2004 in Australia
Encyclopedia
Incumbents
- MonarchMonarchy in AustraliaThe Monarchy of Australia is a form of government in which a hereditary monarch is the sovereign of Australia. The monarchy is a constitutional one modelled on the Westminster style of parliamentary government, incorporating features unique to the Constitution of Australia.The present monarch is...
– Queen Elizabeth IIElizabeth II of the United KingdomElizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,... - Governor General – Michael JefferyMichael JefferyMajor General Philip Michael Jeffery AC, CVO, MC was the 24th Governor-General of Australia , the first Australian career soldier to be appointed governor-general...
- Prime MinisterPrime Minister of AustraliaThe Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Australia is the highest minister of the Crown, leader of the Cabinet and Head of Her Majesty's Australian Government, holding office on commission from the Governor-General of Australia. The office of Prime Minister is, in practice, the most powerful...
– John HowardJohn HowardJohn Winston Howard AC, SSI, was the 25th Prime Minister of Australia, from 11 March 1996 to 3 December 2007. He was the second-longest serving Australian Prime Minister after Sir Robert Menzies.... - Premier of New South Wales – Bob Carr
- Premier of South Australia – Mike RannMike RannMichael David Rann MHA, CNZM , Australian politician, served as the 44th Premier of South Australia. He led the South Australian branch of the Australian Labor Party to minority government at the 2002 election, before attaining a landslide win at the 2006 election...
- Premier of Queensland – Peter BeattiePeter BeattiePeter Douglas Beattie , Australian politician, was the 36th Premier of the Australian state of Queensland for nine years and leader of the Australian Labor Party in that state for eleven and a half years...
- Premier of Tasmania – Jim BaconJim BaconJames Alexander Bacon, AC was Premier of Tasmania from 1998 to 2004.-Early life:Bacon was born in Melbourne; his father Frank, a doctor, died when Jim was twelve, leaving him to be raised by his mother Joan. He was educated at Scotch College and later at Monash University, but he did not graduate....
, then Paul LennonPaul LennonPaul Anthony Lennon is an Australian Labor Party politician. He was Premier of Tasmania from 21 March 2004 until his resignation on 26 May 2008. He was member of the Tasmanian House of Assembly for the seat of Franklin from 1990 until officially resigning on 27 May 2008... - Premier of Western AustraliaPremier of Western AustraliaThe Premier of Western Australia is the head of the executive government in the Australian State of Western Australia. The Premier has similar functions in Western Australia to those performed by the Prime Minister of Australia at the national level, subject to the different Constitutions...
– Geoffrey Gallop - Premier of Victoria – Steve BracksSteve BracksStephen Philip Bracks AC is a former Australian politician and the 44th Premier of Victoria. He first won the electoral district of Williamstown in 1994 for the Australian Labor Party, and was party leader and Premier from 1999 to 2007....
- Chief Minister of the Australian Capital TerritoryChief Minister of the Australian Capital TerritoryThe Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory is the head of government of the Australian Capital Territory. The leader of party with the largest representation of seats in the unicameral Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly usually takes on the role...
– Jon StanhopeJon StanhopeJonathan Ronald Stanhope is a former Australian politician who was Labor Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory from 2001 to 2011. Stanhope represented the Ginninderra electorate in the ACT Legislative Assembly from 1998 until 2011. He resigned as Chief Minister on 12 May 2011 and as... - Chief Minister of the Northern TerritoryChief Minister of the Northern TerritoryThe Chief Minister of the Northern Territory is appointed by the Administrator, who in normal circumstances will appoint the head of whatever party holds the majority of seats in the legislature of the territory...
– Clare MartinClare MartinClare Majella Martin is a former Australian politician. She is the current CEO of the Australian Council of Social Service . A former journalist, she was elected to the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly in a shock by-election win in 1995... - Chief Minister of Norfolk Island – Geoffrey Robert GardnerGeoffrey Robert GardnerGeoffrey Robert Gardner is a political figure from the Australian territory of Norfolk Island.-Chief Minister of Norfolk Island:Gardner was the chief minister of Norfolk Island from 5 December 2001 to 2 June 2006...
Events
- 13 January – The Spirit of Tasmania IIISpirit of TasmaniaSpirit of Tasmania may refer to:* The trading name of TT-Line Pty. Ltd.* One of the following ferries that sailed under the name of Spirit of Tasmania during its careers:** ** ** **...
makes its inaugural trip from Sydney to DevonportDevonport, Tasmania-Sport:The Devonport Football Club is an Australian Rules team competing in the Tasmanian Statewide League. The Devonport Rugby Club is a Rugby Union team competing in the Tasmanian Rugby Union Statewide League...
. It ceased in 2006 - 1 February – The first Ghan passenger train across Australia from AdelaideAdelaideAdelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...
to DarwinDarwin, Northern TerritoryDarwin is the capital city of the Northern Territory, Australia. Situated on the Timor Sea, Darwin has a population of 127,500, making it by far the largest and most populated city in the sparsely populated Northern Territory, but the least populous of all Australia's capital cities...
sets off on its three-day journey. - 6 February – The Music Industry Piracy InvestigationsMusic Industry Piracy InvestigationsMusic Industry Piracy Investigations is an organisation backed by musical industry associations , and record labels in Australia such as Sony BMG and MGM Records for the purposes of enforcing copyright in music in Australia and for providing backing to investigative and preventative measures.The...
organization uses an Anton Piller orderAnton Piller orderIn English and English-derived legal systems, an Anton Piller order is a court order that provides the right to search premises and seize evidence without prior warning...
to raid offices of P2PPeer-to-peerPeer-to-peer computing or networking is a distributed application architecture that partitions tasks or workloads among peers. Peers are equally privileged, equipotent participants in the application...
companies Sharman NetworksSharman NetworksSharman Networks is a company headquartered in Australia and incorporated in Vanuatu. It owns the rights to the KaZaA file sharing software...
and Brilliant Digital Entertainment, the homes of their key executives, as well as several internet service providerInternet service providerAn Internet service provider is a company that provides access to the Internet. Access ISPs directly connect customers to the Internet using copper wires, wireless or fiber-optic connections. Hosting ISPs lease server space for smaller businesses and host other people servers...
s and universities. - 8 February – Peter BeattiePeter BeattiePeter Douglas Beattie , Australian politician, was the 36th Premier of the Australian state of Queensland for nine years and leader of the Australian Labor Party in that state for eleven and a half years...
