1978 in Australia

The following lists events that happened during 1978 in Australia.

1978 in Australia

Monarch| Elizabeth II
Governor-General| Sir Zelman Cowen
Prime minister| Malcolm Fraser
Population| 14,192,234
Australian of the Year| Alan Bond and Galarrwuy Yunupingu
Elections| NSW

* 1977
* 1976
* 1975
*   *

|  | 1978

Australia |

* 1979
* 1980
* 1981
*   *

|
|
|

Decades:|

* 1950s
* 1960s
* 1970s
* 1980s
* 1990s

See also:|

* 1978 in Australian television
* 1978 in Australian literature
* Other events of 1978
*   * Timeline of Australian history

## Incumbents

[edit]

Sir Zelman Cowen Malcolm Fraser

* Monarch – Elizabeth II
* Governor-General – Sir Zelman Cowen
* Prime Minister – Malcolm Fraser
* Deputy Prime Minister – Doug Anthony
* Opposition Leader – Bill Hayden
* Chief Justice – Sir Garfield Barwick

### State and territory leaders

[edit]

* Premier of New South Wales – Neville Wran
* Opposition Leader – Peter Coleman (until 7 October), then John Mason
* Premier of Queensland – Joh Bjelke-Petersen
* Opposition Leader – Tom Burns (until 28 November), then Ed Casey
* Premier of South Australia – Don Dunstan
* Opposition Leader – David Tonkin
* Premier of Tasmania – Doug Lowe
* Opposition Leader – Max Bingham
* Premier of Victoria – Rupert Hamer
* Opposition Leader – Frank Wilkes
* Premier of Western Australia – Sir Charles Court
* Opposition Leader – Colin Jamieson (until 21 February), then Ron Davies
* Majority Leader/Chief Minister of the Northern Territory – Paul Everingham
* Opposition Leader – Jon Isaacs

### Governors and administrators

[edit]

* Governor of New South Wales – Sir Roden Cutler
* Governor of Queensland – Sir James Ramsay
* Governor of South Australia – Sir Keith Seaman
* Governor of Tasmania – Sir Stanley Burbury
* Governor of Victoria – Sir Henry Winneke
* Governor of Western Australia – Sir Wallace Kyle
* Administrator of Norfolk Island – Desmond O'Leary
* Administrator of the Northern Territory – John England (from 1 June)

## Events

[edit]

### January

[edit]

* 1 January –
* Another Vietnamese refugee boat arrives at night, from a camp off the Malaysian coast.[1]
* The Festival of Sydney begins.
* A jail warder, Victor Sullivan is struck on the head by a prisoner at Parramatta Jail.
* 2 January – Senator Neville Bonner attacks the Queensland Government over delays in its housing reconstruction programme for Mornington Island, which was ravaged by Cyclone Ted more than a year ago.[2]
* 3 January –
* Bela Csidei, a prominent Sydney businessman, is alleged in the Darwin Magistrates' Court to have been involved in growing marijuana in the Northern Territory.[3]
* Acting Health Minister Mr McLeay reiterates the Federal Government's election promise to keep the Medibank levy and ceiling at the same level for the next six months.
* Queensland Premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen announces that he will ask churches throughout Queensland to hold a day of prayer for rain, suggesting a date of 15 January.[4]
* 4 January –
* The Australian dollar is devalued from 89.4 to 89.2 due to a drop in the US dollar to bring the effect devaluation since November 1976 to 15.3%.[5]
* Acting Prime Minister Doug Anthony announces that the Federal Government knew that Arab nations operated a blacklist for more than 20 years and that some Australian companies were on it, but that the Government had never been told officially that certain companies were being boycotted.[6]
* 5 January –
* Corrective Services Commissioner, W. McGeechan, talks 120 maximum security prisoners back into their cells after a 5-hour protest sit-in at Parramatta jail.[7]
* Aboriginal Senator Neville Bonner makes a complaint to the Queensland State Licensing Commission about the Mount Isa hotel which refused him service on Boxing Day.[8]
* Immigration and Ethnic Affairs Minister Michael MacKellar reverses a department decision thereby allowing a Uruguayan woman to join her widowed brother, Ruben Molina, in Sydney.[9]
* 18 January – New South Wales Premier Neville Wran meets with prison union officials about their demand that Bathurst Jail be reopened to relieve over crowding and staff shortages in other prisons.

