1384.6 - Statistics - Tasmania, 2007
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 13/09/2002
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The 1990s were characterised by the following:
1990 April Launceston businessman Edmund Rouse stood trial and pleaded guilty to attempting to bribe Tasmanian Labor MHA Jim Cox, and Anthony Aloi pleaded guilty to helping in the attempt. October The Labor-Green Accord dissolves when the Government announced its adoption of the Forests and Forest Industry Strategy. October 28 World Rowing Championships held at Lake Barrington. December 22 The Sea Cat Tasmania, built locally by Incat, begins summer crossings of Bass Strait between George Town and Port Welshpool. 1991 Freedom of Information legislation passes. January Thousands of sheep culled due to glut in wool trade. July Port Huon pulp mill closes. September Savings Bank Tasmania and Tasmania Bank combine to begin trading as the Trust Bank. Pioneer’s Electrona silicon smelter closes. September 18 Governor Island, Nine Pin Point and Tinderbox Marine Reserves proclaimed. 1992 February 1 Liberal Party wins State election with Ray Groom sworn in as Premier. May Inaugural Targa Tasmania automobile rally held. May 4 Aborigines occupy Risdon Cove in protest over land claims. May 29 Final phase of King River Power scheme officially opened. November 6 Royal Hobart Hospital nursing school closes, marking the end of hospital-based nursing training in the State. December 15 Industrial relations legislation, giving workers the choice of working under the existing award system or switching to enterprise agreements, causes a wave of protests and strikes. December 21 The ordination of seven women as Anglican priests takes place at St David’s Cathedral, Hobart. 1993 February Christine Milne (Tasmanian Greens) becomes the first female leader of a political party in Tasmania. May 8 Mrs Jill Tabbart is commissioned as the first woman president of the Tasmanian Council of Churches. November 3 Henty Gold mine launched. November The Spirit of Tasmania begins the Bass Strait passenger ferry crossing. 1994 HMAS Huon naval base decommissioned. Controversial Heemskirk to Zeehan link road commenced. May 13 The Tribute power station, part of the Anthony power development, opened. October 9 Grounding of the catamaran ferry Condor II on Black Jack Rocks, south of Hobart. 1995 July 11 Grounding of the bulk ore-carrier Iron Baron on Hebe Reef off Tamar River causes an oil spill requiring a massive clean-up operation. September 15 Legislation regulating the growing marine farm industry passes in the Living Marine Resources Management Act and the Marine Farming Planning Act. October 17 The Premier announces legislation to transfer 3,800 ha of land of cultural significance to the Aboriginal community, including Oyster Cove and Risdon Cove. November 14 Threatened Species Protection Act passed. December Announcement made that an aluminium and welding fabrication school is to be established to provide skilled labour force to Incat. December 8 Inland Fisheries Act and Historic Cultural Heritage Acts passed. 1996 Legislative Council electoral boundary reform results in 19 more evenly sized electorates. February 24 State election returns Liberal Government. April 28 Gunman Martin Bryant fires on residents, visitors and staff at Port Arthur Historic site, killing 35 people and injuring 21 more. July 5 Tioxide Australia Pty Ltd ceases operations. August 30 Firearms Act 1996 passes regulating the possession, use, registration and licensing of firearms. November 13 Mole Creek Karst National Park established, with final approval of Parliament. 1997 January 1 Electronic gaming machines introduced into hotels and clubs. March Repeal of two old laws which together criminalised all male homosexual activity. July 1 Removal of operational subsidies for community-based childcare centres. July 26 The Royal Hobart Hospital announces that it is to be partly privatised. July 30 A joint Commonwealth-State inquiry headed by Hon. Peter Nixon OA into the Tasmanian economy and its prospects released, recommending a major reduction in the number of State MPs and an overhaul of the State bureaucracy. July 31 Coats Patons Mill, Launceston closes. August 13 Premier Tony Rundle, on behalf of the Tasmanian community, formally apologises to the Aboriginal people for past actions relating to the ‘stolen generation’, and reaffirms support for reconciliation. Tasmania is the first State to offer such an apology. September 19 Official opening of Hobart’s Aquatic Centre. October 1 South Bruny National Park proclaimed. October 25 Golden Triangle Resources propose a magnesite mine and smelter in the north-west. October 26 The Anson makes its last voyage from the E.Z. (Pasminco) Company’s works to dump jarosite at sea. November 8 A Regional Forests Agreement between the Commonwealth and State Government is signed amid a wave of protest from environmentalists. November 21 The controversial Oceanport development, Hobart, declared as a project of State significance. December 4 Macquarie Island gets World Heritage listing. 