's Australian Labor PartyAustralian Labor PartyThe Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...
Queensland state government is re-elected in a landslide. - 11 February – A Black Hawk helicopter reportedly crashed near Amberley air force base, Mount WalkerMount WalkerMount Walker is a snow-covered mountain which rises from the northeast part of Forbidden Plateau, 2 nautical miles south of the head of Blanchard Glacier, in northern Graham Land. It was surveyed by Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey in 1955...
with at least five seriously injured. - 14 February – Riots2004 Redfern riotsThe Redfern Riots on the evening of Saturday 14 February 2004 was an event in the inner Sydney suburb of Redfern sparked by the death of Thomas 'TJ' Hickey, a 17 year old Indigenous Australian....
break out between policeNew South Wales PoliceThe New South Wales Police Force is the primary law enforcement agency in the State of New South Wales, Australia. It is an agency of the Government of New South Wales within the New South Wales Ministry for Police...
and Aboriginal residents of Sydney suburb RedfernRedfern, New South WalesRedfern is an inner-city suburb of Sydney. Redfern is 3 kilometres south of the Sydney central business district and is part of the local government area of the City of Sydney... - 15 February – Violent riots2004 Redfern riotsThe Redfern Riots on the evening of Saturday 14 February 2004 was an event in the inner Sydney suburb of Redfern sparked by the death of Thomas 'TJ' Hickey, a 17 year old Indigenous Australian....
ensue in the Sydney suburb of RedfernRedfern, New South WalesRedfern is an inner-city suburb of Sydney. Redfern is 3 kilometres south of the Sydney central business district and is part of the local government area of the City of Sydney...
after an Aboriginal boy dies while allegedly fleeing police. - 23 February – Tasmanian PremierPremiers of TasmaniaThe Premier of Tasmania is the head of the executive government in the Australian state of Tasmania. By convention, the party or political grouping which has majority support in the House of Assembly will nominate its leader to be Premier. The nominated politician is then invited by the Governor of...
Jim BaconJim BaconJames Alexander Bacon, AC was Premier of Tasmania from 1998 to 2004.-Early life:Bacon was born in Melbourne; his father Frank, a doctor, died when Jim was twelve, leaving him to be raised by his mother Joan. He was educated at Scotch College and later at Monash University, but he did not graduate....
resigns after being diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer, handing power to his deputy, Paul LennonPaul LennonPaul Anthony Lennon is an Australian Labor Party politician. He was Premier of Tasmania from 21 March 2004 until his resignation on 26 May 2008. He was member of the Tasmanian House of Assembly for the seat of Franklin from 1990 until officially resigning on 27 May 2008...
. - 25 February – QantasQantasQantas Airways Limited is the flag carrier of Australia. The name was originally "QANTAS", an initialism for "Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services". Nicknamed "The Flying Kangaroo", the airline is based in Sydney, with its main hub at Sydney Airport...
launches its discount domestic airline, JetstarJetstar AirwaysJetstar Airways is an Australian low-cost airline headquartered in Melbourne, Australia. It is a subsidiary of Qantas, created in response to the threat posed by low-cost airline Virgin Blue...
. - 29 February – Malcolm TurnbullMalcolm TurnbullMalcolm Bligh Turnbull is an Australian politician. He has been a member of the Australian House of Representatives since 2004, and was Leader of the Opposition and parliamentary leader of the Liberal Party from 16 September 2008 to 1 December 2009.Turnbull has represented the Division...
controversially wins LiberalLiberal Party of AustraliaThe Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office...
pre-selection for the federal seat of WentworthDivision of WentworthThe Division of Wentworth is an Australian Electoral Division in the state of New South Wales. It was proclaimed in 1900 and was one of the original 75 divisions contested at the first federal election. The Division is named after William Charles Wentworth , a noted Australian explorer and statesman...
, displacing sitting member Peter KingPeter King (Australian politician)Peter Edward King , Australian politician, was a Liberal Party of Australia member of the Australian House of Representatives from November 2001 to October 2004, representing the seat of Wentworth, New South Wales. He was born in Bingara, New South Wales, and was educated at the Shore School,...
. - 11 March – A SenateAustralian SenateThe Senate is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the House of Representatives. Senators are popularly elected under a system of proportional representation. Senators are elected for a term that is usually six years; after a double dissolution, however,...
report on povertyPovertyPoverty is the lack of a certain amount of material possessions or money. Absolute poverty or destitution is inability to afford basic human needs, which commonly includes clean and fresh water, nutrition, health care, education, clothing and shelter. About 1.7 billion people are estimated to live...
is immediately dismissed by Prime MinisterPrime Minister of AustraliaThe Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Australia is the highest minister of the Crown, leader of the Cabinet and Head of Her Majesty's Australian Government, holding office on commission from the Governor-General of Australia. The office of Prime Minister is, in practice, the most powerful...
John HowardJohn HowardJohn Winston Howard AC, SSI, was the 25th Prime Minister of Australia, from 11 March 1996 to 3 December 2007. He was the second-longest serving Australian Prime Minister after Sir Robert Menzies....
. The report shows between 2 and 3.5 million Australians, or up to 19 per cent of the population, are living in poverty. - 5 April – Australia's biggest supplier of the potential explosive ammonium nitrate decides to pull the product from its stores in response to concerns it could be used by terroristsTerrorismTerrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition...
