1998 In Australia ,
Other Events Of 1999 ,
2000 In Australia
- March 27 - The ALP government of Bob Carr is re-elected comfortably in New South Wales .
- April 15 - A massive Hailstorm hits Sydney , with most of the damage being centred on the Eastern Suburbs . One person is killed, several others are injured, 15,000 homes lose power & the damage bill tops $190 million.
- May 11 - The Biotechnology industry receives a record $ 800 million in the federal budget.
- May 21 - Eight decaying bodies are found in barrels in a disused bank vault north of Adelaide , marking the beginning of the Snowtown Murders case, which were Australia 's worst ever Serial Killing s. More bodies were found underneath a house in Adelaide on May 26 .
- June 27 - The GST bill is passed through the Senate , with the help of most of the Australian Democrats , in exchange for exemptions on fresh food.
- June 30 - Tim Fischer retires as federal leader of the National Party & is replaced by John Anderson The Next Day .
- July 27 - The Swiss canyoning disaster takes place at Saxetenbach Gorge near Interlaken in Switzerland . 21 tourists, 14 of them Australian, are killed.
- August 26 - The Prime Minister creates a controversy when he avoids the use of the word 'sorry' when a motion was tabled in Parliament expressing 'deep & sincere regret that Indigenous Australians suffered injustices under the practises of past generations'.
- August 30 - East Timor votes for independence from Indonesia . In the violence that follows, Australia is a major contributor of Peacekeeping forces.
- September 18 - In a shock result, Steve Bracks & the Labor Party form a Minority Government with three rural independents to oust the ruling Liberal /National Coalition government of Jeff Kennett in Victoria .
- November 3 - The Reserve Bank announce an Interest Rate increase of 0.25%, the first since 1994 .
- November 6 - A Referendum is held to determine whether Australia should become a Republic & whether a Preamble is inserted into the Constitution recognising the Aborigines as Australia's first people. The 'no' vote scores 54% on the Republic question & 60% on the Preamble question. The 'no' vote on the Republic question is blamed on the attention surrounding how a President would be chosen, not on the actual issue of Australia becoming a republic & almost no attention whatsoever on the preamble question.
- November 14 - In response to the growing number of Illegal Immigrants , most of whom arrived by Boat , the government allows Police to board vessels in International Waters . On November 23 , Refugees were barred from seeking Asylum in they had lived somewhere else for more than seven days or had the right to live somewhere else.
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