### February

[edit]

* 13 February – Terrorism arrives in Australia for the very first time with the Sydney Hilton bombing killing 3 people and injuring 11 others.[10]

### March

[edit]

* 14 March – Stephen Matthews, aged 20, swept from the Natural Bridge off Albany, by a King Wave. Rescued by whale ship, the Cheynes II. First recorded survival of someone swept into the sea at The Gap and Natural Bridge.[11]
* 30 March – Commonwealth Police (Federal Police) begin arresting 180 Greek-Australians said to be involved in a conspiracy to defraud the Department of Social Security.[12]

### April

[edit]

* 4 April – Cyclone Alby kills 5 people in Western Australia.[13]

### May

[edit]

* 15 May –
* Australia's longest serving prime minister Robert Menzies dies.[14]
* Australia's first Timezone arcade opens in Perth.[citation needed]

### June

[edit]

* 24 June – The inaugural Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras parade, a gay rights march is held in Oxford Street, Sydney to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots in New York.[15]
* 25 June – Trudie Adams disappears from the Surf Life Saving Club in Newport, New South Wales.[16]

### July

[edit]

* 1 July – The Northern Territory attains self-government; Majority Leader Paul Everingham becomes the inaugural Chief Minister.[17]

### August

[edit]

* 25 August – Michelle Pope and Stephen Lapthorne disappear. Still missing as of 3 August 2015[update].[18]

### October

[edit]

* 7 October – The ALP New South Wales state government of Neville Wran is re-elected with a massively increased majority, leading to his win being dubbed as a "Wranslide".[19]
* 8 October – Australia's Ken Warby sets the world water speed record to 510 km/h (317.60 mph) at Blowering Dam, New South Wales.[20]
* 21 October \- Cessna pilot Frederick Valentich disappears while flying over Bass Strait.[21]

### November

[edit]

* 21 November – Last day of commercial whaling in Australia.[citation needed] No sperm whales caught that day by the chaser ships (Cheynes II, III and IV) operated by the Cheynes Beach Whaling Company at Albany, Western Australia.[citation needed] The last whale caught by an Australian whaling company was the day before, 20 November.[citation needed]

## Arts and literature

[edit]

Main article: 1978 in Australian literature

* Brett Whiteley wins the Archibald Prize with Art, Life and the other thing.[22]
* Jessica Anderson's novel Tirra Lirra By the River wins the Miles Franklin Award.[23]
* Helen Garner becomes the first woman to win the National Book Council Award for her novel Monkey Grip, selected as Book of the Year.[24]

## Film

[edit]

* Blue Fin[25]
* Little Boy Lost

## Sport

[edit]

* 7 March – Western Australia wins the 1977–78 Sheffield Shield season.[26]
* 6 May – Melbourne and St Kilda set a still-standing record VFL/AFL aggregate score of 52.33 (345).[citation needed]
* 1 July – Footscray kick a record VFL score of 33.15 (213) beating the previous record by three points.[citation needed] Kelvin Templeton and Ian Dunstan combine for 22 of the 33 goals.[citation needed]
* 6 August – James Langford wins the men's national marathon title, clocking 2:19:29 in Caboolture.[27]
* 19 September – After a controversial NSWRFL finals series with two draws, Manly thrash Cronulla 16–0 to win their fourth premiership with Graham Eadie dominating.[28] Newtown finish in last position, claiming their third straight and final wooden spoon before their departure from the premiership five years later.
* 30 September – Hawthorn 18.13 (121) defeats North Melbourne 15.13 (103) for its fourth VFL premiership.[29]
* 7 November – Arwon wins the Melbourne Cup.[30]
* 30 December – Apollo claims line honours in the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race.[31]