. - 14 April – The Family CourtFamily Court of AustraliaThe Family Court of Australia is a superior Australian federal court of record which deals with family law matters. Together with the Federal Magistrates Court, it covers family law matters in all states and territories of Australia except Western Australia...
allows a thirteen year old child, born female, to start preliminary hormone treatment: the child identifies as being male and has been suffering from gender identity disorderGender identity disorderGender identity disorder is the formal diagnosis used by psychologists and physicians to describe persons who experience significant gender dysphoria . It describes the symptoms related to transsexualism, as well as less severe manifestations of gender dysphoria...
. - 24 April – John HowardJohn HowardJohn Winston Howard AC, SSI, was the 25th Prime Minister of Australia, from 11 March 1996 to 3 December 2007. He was the second-longest serving Australian Prime Minister after Sir Robert Menzies....
joins Australian troops in BaghdadBaghdadBaghdad is the capital of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Governorate. The population of Baghdad in 2011 is approximately 7,216,040...
for ceremonies honouring the country's war dead. - 14 May – HobartHobartHobart is the state capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Founded in 1804 as a penal colony,Hobart is Australia's second oldest capital city after Sydney. In 2009, the city had a greater area population of approximately 212,019. A resident of Hobart is known as...
woman Mary Donaldson marries Frederick, Crown Prince of Denmark in CopenhagenCopenhagenCopenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
to become Mary, Crown Princess of DenmarkMary, Crown Princess of DenmarkMary, Crown Princess of Denmark, Countess of Monpezat, is the wife of Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark... - 25 May – Jetstar AirwaysJetstar AirwaysJetstar Airways is an Australian low-cost airline headquartered in Melbourne, Australia. It is a subsidiary of Qantas, created in response to the threat posed by low-cost airline Virgin Blue...
commences operations with a maiden flight from NewcastleNewcastle, New South WalesThe Newcastle metropolitan area is the second most populated area in the Australian state of New South Wales and includes most of the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie Local Government Areas...
to LauncestonLaunceston, TasmaniaLaunceston is a city in the north of the state of Tasmania, Australia at the junction of the North Esk and South Esk rivers where they become the Tamar River. Launceston is the second largest city in Tasmania after the state capital Hobart...
via Melbourne. - 1 June – Australian Jennifer HawkinsJennifer HawkinsJennifer Hawkins is an Australian beauty queen, model and television presenter best known as Miss Universe 2004 and the face of Australian department store Myer.-Early life:...
wins the Miss UniverseMiss UniverseMiss Universe is an annual international beauty contest that is run by the Miss Universe Organization. The pageant is the most publicized beauty contest in the world with 600 million viewers....
contest, held in QuitoQuitoSan Francisco de Quito, most often called Quito , is the capital city of Ecuador in northwestern South America. It is located in north-central Ecuador in the Guayllabamba river basin, on the eastern slopes of Pichincha, an active stratovolcano in the Andes mountains...
, EcuadorEcuadorEcuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...
. - 3 June – United States PresidentPresident of the United StatesThe President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
George W. BushGeorge W. BushGeorge Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
publicly supports Prime Minister John HowardJohn HowardJohn Winston Howard AC, SSI, was the 25th Prime Minister of Australia, from 11 March 1996 to 3 December 2007. He was the second-longest serving Australian Prime Minister after Sir Robert Menzies....
and criticises Opposition Leader Mark LathamMark LathamMark William Latham , an author and former Australian politician, was leader of the Federal Parliamentary Australian Labor Party and Leader of the Opposition from December 2003 to January 2005....
, sparking criticism from the Opposition for intervening in Australian domestic politics. - 5 July – Australia and ThailandThailandThailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
sign a free tradeFree tradeUnder a free trade policy, prices emerge from supply and demand, and are the sole determinant of resource allocation. 'Free' trade differs from other forms of trade policy where the allocation of goods and services among trading countries are determined by price strategies that may differ from...
agreement. - 9 August – Richard ButlerRichard Butler (diplomat)Richard William Butler AC has served as an Australian diplomat, a United Nations weapons inspector and the Governor of Tasmania.-Life and career:...
, the controversial governorGovernors of the Australian statesThe Governors of the Australian states are the representatives of the Queen of Australia in each of that country's six states. The Governors perform the same constitutional and ceremonial functions at the state level as does the Governor-General of Australia at the national level...
of TasmaniaTasmaniaTasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...
, resigns. - 29 August – John HowardJohn HowardJohn Winston Howard AC, SSI, was the 25th Prime Minister of Australia, from 11 March 1996 to 3 December 2007. He was the second-longest serving Australian Prime Minister after Sir Robert Menzies....
announces that the 2004 federal election will take place on 9 October - 9 September – A bomb blast2004 Jakarta embassy bombingThe 2004 Australian embassy bombing took place on 9 September 2004 in Jakarta, Indonesia.A one-tonne car bomb, which was packed into a small Daihatsu delivery van, exploded outside the Australian embassy at Kuningan District, South Jakarta, at about 10:30 local time , killing 9 people including...
outside the Australian embassy in JakartaJakartaJakarta is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Officially known as the Special Capital Territory of Jakarta, it is located on the northwest coast of Java, has an area of , and a population of 9,580,000. Jakarta is the country's economic, cultural and political centre...
, IndonesiaIndonesiaIndonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
, kills eleven people and injures up to 100 people. - 9 October – The Liberal Party of AustraliaLiberal Party of AustraliaThe Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office...
government of John HowardJohn HowardJohn Winston Howard AC, SSI, was the 25th Prime Minister of Australia, from 11 March 1996 to 3 December 2007. He was the second-longest serving Australian Prime Minister after Sir Robert Menzies....
is returned for a fourth term at the 2004 federal election. - 12 October – Simon CreanSimon CreanSimon Findlay Crean is an Australian politician, and the current Minister for the Arts and Minister for Regional Australia, Regional Development and Local Government in the Australian Federal Government. He was leader of the Australian Labor Party and Leader of the Opposition at the Federal level,...
resigns from the position of Shadow Treasurer, requesting a lesser portfolio, and John FaulknerJohn FaulknerJohn Philip Faulkner is an Australian politician. He has been a Labor member of the Australian Senate since 1989, representing the state of New South Wales. Following a period serving on various Senate Committees and as Deputy Whip, he was a Minister in the Keating Labor government 1993-96...
resigns as Leader of the Opposition in the Senate in the aftermath of the Australian Labor PartyAustralian Labor PartyThe Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...
