and sugar crops. Bananas, when they are available, rise about $15 a kilo. A similar fate awaits bananas in 2011 when Cyclone Yasi hits, the headline for which can be: Yasi! We have no bananas.
A cutting reference
The word “bone” takes on a new meaning when Nine boss Eddie McGuire reportedly says he is so unhappy with the performance of Today co-host Jessica Rowe that he wants to “bone” (sack) her. Rowe leaves the Nine network in 2007.
2007
Scene set for a knockout
Kevin07 proved too hot for John Howard, and a ‘terror suspect’ turned out to be just a doctor on a 457 visa.
Case of the pantsdown PM
Tamie Fraser revisits a night in October 1986 when husband and former PM Malcolm Fraser ended up in the foyer of a seedy Memphis hotel, wearing nothing but a towel and a confused expression.
Farewell to...
A few notables depart this life: the grand old man of Liberal politics, Sir James Killen; first president of the Russian Federation and vodka advocate Boris Yeltsin; Labor’s reforming larrikin, Queenslander Tom Burns; the King of the High Cs, tenor Luciano Pavarotti; and former Labor senator Bob Collins, who dies days before a court appearance on child sex offences.
2008
Balm for a nation’s soul
There was practical and symbolic progress on the indigenous front in the year we lost Hillary and Utzon.
Golden times
Who can forget the smash and grab of the Golden Girls at the Beijing Olympics? Stephanie Rice stands among the great Aussie Olympians, winning her third gold medal in WR time at Beijing, when she leads her team-mates Linda MacKenzie, Bronte Barratt and Kylie Palmer to a breathtaking win in the 4x200m freestyle relay. We win 46 medals all up, 14 gold.
Her number comes up
From barrel girl to High Court judge, now that’s an odd turn of the chocolate wheel of life. Virginia Bell gives the court some much-needed firepower on criminal law when she is appointed at year’s end. As well as a fine background as a criminal barrister and judge of the NSW Supreme Court, Justice Bell appeared as a barrel girl on the 1986 Channel Nine program Golden Years of Television under the pseudonym Ginger de Winter. In April, Quentin Bryce has been appointed the nation’s first female governor-general, a “great day for Australian women”, she remarks. She serves with distinction until 2014.
2009
Shock, horror, disbelief
TWO searing tragedies marked the start of the year; by the end of it, Tony Abbott headed the shadow cabinet.
A complex man
Billionaire packaging tycoon and philanthropist Richard Pratt dies on April 28 at his Raheen mansion in Melbourne, surrounded by his family, a day after criminal charges against him are dropped.
Uplifting beginnings
Hopes are high as Barack Obama is inaugurated as US President in January. “Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again in the work of remaking America,” he says, echoing a 1936 hit song written by Jerome Kern and Dorothy Fields for the Fred Astaire-Ginger Rogers film, Swing Time. The mood isn’t quite as bubbling for Obama the second time around in four years’ time.
2010
Suddenly, Julia steps in
Kevin Rudd’s demise at his deputy’s hands was brutal and swift, but it was preceded by a string of Labor woes.
Adieu to la Stupenda
Dame Joan Sutherland, the greatest opera singer Australia has produced, dies on October 10 in Switzerland, aged 83. The common refrain from the opera world: “We won’t see her like again.” She had given her final performance at the Sydney Opera House in Les Huguenots in 1990, ending with a rendition of Home Sweet Home.
Hail a saint
Irreverent Aussie cheers echo around St Peter’s Square as the Pope recognises Mary MacKillop as our first saint. Pilgrims yell, applaud and weep as the new name Saint Mary of the Cross is bestowed on the Melbourne-born teacher and founder of the Sisters of Saint Joseph.
2011
The nastiest deluge of all
NATURE and the Wivenhoe Dam were exceptionally unkind to Queensland the year we hosted Barack Obama.
Fallen apple
He revolutionised the way people use and think about computers. He transformed Silicon Valley. He was a visionary who thought he could change the world &ndashndash; and he was talented enough to succeed. The tributes pour in for Steve Jobs, the Apple co-founder and former chief executive, who dies in October, aged 56, after a battle with pancreatic cancer.
Punter’s Pride
Ricky Ponting stands down as cricket captain after nine years. Writing exclusively for The Australian he says the captaincy has changed his life, teaching him “the real significance of values, the true meaning of accountability, a deeper respect for mateship and an overwhelming feeling of national pride and responsibility”. Punter is replaced by Michael Clarke.
2012
It’s the whole dam truth
Queensland’s political landscape is transformed, and we farewell two doughty Australian women.
Remembering Dame Elisabeth
Philanthropist Dame Elisabeth Murdoch, mother of Rupert, dies on December 5, aged 103, at her home Cruden Farm outside Melbourne. Obituarist John Monks remembers that Dame Elisabeth had told him just before her 85thucky, very, very fortunate with my life. You might call it a well-used opportunity.” The arts, medical research, children’s welfare have benefited from a lifetime of giving. And she cultivated one of the country’s great gardens.
And a critical giant
Robert Hughes is also among the great Australians who die during the year. A contributor to The Australian from its early days, Hughes, art critic for Time magazine, has shared his intense passion for visual culture with millions, through his writing and TV shows. Remember too: Bryce Courtenay (also a columnist with The Australian), Rosemary Dobson, Jimmy Little, Murray Rose, Lionel Bowen, Adam Cullen, Tony Greig and one of Australia’s most memorable “first ladies”, Margaret Whitlam.
2013
Clash course in politics
Three PM’s starred in our longest election year.
End of the road
On December 11, Holden signals its intention to stop manufacturing cars locally in four years at a cost of 2900 jobs in Victoria and South Australia. PM Ben Chifley had watched the first Holden FX roll off the production line at Fisherman’s Bend, Melbourne in 1948. The FJ, the Kingswood and the Commodore have gone on to become central to our motoring folklore. Early in 2014, the last car manufacturer left standing in Australia, Toyota, announces its plans to close its factory in 2017 too.
She shall not be turned
Margaret Thatcher, the grocer’s daughter who changes Britain forever, dies on April 8. Tory PM from 1979 to 1990, she has led a revolution that reduces the power of unions, closes inefficient industries, gives public housing tenants the chance to buy their own home, takes the shackles off free enterprise, cuts income tax and shakes Britain out of its legacy. The Soviets give her the title Iron Lady and she defines herself by asserting “the lady’s not for turning”.
2014
The next half century beckons
Whatever the future of curated news, The Australian is determined to build on its achievements.
A new kind of journalism
The Australian developed its values-based brand of journalism.
A change agent
The Australian has never made a secret of its support for — or opposition to — governments but it has reported without favour events such as the Iraqi loans affair, the lies behind the children overboard saga and the bribery scandals of the Australian Wheat Board.