## Births

[edit]

* 4 January – Paul Licuria, Australian rules footballer
* 14 January – James Mathison, TV host
* 25 January – Jason Johnson, Australian rules footballer
* 1 February – Tim Harding, singer (Hi 5)
* 2 February – Annabel Ellwood, tennis player
* 7 February – Frank Drmic, basketball player
* 8 February – Mick de Brenni, politician
* 16 February – Lance Thompson, rugby league player (d. 2018)
* 1 March – Gavin Woods, water polo player
* 14 March – Karyne Di Marco, hammer thrower
* 18 March – Brooke Hanson, swimmer
* 4 April – Sam Moran, singer (The Wiggles)
* 16 April – Matthew Lloyd, footballer and coach
* 2 June – Luke Williamson, rugby league player
* 30 June – Ben Cousins, AFL Footballer
* 8 August – Kate Ritchie, actress, radio & television personality
* 16 August – Ben Galea, rugby player
* 11 September – Ben Lee, singer-songwriter, guitarist and actor
* 18 September – Melanie Gibbons, politician
* 20 September – Scott Minto, rugby league player
* 22 September – Harry Kewell, soccer player
* 20 October – Michael Johns, Australian singer (d. 2014)
* 25 October – Matt Shirvington, track and field athlete
* November – Allyson McConnell, convicted killer who drowned her two children in Alberta, Canada[32]
* 22 November – Steven King, plays with Geelong Football Club
* 2 December – Peter Moylan, baseball player
* Fiona McFarlane \- author[33]

## Deaths

[edit]

* 9 January – Eddie Gilbert, (born 1905), Queensland cricketer[34]
* 5 February – Frank McIver, (born 1904), soccer player and administrator[citation needed]
* 14 May – Sir Robert Menzies, (born 1894), Prime Minister of Australia[14]
* 27 July – Bob Heffron, (born 1890), Premier of New South Wales[35]
* 18 September – Dame Alice Berry, (born 1900), social activist[36]
* 6 October – Johnny O'Keefe, (born 1935), rock and roll singer[37]

## See also

[edit]