's election loss. - 12 October – Numerous Australians visit KutaKutaKuta is administratively a district and subdistrict/village in southern Bali, Indonesia. A former fishing village, it was one of the first towns on Bali to see substantial tourist development, and as a beach resort remains one of Indonesia's major tourist destinations...
, BaliBaliBali is an Indonesian island located in the westernmost end of the Lesser Sunda Islands, lying between Java to the west and Lombok to the east...
, to commemorate the second anniversary of the Bali bombing, with services being held across the nation. - 14 October – Annette EllisAnnette EllisAnnette Louise Ellis , Australian politician, was a Labor Party member of the Australian House of Representatives from March 1996 to August 2010, representing the Division of Namadgi 1996–98 and the Division of Canberra from 1998 to 2010.In the 1996 federal election she contested Namadgi against...
stands down as Shadow Minister for Ageing, Seniors and Disabilities. - 14 October – The successful tenderer for MelbourneMelbourneMelbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
's Mitcham-Frankston Freeway is announced, with tolls due to be set at $4.43 for a one way trip. - 26 November – a riot occurred on Palm IslandPalm Island, QueenslandPalm Island is an Aboriginal community located on Great Palm Island, also called by the Aboriginal name "Bwgcolman", an island on the Great Barrier Reef in North Queensland, Australia The settlement is also known by a variety of other names including "the Mission", Palm Island Settlement or Palm...
leading to a complete break down of law and order with the 18 members of the Queensland PoliceQueensland PoliceThe Queensland Police Service is the law enforcement agency responsible for policing the Australian state of Queensland. In 1990, the Queensland Police Force was officially renamed the Queensland Police Service and the old motto of "Firmness with Courtesy" was changed to "With Honour We Serve"...
barricading themselves in the local hospital.
Arts and literature
- ARIA Music Awards of 2004ARIA Music Awards of 2004The 18th Annual Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards were held on 17 October 2004 at the Sydney Superdome within the Sydney Olympic Complex...
- Shirley HazzardShirley HazzardShirley Hazzard is an Australian author of fiction and nonfiction. She was born in Australia, but holds citizenship in Great Britain and the United States...
's novel The Great FireThe Great Fire (novel)The Great Fire is the 2003 National Book Award winning novel by the Australian author Shirley Hazzard. It also won a 2004 Miles Franklin literary award.-Overview:The New Yorker wrote of the novel:Hazzard is nothing if not discriminating...
wins the Miles Franklin AwardMiles Franklin AwardThe Miles Franklin Literary Award is an annual literary prize for the best Australian ‘published novel or play portraying Australian life in any of its phases’. The award was set up according to the will of Miles Franklin , who is best known for writing the Australian classic My Brilliant Career ... - Laurie DugganLaurie DugganLaurence "Laurie" James Duggan is an Australian poet, editor, and translator.-Life:Laurie Duggan was born in Melbourne and attended Monash University, where his friends included the poets Alan Wearne and John A. Scott. Both he and Scott won the Monash Poetry Prize...
is awarded the Australian Literature Society Gold Medal for Mangroves. - Brian CastroBrian CastroBrian Albert Castro is an Australian novelist and essayist.-Biography:Castro was born in Hong Kong and has lived in Australia since 1961. He is of Portuguese, Chinese, and English descent. Currently he is Chair of Creative Writing at the University of Adelaide....
's novel Shanghai Dancing wins the Christina Stead Prize for fictionNew South Wales Premier's Literary AwardsThe New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards were established in 1979 by the New South Wales Premier Neville Wran. Commenting on its purpose, Wran said: "We want the arts to take, and be seen to take, their proper place in our social priorities...
. - Annamarie JagoseAnnamarie JagoseAnnamarie Jagose is a queer writer of academic and fictional works. She gained her PhD in 1992, and worked in the Department of English with Cultural Studies at the University of Melbourne before returning to New Zealand in 2003, where she is currently Professor in the Department of Film,...
's novel Slow WaterSlow Water-Awards:*Miles Franklin Literary Award, 2004: shortlisted*Victorian Premier's Literary Award, The Vance Palmer Prize for Fiction, 2004: winner*Montana New Zealand Book Awards, Deutz Medal For Fiction, 2004: winner-Reviews:*...
wins the Vance Palmer Prize for FictionVance Palmer Prize for FictionThe Vance Palmer Prize for Fiction is a component of the annual Victorian Premier's Literary Award and is valued at A$30,000. Most Australian state premiers present annual Australian literary awards to promote Australian writing in all its forms. The award is named after Vance Palmer...
.
Film
- 28 February – Central City Studios, a five-studio film production complex, opens in the Melbourne DocklandsMelbourne DocklandsDocklands is an inner city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia occupying an area extending up to 2 km west of and adjacent to Melbourne's Central Business District . Its Local Government Area is the City of Melbourne...
. - 29 February – Adam ElliotAdam ElliotAdam Elliot is an independent stop-motion animation writer and director based in Melbourne, Australia. His five films have collectively participated in over six-hundred film festivals and have received over one hundred awards, including an Oscar for Harvie Krumpet and the Annecy Cristal for Mary...
's short animated film Harvie KrumpetHarvie KrumpetHarvie Krumpet is an Australian clay animation made in Melbourne written, directed and animated by Adam Elliot and produced by Melanie Coombs. This short film won the Academy Award for Animated Short Film in 2003, in addition to numerous festival awards and the 2004 Australian Film Institute Best...
wins the 2003 Academy Award76th Academy AwardsThe 76th Academy Awards ceremony honored the best films of 2003 and was broadcast from the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, California on ABC beginning at 5:30 p.m. PST/8:30 p.m. EST, February 29, 2004 . The show was produced by Joe Roth and was hosted for the eighth time by comedian Billy Crystal.The...
for Animated Short FilmAcademy Award for Animated Short FilmThe Academy Award for Animated Short Film is an award which has been given by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as part of the Academy Awards every year since the 5th Academy Awards, covering the year 1931-32, to the present....
