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17 January – Debbie Wardley becomes Australia's first female pilot to take to the skies when she co-pilots a Fokker Friendship on Ansett Flight 232 on the so-called "milk run" from Alice Springs to Darwin.[2] The flight marks the end of a 15-month legal battle with Ansett Airlines to overcome gender-based discrimination which had prevented her from earlier taking the controls.[3]
24 January – The first section of Melbourne's underground railway loop is opened.
30 April – Automotive company Chrysler Australia Limited is taken over by Japanese company Mitsubishi after the American-based Chrysler Corporation sold its Australian subsidiary to the dynamic Japanese automobile manufacturer for $80 million.[15] The declining fortunes of Chrysler's North American operations forced the sale.[15]
23 May – The Australian Olympic Federation announces it will send an Olympic delegation to Moscow, despite objections raised by the prime minister.[18] The tight 6–5 ballot, announced by Federation President Syd Grange at Melbourne's Sheraton Hotel ends speculation about Australia's role following America's boycott of the games.[19] Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser is critical of the decision, expressing hope that the Australian participation would not be interpreted as an endorsement of Soviet policy.[20]
26 June – Australian Richard Thorp, of the United States firm Mitchell, Giurgola and Thorp, wins the competition for the design of the new Parliament House, Canberra.[29]
22 August – Confusion reigns at the inquest into the death of Frank Nugan of the failed Nugan Hand banking group. A letter is produced on the final day of the inquest signed by the secretary to the Commissioner Mr. Justice Woodward, who presided over the Royal Commission into Drug Trafficking, appears to clear Nugan of any involvement with narcotics dealing.
26 September – The Lonie Report in Victoria recommends the closure of half the suburban rail lines, all country passenger rail lines and a number of tram routes.[34] It also recommends huge freeway expansion.[34] The report is controversial and protests cause its recommendations to be moderated.
14 October – Violet Roberts, 52, and Bruce Roberts, 22, are released from prison after serving almost five years of their sentence after being found guilty in March 1976 of murdering their violent husband and father, Eric Leslie Roberts.[41][42][43] The mother and son are "released on licence" just 24 hours after the New South Wales Attorney-General Frank Walker recommended the action to the Department of Corrective Services, following sustained pressure from supporters who argued that the sentences were unduly harsh.[41] The Attorney-General had publicly described the sentences as a miscarriage of justice.[41]
Turkish Consul-General, Şarık Arıyak and his bodyguard, Engin Sever, are shot dead in the street outside the consulate in Dover Heights, Sydney, becoming the victims of Australia's first political assassinations.[52][53] The obscure international terrorist army, the "Justice Commandoes of Armenian Genocide", claim responsibility for the deaths only 20 minutes after the shootings.[52][53]
20 December – A Woolworths store at Orange, New South Wales receives a call from a man threatening to bomb a Woolworths store unless he is paid $1 million.[54]
23 December – Victoria decriminalises homosexual acts between consenting adults, with the Royal Assent of the Crimes (Sexual Offences) Act 1980.[55]
24 December – Woolworths' Town Hall store in the centre of Sydney is devastated by a bomb blast – the chain's third store to be targeted in nine days.[54] Authorities received only 10 minutes' warning of the bombing, which miraculously caused no serious casualties after 2,000 shoppers and staff were evacuated from the area.[54][56]
26 December – Police offer a $250,000 reward for information relating to the recent Woolworths bombings.[54] The reward is the largest ever offered in Australian history.[54]
20 January – ATV-0 becomes ATV-10.[62] This move prompts the 0–10 Network to change its name to Network Ten, although Brisbane's TVQ-0 would continue to broadcast on Channel 0 until 1988. On the same night, Ten's new drama series Arcade premieres. It is regarded as the biggest flop in Australian television history, costing over $3 million to make and being axed after 49 episodes.[63]
24 October – Australia's new multicultural television network SBS is officially opened by Malcolm Fraser as it commences transmission in Sydney & Melbourne on VHF Channel 0 & UHF Channel 28, becoming the first station in Australia to use UHF frequencies.[67]
5 July – Evonne Cawley (née Goolagong) wins the Wimbledon singles for the second time, easily beating the popular American champion Chris Evert-Lloyd 6–1, 7–6 in the final.[68] She becomes the first woman to have won the Wimbledon singles nine years apart and is the first mother ever to take tennis' most coveted prize.[68]
The Canterbury Bulldogs defeat the Eastern Suburbs Roosters (now Sydney Roosters) 18–4 to win the 73rd NSWRL premiership.[71] It is the first premiership for Canterbury since 1942 & the last grand final played on a Saturday.[71] In the process, Steve Gearin scores one of the most spectacular tries in history.[71]Penrith finish in last position, claiming the wooden spoon.[71]
13 December – Illawarra is accepted as the 13th team in the NSWRL premiership for 1982, making them the first team from outside the Sydney metropolitan area to compete in the competition since Newcastle in 1909.[76]
^Turner, Noel (December 2018). "Murders in Melbourne: St Kilda"(PDF). History News. No. 339. Royal Historical Society Victoria. p. 8. On 26 April 1980, they were seen getting into a white utility outside the Faulkner home in Acland Street.
^Isaacs, Victor (2015). "Labour dailies". Australian Society for the Study of Labour History. Retrieved 17 December 2023. In 1936 the Newcastle Morning Herald took over the Newcastle Sun, a lively afternoon paper... The Newcastle Sun closed on 4 July 1980 (after which for a short time there was a Newcastle edition of the Sydney Sun)
^ ab"Dolan next ACTU head". The Canberra Times. 11 September 1980. p. 7. Retrieved 17 December 2023. Mr Hawke, the ALP candidate for the safe Federal seat of Wills has tendered his resignation as president. He will formally leave the ACTU at the end of this month...
^"Lawyer for 'Mr X' and 'Mr Z' not to be heard". The Sydney Morning Herald. 2 October 1980. p. 2. Retrieved 17 December 2023. The Royal Commission into the Federated Ship Painters' and Dockers' Union opened in Melbourne yesterday...
^Mikosza, T.G.; Ascione, J.A. "Australian Rail Freigh Movements 1979-1980"(PDF). p. 15. Although not officially opened until 1979-80, the Northern Region now includes the new standard gauge line from Tarcoola to Alice Springs. This line was opened on 9 October 1980.
^Barton, Russell (3 December 1980). "Home interest, overdraft rates soar". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 1. Mr Howard also said that the Government had decided to lift all controls on the rates that savings and trading banks can offer on deposits
^ abcdefgMolloy, Paul (26 December 1980). "Bomber's target: the toy department on Christmas Eve; Police pin hopes on $¼m reward". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 1. Retrieved 17 December 2023. On December 17, a blast believed to have been caused by a time bomb, caused $300,000 damage to the store at Warilla, a southern suburb of Wollongong. Two days later, another time bomb started a fire which destroyed the Maitland branch, causing damage estimated at more than $300,000.
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