* 1978 in Australian television
* List of Australian films of 1978

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "38 refugees in latest boat to reach Darwin". The Sydney Morning Herald. 2 January 1978. p. 1\. Archived from the original on 29 December 2023. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
2. ^ "Senator 'disgusted' at Aboriginal homes delay". The Sydney Morning Herald. 3 January 1978. p. 2.
3. ^ "Csidei named in drug case". The Sydney Morning Herald. 4 January 1978. p. 1\. Archived from the original on 29 December 2023. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
4. ^ "Rain prayers suggested". The Sydney Morning Herald. 4 January 1978. p. 1\. Archived from the original on 29 December 2023. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
5. ^ "Value of $ cut again". The Sydney Morning Herald. 5 January 1978. p. 1\. Archived from the original on 29 December 2023. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
6. ^ "Govt knew of Arab blacklist But it appears to have had little effect, says Anthony". The Sydney Morning Herald. 5 January 1978. p. 3.
7. ^ Allison, Colin (6 January 1978). "McGeechan talks angry prisoners back to cells". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 1\. Archived from the original on 29 December 2023. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
8. ^ "Isa Hotel complaint". The Sydney Morning Herald. 6 January 1978. p. 2\. Archived from the original on 29 December 2023. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
9. ^ Lukas, Isabel (6 January 1978). "Immigration Dept refusal reversed by minister". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 2\. Archived from the original on 29 December 2023. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
10. ^ Bowers, Peter; Brown, Malcolm (14 February 1978). "Fraser calls troops". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 1\. Archived from the original on 29 December 2023. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
11. ^ "The Natural Bridge". GlobeVista. 2008. Archived from the original on 14 January 2014. Retrieved 8 February 2014.
12. ^ Grabosky, Peter. N. (1989). "Chapter 6: The great social security conspiracy case". Wayward Governance: Illegality and its Control in the Public Sector. Australian Institute of Criminology. pp. 93–112. ISBN 0 642 14605 5. Retrieved 7 August 2015.
13. ^ "Five dead in storm: fires rage on". The Sydney Morning Herald. 6 April 1978. p. 1\. Archived from the original on 29 December 2023. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
14. ^ a b Bowers, Peter (16 May 1978). "Menzies dies at 83". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 1\. Archived from the original on 29 December 2023. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
15. ^ "First gay Mardi Gras". National Museum Australia. 2022. Archived from the original on 29 December 2023. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
16. ^ "Hunt for girl, 18, goes on". The Sydney Morning Herald. 29 June 1978. p. 2. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
17. ^ Mellor, Bill (2 July 1978). "Darwin wakes with a capital hangover". The Sun-Herald. p. 3\. Archived from the original on 1 January 2024. Retrieved 1 January 2024.
18. ^ Findlay, Tracey (3 August 2015). "Police renew appeal for information on local couple missing 30 years". Hornsby Advocate. Daily Telegraph-NewsLocal. Retrieved 7 August 2015.
19. ^ Owens, Warren (8 October 1978). "Wran back - and how!". The Sun-Herald. p. 1. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
20. ^ Robertson, David (9 October 1978). "The fastest man afloat: Warby breaks own record". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 1\. Archived from the original on 30 December 2023. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
21. ^ Murdoch, Lindsay (23 October 1978). "Pilot tells of UFO then vanishes". The Age. p. 1\. Archived from the original on 30 December 2023. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
22. ^ Harper, Catherine (16 December 1978). "Brett Whiteley takes an art hat trick". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 1. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
23. ^ "Literary award to 'late starter'". The Sydney Morning Herald. 3 May 1979. p. 3\. Archived from the original on 30 December 2023. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
24. ^ Sayers, Stuart (13 October 1978). "Expatriate grips the novel prize". The Age. p. 2. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
25. ^ DuBose, Martha (16 November 1978). "Could it become a gift tradition?". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 8\. Archived from the original on 30 December 2023. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
26. ^ "Sheffield Shield: final standing". The Sydney Morning Herald. 8 March 1978. p. 42\. Archived from the original on 30 December 2023. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
27. ^ "Veteran Langford turns clock back in marathon". The Sydney Morning Herald. 7 August 1978. p. 31\. Archived from the original on 30 December 2023. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
28. ^ Clarkson, Alan (20 September 1978). "Finally it's Manly... grandly". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 28\. Archived from the original on 30 December 2023. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
29. ^ "100,000 at VFL final". The Sun-Herald. 1 October 1978. p. 2\. Archived from the original on 30 December 2023. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
30. ^ Bourke, Tony (8 November 1978). "Arwon turns up trumps for Nowra". The Age. p. 1\. Archived from the original on 30 December 2023. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
31. ^ Herbert, Adrian (31 December 1978). "Apollo first to Hobart - second line honour victory for skipper". The Sun-Herald. p. 2\. Archived from the original on 30 December 2023. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
32. ^ Boys found dead were at centre of custody fight
33. ^ "Fiona McFarlane". www.swansea.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 26 February 2018. Retrieved 27 February 2018.
34. ^ "Famous Qld bowler dies". The Sydney Morning Herald. 10 January 1978. p. 26\. Archived from the original on 30 December 2023. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
35. ^ "R J Heffron dies at 87". The Sydney Morning Herald. 28 July 1978. p. 1\. Archived from the original on 30 December 2023. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
36. ^ "Biography - Dame Alice Miriam Berry - Australian Dictionary of Biography". 5 March 2016. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 22 October 2017.
37. ^ "Johnny O'Keefe, rock star, dies". The Sydney Morning Herald. 7 October 1978. p. 1\. Archived from the original on 30 December 2023. Retrieved 30 December 2023.