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Television
- 1 January – AustraliaAustralian televisionTelevision in Australia began experimentally as early as 1929 in Melbourne with stations 3DB and 3UZ using the Radiovision system by Gilbert Miles and Donal McDonald, and later from other locations, such as Brisbane in 1934....
's first DigitalDigital televisionDigital television is the transmission of audio and video by digital signals, in contrast to the analog signals used by analog TV...
commercial free-to-air channel, Tasmanian Digital TelevisionTasmanian Digital TelevisionTasmanian Digital Television is a digital television station in Tasmania, Australia. It is jointly owned by the WIN Corporation and Macquarie Media Group, and largely managed by WIN Television.-Introduction:...
begins broadcasting in Hobart as a supplementary broadcaster to existing broadcasters Southern Cross Tasmania & WIN Television. On the same day, WIN TEN goes on air in the Mount GambierMount Gambier, South AustraliaMount Gambier is the largest regional city in South Australia located approximately 450 kilometres south of the capital Adelaide and just 17 kilometres from the Victorian border....
& Riverland regions of South AustraliaSouth AustraliaSouth Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
as a supplementary broadcaster to existing solusRegional television in AustraliaRegional television is a term given to local television services in areas outside of the five main Australian cities .-1960s:...
broadcaster WIN TelevisionWIN TelevisionWIN Television is an Australian television network owned by the WIN Corporation that is based in Wollongong, New South Wales. WIN commenced transmissions on 18 March 1962 as a single Wollongong-only station, and has since expanded to 24 owned-and-operated stations with transmissions covering a...
. - February – Deal or No Deal debuts its 5.30pm timeslot on SevenSeven NetworkThe Seven Network is an Australian television network owned by Seven West Media Limited. It dates back to 4 November 1956, when the first stations on the VHF7 frequency were established in Melbourne and Sydney.It is currently the second largest network in the country in terms of population reach...
. - February – Top-rating game show Wheel Of FortuneWheel of Fortune (Australian game show)Wheel of Fortune was an Australian television game show produced by Grundy Television. The programme aired on the Seven Network from 1981 to 2004 and November 2005 to July 2006, and is mostly based on the same general format as the original US version of the programme...
makes a super international revamp and a super new-look over to continue its long-run on Seven Local TV. - 15 March – FoxtelFoxtelFoxtel is an Australian pay television company, operating cable, direct broadcast satellite television and IPTV services. It was formed in 1995 through a joint venture established between Telstra and News Corporation....
launches its new digital service, Foxtel Digital. - April – After 18 years at SBSSpecial Broadcasting ServiceThe Special Broadcasting Service is a hybrid-funded Australian public broadcasting radio and television network. The stated purpose of SBS is "to provide multilingual and multicultural radio and television services that inform, educate and entertain all Australians and, in doing so, reflect...
, Margaret PomeranzMargaret PomeranzMargaret Pomeranz AM is an Australian film critic and television personality.-Early life:Pomeranz was born in 1944 in Waverley, a suburb of Sydney, and was educated at the Presbyterian Ladies' College, Sydney in Croydon, the then newly opened Macquarie University, and the Playwright's Studio at...
& David StrattonDavid StrattonDavid James Stratton is an English- Australian film critic and television personality.-Life and career:Born in Trowbridge, Wiltshire, England in 1939, Stratton was sent to Hampshire to see out the war years with his grandmother, an avid filmgoer, where he was taken to the local cinemas regularly...
announce their resignation from the station to move to the ABCAustralian Broadcasting CorporationThe Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...
to present a new program, At the Movies. Four younger presenters replace them on The Movie ShowThe Movie ShowThe Movie Show is an Australian film review program that airs on SBS TV. Its history falls into three parts.-Original format:The original format, which ran from 30 October 1986 to 12 May 2004, had two presenters, David Stratton and Margaret Pomeranz. Stratton and Pomeranz left for the ABC in early...
– Megan SpencerMegan SpencerMegan Spencer is an Australian documentary film maker who specializes in the 'guerrilla video' style of documentary portraiture. Based in Bendigo, she is also a prominent film critic, journalist and radio presenter.-Biography:...
, Fenella KerneboneFenella KerneboneFenella Kernebone is an Australian radio and television presenter, based in Sydney.Kernebone was just three months old when her family moved to Homebush, New South Wales, in Sydney’s west. She was educated at the Presbyterian Ladies' College, Sydney in Croydon, New South Wales...
& Jaimie LeonarderJaimie LeonarderJaimie Leonarder also known as Jay Katz is an Australian musician, archivist, social worker, film critic, radio announcer, and DJ.-Biography:...
with Marc FennellMarc Fennell- Film reviewing :In 2002, Fennell was a winner of the first AFI Young Film Critics Competition. He then became the film critic and reporter for Sydney radio station FBi Radio from 2003-2006....
presenting a segment on newly released DVDDVDA DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
s. - 26 July – Broken HillBroken Hill, New South Wales-Geology:Broken Hill's massive orebody, which formed about 1,800 million years ago, has proved to be among the world's largest silver-lead-zinc mineral deposits. The orebody is shaped like a boomerang plunging into the earth at its ends and outcropping in the centre. The protruding tip of the...
resident Trevor ButlerTrevor ButlerTrevor Butler was the winner of Big Brother Australia 2004. As well as being the first, and currently the only, contestant to win $1,000,000, as opposed to the $250,000 of previous seasons, he also boosted interest in the final eviction by proposing to his then-girlfriend Breea Forrest live on the...
proposes to his girlfriend immediately after winning A$Australian dollarThe Australian dollar is the currency of the Commonwealth of Australia, including Christmas Island, Cocos Islands, and Norfolk Island, as well as the independent Pacific Island states of Kiribati, Nauru and Tuvalu...
