Cabinet Papers 1998-99: A trip down memory lane
From Bill Clinton’s impeachment and the founding of Google to the East Timor independence vote.
Jan 26, 1998
US president Bill Clinton famously declares: ‘I want to say one thing to the American people, I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky.’
Jan 31-Feb 1
Martina Hingis and Petr Korda win the women’s and men’s singles titles at the Australian Open tennis tournament.
Feb 2-13
A constitutional convention is held to decide which model of republic should be put forward in a referendum. Under the model chosen, a president would be selected by a joint sitting of both houses of parliament.
Feb 19
Slalom skier Zali Steggall, now an independent member of federal parliament, wins bronze at the Nagano Games, Australia’s first individual Winter Olympics medal.
Feb 21
ACT Liberal government, led by Kate Carnell, re-elected.
Feb 23
Osama bin Laden publishes a fatwa declaring jihad against all Jews and Crusaders.
Feb 27
Britain’s House of Lords ends 1000 years of royal male precedence, giving a monarch’s first-born daughter the same claim to the throne as a first-born son.
Mar 23
Titanic, Jack Nicholson and Helen Hunt win best film, actor and actress at the Academy Awards.
Apr 7
Patrick Corporation sacks 2000 dock workers, sparking the war on the waterfront, an at-time violent, two-month industrial dispute with the Maritime Union of Australia that leads to the workers’ jobs being restored in exchange for efficiency improvements.
Apr 10
Good Friday/Belfast Agreement for Northern Ireland signed by the British and Irish governments.
Apr 29
Australia signs up to the Kyoto Protocol for reducing greenhouse gas emissions but doesn’t ratify its commitment until 2007.
May 5
Four sailors on the HMAS Westralia killed by a gas leak.
May 14
Final episode of Seinfeld is shown on US television and watched by 76.3 million Americans.
May 21
Indonesian president Suharto resigns after 31 years in power.
Jun 13
The Queensland National Party government, led by Rob Borbidge, is defeated after two years in power and a minority Labor government, led by Peter Beattie, takes power.
Jul 1
All mothers in the NSW border town of Albury forced to have their babies in Victoria, at the Wodonga Hospital, after Albury’s Mercy Hospital closes its maternity unit.
Jul 12
France wins its first soccer World Cup, beating Brazil 3-0 in the final.
Jul 21
Water crisis grips Sydney after suspected cryptosporidium and giardia contamination of the city’s main supply.
Aug 13
The federal Coalition government, led by John Howard, launches a tax-reform package including a 10 per cent goods and services tax.
Aug 15
Omagh bombing in Northern Ireland, the worst terrorist incident of The Troubles, leaves 29 people dead and more than 200 injured.
Aug 16
Victorian police officers Rodney Miller and Gary Silk murdered in Moorabbin.
Aug 17
Clinton admits in recorded testimony that he had an ‘improper physical relationship’ with Lewinsky, admits he misled people about their relationship.
Aug 29
The Tasmanian Liberal government, led by Tony Rundle, is defeated and a Labor government, led by Jim Bacon, takes power.
Sep 4
Google founded by Stanford University students Larry Page and Sergey Brin.
Sep 13
Pat Rafter beats Mark Philippoussis in an all- Australian US Open tennis final.
Oct 3
The Howard government is re-elected with the help of One Nation preferences and despite winning less than 50 per cent of the national vote.
Oct 4
Australian wicketkeeper Ian Healy overtakes Rod Marsh’s record of 355 Test cricket dismissals.
Oct 23
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian chairman Yasser Arafat reach a ‘land for peace’ agreement.
Nov 3
Jezabeel, trained by Brian Jenkins, wins the Melbourne Cup, with Chris Munce on board.
Dec 19
US House of Representatives votes to impeach Clinton on charges of lying about his affair with Lewinsky.
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Jan 30-31, 1999
Martina Hingis and Yevgeny Kafelnikov win the women’s and men’s singles titles at the Australian Open tennis tournament.
Feb 11
Pluto moves further away from the sun than Neptune, starting a 228-year stint as the solar system’s outermost planet.
Feb 12
Clinton acquitted by the Senate in his impeachment trial.
Mar 21
Shakespeare in Love, Roberto Benigni and Gwyneth Paltrow win best film, actor and actress at the Academy Awards.
Mar 27
The NSW Labor government, led by Bob Carr, is re-elected.
Apr 14
A massive hailstorm hits Sydney’s eastern suburbs, causing an estimated $2.3bn in damages, $1.7bn of which was insured.
May 21
Eight bodies are found in barrels in a disused bank vault in Snowtown, north of Adelaide. Three more bodies found under a house in Adelaide five days later.
Jun 6
AFL full forward Tony Lockett breaks Gordon Coventry’s career goals record with his 1300th goal. His final tally of 1360 remains the record.
Jun 20
Australia wins the Cricket World Cup, defeating Pakistan by eight wickets in the final, with Shane Warne taking 4/33.
Jun 28
The Howard government gets its GST bill through the Senate, with the backing of the Democrats.
Jun 30
Tim Fischer retires as leader of the federal Nationals, to be replaced by John Anderson.
Jul 25
Lance Armstrong wins the first of seven consecutive Tour de France titles but is later disqualified for drug cheating.
Jul 27
14 Australian tourists are among 21 killed in a canyoning disaster near Interlaken, Switzerland.
Aug 30
East Timor votes for independence from Indonesia, sparking violence that leads to Australia making a major contribution to a peacekeeping force.
Sep 18
The Victorian Coalition government, led by Jeff Kennett, is defeated and a minority Labor government, led by Steve Bracks, takes power.
Nov 2
Rogan Josh, trained by Bart Cummings, wins the Melbourne Cup, with John Marshall on board. Cummings claims his 11th of 12 Melbourne Cups.
Nov 6
Referendums to determine whether Australia becomes a republic and where a preamble is inserted into the Constitution recognising Aborigines as Australia’s first people both return a majority ‘no’ vote.
Nov 6
Australia wins the Rugby World Cup, defeating France 35-12 in the final.