* v
* t
* e

Years in Australia (1788–present)

18th century|

* 1788
* 1789
* 1790
* 1791
* 1792
* 1793
* 1794
* 1795
* 1796
* 1797
* 1798
* 1799
* 1800

19th century|

* 1801
* 1802
* 1803
* 1804
* 1805
* 1806
* 1807
* 1808
* 1809
* 1810
* 1811
* 1812
* 1813
* 1814
* 1815
* 1816
* 1817
* 1818
* 1819
* 1820
* 1821
* 1822
* 1823
* 1824
* 1825
* 1826
* 1827
* 1828
* 1829
* 1830
* 1831
* 1832
* 1833
* 1834
* 1835
* 1836
* 1837
* 1838
* 1839
* 1840
* 1841
* 1842
* 1843
* 1844
* 1845
* 1846
* 1847
* 1848
* 1849
* 1850
* 1851
* 1852
* 1853
* 1854
* 1855
* 1856
* 1857
* 1858
* 1859
* 1860
* 1861
* 1862
* 1863
* 1864
* 1865
* 1866
* 1867
* 1868
* 1869
* 1870
* 1871
* 1872
* 1873
* 1874
* 1875
* 1876
* 1877
* 1878
* 1879
* 1880
* 1881
* 1882
* 1883
* 1884
* 1885
* 1886
* 1887
* 1888
* 1889
* 1890
* 1891
* 1892
* 1893
* 1894
* 1895
* 1896
* 1897
* 1898
* 1899
* 1900

20th century|

* 1901
* 1902
* 1903
* 1904
* 1905
* 1906
* 1907
* 1908
* 1909
* 1910
* 1911
* 1912
* 1913
* 1914
* 1915
* 1916
* 1917
* 1918
* 1919
* 1920
* 1921
* 1922
* 1923
* 1924
* 1925
* 1926
* 1927
* 1928
* 1929
* 1930
* 1931
* 1932
* 1933
* 1934
* 1935
* 1936
* 1937
* 1938
* 1939
* 1940
* 1941
* 1942
* 1943
* 1944
* 1945
* 1946
* 1947
* 1948
* 1949
* 1950
* 1951
* 1952
* 1953
* 1954
* 1955
* 1956
* 1957
* 1958
* 1959
* 1960
* 1961
* 1962
* 1963
* 1964
* 1965
* 1966
* 1967
* 1968
* 1969
* 1970
* 1971
* 1972
* 1973
* 1974
* 1975
* 1976
* 1977
* 1978
* 1979
* 1980
* 1981
* 1982
* 1983
* 1984
* 1985
* 1986
* 1987
* 1988
* 1989
* 1990
* 1991
* 1992
* 1993
* 1994
* 1995
* 1996
* 1997
* 1998
* 1999
* 2000

21st century|

* 2001
* 2002
* 2003
* 2004
* 2005
* 2006
* 2007
* 2008
* 2009
* 2010
* 2011
* 2012
* 2013
* 2014
* 2015
* 2016
* 2017
* 2018
* 2019
* 2020
* 2021
* 2022
* 2023
* 2024
* 2025

Timeline of Australian history

* v
* t
* e

1978 in Oceania

Sovereign states|

* Australia
* Federated States of Micronesia
* Fiji
* Indonesia
* Kiribati
* Marshall Islands
* Nauru
* New Zealand
* Palau
* Papua New Guinea
* Samoa
* Solomon Islands
* Timor-Leste
* Tonga
* Tuvalu
* Vanuatu

Associated states
of New Zealand|

* Cook Islands
* Niue

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template