1,000,000 on Big Brother - 21 November – 16 year old Casey DonovanCasey Donovan (singer)-Australian Idol :Donovan transferred to the Australian Institute of Music in Sydney's Surry Hills in 2004 and it was in this year that her stepfather encouraged her to audition for the second season of Australian Idol...
wins the second series of Australian IdolAustralian IdolAustralian Idol is a Logie Award-winning Australian singing competition, which began its first season on July 2003 and ended its run in November 2009. As part of the Idol franchise, Australian Idol originated from the reality program Pop Idol, which was created by British entertainment executive...
defeating 21 year old favourite, Anthony CalleaAnthony CalleaAnthony Cosmo Callea is an Australian singer-songwriter who rose to prominence in the 2004 season of Australian Idol when he became runner up. He was signed to Sony Music Australia until 2009 and is now an independent artist... - 11 December – The Network TenNetwork TenNetwork Ten , is one of Australia's three major commercial television networks. Owned-and-operated stations can be found in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth, while affiliates extend the network to cover most of the country...
is the next Australian televisionAustralian televisionTelevision in Australia began experimentally as early as 1929 in Melbourne with stations 3DB and 3UZ using the Radiovision system by Gilbert Miles and Donal McDonald, and later from other locations, such as Brisbane in 1934....
network to introduce a watermark on its programs, although the watermark was broadcast on Ten News. It was located on the bottom left of the screens by TEN-10TEN-10TEN is the callsign of Network Ten's flagship Sydney television station. It was originally owned and operated by United Telecasters Sydney Limited , and began transmission on 5 April 1965 with the highlight of the opening night being the variety special TV Spells Magic.-History:TEN often lagged in...
Sydney before switching to bottom right in 2006.
Ending this year:
- November – Burke's BackyardBurke's BackyardBurke's Backyard is an Australian gardening and lifestyle program, broadcast on both radio and television. On television, it was a regular weekly series on the Nine Network from 1987 to 2004.- History :...
(1987–2004) - November – Australia's Funniest Home Video ShowAustralia's Funniest Home Video ShowAustralia's Funniest Home Videos is an Australian television show on the Nine Network that presents home videos sent in by viewers.The show is similar in content to You've Been Framed and America's Funniest Home Videos,...
(1990–1999, 2000–2004) (program comes back as Australia's Funniest Home Videos and revamps a new-look and new theme in 2005.)
Sport
- 6 January – Australian captain Steve WaughSteve WaughStephen Rodger "Steve" Waugh, AO is a former Australian cricketer and fraternal twin of cricketer Mark Waugh. A right-handed batsman, he was also a successful medium-pace bowler...
retires from Test cricketTest cricketTest cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...
, playing his last match against India at the Sydney Cricket GroundSydney Cricket GroundThe Sydney Cricket Ground is a sports stadium in Sydney in Australia. It is used for Australian football, Test cricket, One Day International cricket, some rugby league and rugby union matches and is the home ground for the New South Wales Blues cricket team and the Sydney Swans of the Australian... - 26 February – First day of the Australian Track & Field Championships for the 2003–2004 season, which are held at the Sydney Olympic ParkSydney Olympic ParkSydney Olympic Park is a suburb in western Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Sydney Olympic Park is located 16 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Auburn Council....
in Homebush. - 24 March – Sydney KingsSydney KingsThe Sydney Kings are a professional basketball team competing in the Australasian National Basketball League. They are the only team to date to win three consecutive championships in the NBL and currently sit third behind the Adelaide 36ers and Melbourne Tigers two away from the record five wins...
defeat West Sydney RazorbacksWest Sydney RazorbacksThe Sydney Spirit were a professional basketball team competing in the Australasian National Basketball League...
90-79 in Game 5 of the best-of-five NBLNational Basketball League (Australia)The National Basketball League, also known as the iiNet NBL Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in Australasia....
Grand Final series, becoming champions for the second time. - 4 April – Minor Premiers Perth Glory defeat Parramatta PowerParramatta PowerParramatta Power were a football team which was based in western Sydney. They played in the National Soccer League from season 1999/2000 until the league folded in 2004. The Power were runners up to Perth Glory in the 2003/04 season of the NSL after Perth made the Grand Final look easy in...
1-0 at Parramatta StadiumParramatta StadiumParramatta Stadium is a sports stadium situated in Parramatta, New South Wales, Australia.The stadium is used primarily as the home ground of Australian National Rugby League club the Parramatta Eels...
in the last ever NSLNational Soccer LeagueThe National Soccer League is the former national association football competition in Australasia, overseen by Soccer Australia and later the Australian Soccer Association. The NSL spanned 28 seasons from its inception in 1977, until its demise in 2004...
Grand Final, becoming National Champions for the second year in succession. - At the Olympic GamesOlympic GamesThe Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...
in AthensAthensAthens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
, Greece, rower Sally RobbinsSally RobbinsSally Robbins is an Australian rower, who was a member of Australia's 2004 Summer Olympics Women's Eight.Sally Robbins was involved in an infamous incident in the 2004 Olympics final held on 22 August. The team was third through the first 1000 metres but had dropped back to fifth with 500 metres...
collapses as the team is set to win bronze, relegating them out of the medals. She is mocked by the press & her teammates afterwards. - August – Australia brings home 49 medals, including a record 17 gold medalGold medalA gold medal is typically the medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture...
s, from the 2004 Summer Olympics2004 Summer OlympicsThe 2004 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad, was a premier international multi-sport event held in Athens, Greece from August 13 to August 29, 2004 with the motto Welcome Home. 10,625 athletes competed, some 600 more than expected, accompanied by 5,501 team...
. - 28 August – The Sydney SwiftsSydney SwiftsThe Sydney Swifts were an Australian netball team, playing in the national Commonwealth Bank Trophy. They were based out of Acer Arena and Sydney Olympic Park Sports Centre in the suburb of Homebush. Following the 2003 demise of the Sydney Sandpipers, the Swifts were the only team representing the...
defeat the Melbourne PhoenixMelbourne PhoenixThe Melbourne Phoenix were an Australian netball team. They were one of two teams representing the city of Melbourne, Victoria in the national Commonwealth Bank Trophy. They have been replaced by the Melbourne Vixens in the ANZ Championship...
52-51 in the Commonwealth Bank TrophyCommonwealth Bank TrophyThe Commonwealth Bank Trophy was the pre-eminent national netball competition in Australia from 1997 to 2007.It was established in 1997 as a true national league to replace the ailing, state club-based Mobil League. Designed from the beginning to be more marketable to the general public, it saw...
netballNetballNetball is a ball sport played between two teams of seven players. Its development, derived from early versions of basketball, began in England in the 1890s. By 1960 international playing rules had been standardised for the game, and the International Federation of Netball and Women's Basketball ...
grand final. - 12 September – Daniel Green wins the men's national marathon title, clocking 2:23:06 in Sydney, while Jenny Wickman claims the women's title in 2:55:09.
- 25 September – The Port Adelaide Power (17.11.113) defeat the Brisbane LionsBrisbane LionsThe Brisbane Lions is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League . The club is based in Brisbane, Queensland. The club was formed from the merger of the Brisbane Bears and the Fitzroy Lions in 1996...
(10.13.73) to win the 108th VFL/AFLAustralian Football LeagueThe Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...
premiership. It is the first AFLAustralian Football LeagueThe Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...
premiership for Port Adelaide & the first grand final loss for Brisbane. - 3 October – The Canterbury BulldogsCanterbury BulldogsThe Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Belmore, a suburb in the Canterbury-Bankstown region of Sydney. They compete in the National Rugby League premiership, as well as New South Wales Rugby League junior competitions...
defeat the Sydney RoostersSydney RoostersThe Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney. The club competes in the National Rugby League and is one of the oldest and most successful clubs in Australian rugby league history, having won twelve New South Wales Rugby League...
16-13 to win the 97th NSWRL/ARLAustralian Rugby LeagueThe Australian Rugby League is the governing body for the sport of rugby league in Australia. It is made up of state bodies, including the New South Wales Rugby League and the Queensland Rugby League...
/NRLNational Rugby LeagueThe National Rugby League is the top league of professional rugby league football clubs in Australasia. The NRL's main competition, called the Telstra Premiership , is contested by sixteen teams, fifteen of which are based in Australia with one based in New Zealand...
premiership. It marks a successful end to a controversial season for the Bulldogs, in which they were accused of sexual assault while in Coffs HarbourCoffs Harbour, New South Wales-History:By the early 1900s, the Coffs Harbour area had become an important timber production centre. Before the opening of the North Coast Railway Line, the only way to transport large items of heavy but low value, such as timber, was by coastal shipping. This meant sawmillers on the North Coast...
. The behaviour from some of their fans at times also put the club in hot water. - 10 October – Greg MurphyGreg MurphyGreg Murphy is a racing driver, best known as a four-time winner of the Bathurst 1000. Greg Murphy joined Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond presenting Top Gear, when it had its first international Live show at ASB Showgrounds in Auckland from February 12 - 15th 2009, and again when the show...
and Rick KellyRick KellyRick Kelly is a current V8 Supercar racing driver, currently living in Melbourne, Victoria. He is the younger brother of former Bathurst 1000 champion, Todd Kelly...
take back-to-back victories by winning the Bob Jane T-marts Bathurst 10002003 Bob Jane T-Marts 1000The 2003 Bob Jane T-Marts Bathurst 1000 was the seventh running of the Australia 1000 race, first held after the organisational split over the Bathurst 1000 that occurred in 1997...
for the K-mart Racing Team. It was the sixth consecutive win for HoldenHoldenGM Holden Ltd is an automaker that operates in Australia, based in Port Melbourne, Victoria. The company was founded in 1856 as a saddlery manufacturer. In 1908 it moved into the automotive field, before becoming a subsidiary of the U.S.-based General Motors in 1931...
, extending the longest winning streak for a manufacturer in the races history. - 29 October – Test cricketTest cricketTest cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...
: AustraliaAustralian cricket teamThe Australian cricket team is the national cricket team of Australia. It is the joint oldest team in Test cricket, having played in the first Test match in 1877...
wins the third test against IndiaIndian cricket teamThe Indian cricket team is the national cricket team of India. Governed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India , it is a full member of the International Cricket Council with Test and One Day International status....
, winning the Border-Gavaskar TrophyBorder-Gavaskar TrophyThe Border–Gavaskar Trophy is a Test cricket series, played between India and Australia. It has witnessed some of the most competitive Test series played in recent years, with results usually either being a narrow win for one of the sides or a closely fought draw...
, and winning the first away test series against India since 1969. - 2 November – Makybe DivaMakybe DivaMakybe Diva is a British-bred, Australian-trained Thoroughbred who became the first racehorse to win the famed Melbourne Cup on three occasions: 2003, 2004, and 2005. In 2005, she also won the Cox Plate. Makybe Diva is the highest stakes-earner in Australasian horse racing history, with winnings...
wins the Melbourne CupMelbourne CupThe Melbourne Cup is Australia's major Thoroughbred horse race. Marketed as "the race that stops a nation", it is a 3,200 metre race for three-year-olds and over. It is the richest "two-mile" handicap in the world, and one of the richest turf races...
horse racingHorse racingHorse racing is an equestrian sport that has a long history. Archaeological records indicate that horse racing occurred in ancient Babylon, Syria, and Egypt. Both chariot and mounted horse racing were events in the ancient Greek Olympics by 648 BC...
event. It is the second consecutive MelbourneMelbourneMelbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
Cup win for the mare.
Deaths
- 19 January – David HookesDavid HookesDavid William Hookes was an Australian cricketer, broadcaster and coach of the Victorian cricket team. An aggressive left-handed batsman, Hookes usually batted in the middle order...
, 48, cricketCricketCricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
er - 16 February – Shirley StricklandShirley StricklandShirley Barbara Strickland AO, MBE , later Shirley de la Hunty, was an Australian athlete. She won more Olympic medals than any other Australian in running sports.-Family:...
, 78, athlete, three-time Olympic champion - 24 March – Rupert HamerRupert HamerSir Rupert James Hamer, AC, KCMG, ED , generally known until he was knighted in 1982 as Dick Hamer, Australian Liberal Party politician, was the 39th Premier of Victoria, serving from 1972 to 1981.-Early years:...
, 87, former PremierPremiers of the Australian statesThe Premiers of the Australian states are the de facto heads of the executive governments in the six states of the Commonwealth of Australia. They perform the same function at the state level as the Prime Minister of Australia performs at the national level. The territory equivalents to the...
of VictoriaVictoria (Australia)Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively.... - 19 April – Tim BurstallTim BurstallTim Burstall was an Australian film director, writer and producer, best known for the motion picture Alvin Purple....
, 76, film director and producer - 26 May – Gatjil DjerrkuraGatjil DjerrkuraGatjil Djerrkura OAM was an Aboriginal leader and indigenous spokesman in the Northern Territory and Australia.He was a senior elder of the Wangurri Aboriginal clan of the Yolngu people...
, 54, indigenous leader, Chairman of ATSIC - 20 June – Jim BaconJim BaconJames Alexander Bacon, AC was Premier of Tasmania from 1998 to 2004.-Early life:Bacon was born in Melbourne; his father Frank, a doctor, died when Jim was twelve, leaving him to be raised by his mother Joan. He was educated at Scotch College and later at Monash University, but he did not graduate....
, 54, former Premier of TasmaniaTasmaniaTasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart... - 7 July – Xiaokai YangXiaokai YangXiaokai Yang was a Chinese-Australian economist. He was one of the world's preeminent theorists in economic analysis, and an influential campaigner for democracy in China....
, 55, economist - 12 July – George Mallaby, 64, actor
- 17 August – Thea AstleyThea AstleyThea Astley was an Australian novelist and short story writer. She was a prolific writer who was published for over 40 years from 1958. At the time of her death, she had won more Miles Franklin Awards, Australia's major literary award, than any other writer...
, 78, novelist - 22 August – Marcel CauxMarcel CauxMarcel Caux, born Harold Katte , was an Australian First World War veteran and the last known survivor of the Battle of Pozières....
, 105, First World WarWorld War IWorld War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
veteran, last known survivor of the Battle of PozièresBattle of PozièresThe Battle of Pozières was a two week struggle for the French village of Pozières and the ridge on which it stands, during the middle stages of the 1916 Battle of the Somme. Though British divisions were involved in most phases of the fighting, Pozières is primarily remembered as an Australian battle... - 4 September – Walter Campbell, 83, Governor of Queensland
- 11 October – Keith MillerKeith MillerKeith Ross Miller MBE was an Australian Test cricketer and a Royal Australian Air Force pilot during World War II. Miller is widely regarded as Australia's greatest ever all-rounder. Because of his ability, irreverent manner and good looks he was a crowd favourite...
, 84, cricketCricketCricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
er, Australian rules footballAustralian rules footballAustralian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...
er, fighter pilot and journalist - 1 November – Marie TehanMarie TehanMarie Therese O'Brien Tehan was an Australian parliamentarian and lawyer....
, 64, Victorian health minister - 6 November – Johnny WarrenJohnny WarrenJohn Norman Warren, MBE, OAM was an Australian football player, coach, administrator, writer and broadcaster. He was known as Captain Socceroo for his passionate work to promote the game in Australia...
, 61, football (soccer)Football (soccer)Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
player, coach and ethnic community advocate - 8 November – Eddie CharltonEddie CharltonEdward Francis Charlton AM was an Australian professional snooker and English billiards player. He remains the only player to have been world championship runner-up in both snooker and billiards without winning either title...
, 78, snookerSnookerSnooker is a cue sport that is played on a green baize-covered table with pockets in each of the four corners and in the middle of each of the long side cushions. A regular table is . It is played using a cue and snooker balls: one white , 15 worth one point each, and six balls of different :...
player - 19 November – Mulrunji, 36, Indigenous Australian resident of Palm IslandPalm Island, QueenslandPalm Island is an Aboriginal community located on Great Palm Island, also called by the Aboriginal name "Bwgcolman", an island on the Great Barrier Reef in North Queensland, Australia The settlement is also known by a variety of other names including "the Mission", Palm Island Settlement or Palm...
who controversially died in custody2004 Palm Island death in custodyThe 2004 Palm Island death in custody incident relates to the death of Palm Island, Queensland resident, Mulrunji on Friday, 19 November 2004 in a police cell. The death of Mulrunji led to civic disturbances on the island and a legal, political and media sensation that continued for three years...
. - 20 November – Janine HainesJanine HainesJanine Haines, AM , Australian politician, was the first female federal parliamentary leader of an Australian political party. An Australian Democrat, she was also the first member of that party to enter the federal parliament after the party's formation...
, 59, Australian DemocratsAustralian DemocratsThe Australian Democrats is an Australian political party espousing a socially liberal ideology. It was formed in 1977, by a merger of the Australia Party and the New LM, after principals of those minor parties secured the commitment of former Liberal minister Don Chipp, as a high profile leader...
senator - 4 December – June MastonJune MastonJune Elaine Maston was an Australian sprinter and athletics coach from New South Wales...
, 76, sprinter and athletics coach - 26 December – Troy BroadbridgeTroy BroadbridgeTroy Broadbridge was an Australian rules footballer with the Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League .-Melbourne career :...
, 24, Australian rules footballAustralian rules footballAustralian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...
er, killed in the Indian Ocean Tsunami