1998 January Widespread water shortages experienced throughout the State due to a very dry summer. January 18 Bushfires in Hobart suburbs destroy 6 houses and burn 3,000 hectares. February Anti-logging forest protests begin at Mother Cummings Peak. March 17 Official opening of Hydro Tasmania's wind farm at Huxley Hill on King Island, the State's first major commercial wind power project. March 20 Hobart and Launceston airports sold by Federal Government. April 9 Patrick Stevedores stand down 30 waterside workers in Burnie as part of national cutbacks. Industrial unrest ensues with picket lines erected on the Burnie wharves. The men return to work in May following a High Court decision against the company. April Legislation passed giving the go-ahead to the disaggregation of the Hydro-Electric Commission into three separate bodies, namely Aurora Energy Pty Ltd, Transend Network Ltd and the HEC. May Despite a number of sightings of escaped foxes in Tasmania over the past 30 years, the case of a fox that entered the State on a container ship in Burnie in May 1998 receives much publicity. Should the fox become established in the State, nearly all of Tasmania's native land animals will be at risk. May 27 Nurses in public hospitals impose workbans which last until an industrial agreement is reached in September. May 30 Crest Resources Australia announces plans for a proposed magnesite mine and refinery plant in the north-west. June 27 Plans for a new Concert Hall for the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra announced. July 1 Yolla Consortium reports finding commercial quantities of gas in Bass Strait. July 14 Premier Rundle announces an early State election, seeking approval for privatisation of the HEC. July 23 An engine room fire strands the Antarctic supply vessel Aurora Australis in ice, marking the start of a series of mechanical failures which disrupt operations of the vessel over the next 6 months. July 24 Federal Government funding for the restoration of the old Abt railway (Strahan to Queenstown) announced. July 27 The Parliamentary Reform Act passes to cut the number of Members of Parliament from 54 to 40. August 3 Three councils (Devonport City, Central Midlands and Southern Midlands) take legal action to stop local government elections following the announcement of the Local Government Board’s proposed council amalgamation program. The Supreme Court finds that the proposed changes are beyond the provisions of the Local Government Act. August 10 Re-opening of Launceston Coats Patons mill commenced by the Tasmanian Wool Company. August 29 Labor wins State election with Jim Bacon becoming Premier. September 16 Ansett announce plans to cease domestic flights to Hobart and Launceston, with its subsidiary Kendell Airlines taking over the routes. September 23 Floods in the north; Deloraine is particularly hard hit. October The Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra commences its international tour of China. October 23 Australian Paper Mills’ (A.P.M.) Burnie pulp mill closes its operations. November 2 The Government announces support for Basslink, a $500m project to build an undersea power cable across Bass Strait to link Tasmania to the National Electricity Grid. Basslink will also provide Tasmania's second fibre-optic telecommunications cable. December Stormy weather and massive seas cause the loss of 6 lives during the Sydney-Hobart yacht race, making it the most tragic in the race’s history. 1999 January A spate of rioting and vandalism by prisoners at Risdon Gaol, Hobart, erupts, lasting two weeks. World Cup Swimming held at Tattersall's Hobart Aquatic Centre. February 26 The Queen Alexandra Hospital building, Hobart, handed over to private operators on a lease agreement. March Local government elections held. Legislation passed handing Wybalenna, Flinders Island, over to the Aboriginal community. March 18 Official opening of the Port Arthur Visitor Centre. April 13 A Parliamentary Inquiry into forced adoptions during the 1950s and 1960s announced. April 20 The proposed Oceanport development, Hobart abandoned in light of findings outlined in a Resource Planning and Development Commission report. May 12 The first 200 ethnic Albanian refugees from Kosovo arrive in Tasmania where they are housed at the Brighton Military Barracks (re-named the Tasmanian Peace Haven). May 16 Golden Triangle Resources announce they may abandon Tasmania as a site for a magnesite refinery in favour of Victoria. May 19 Tasmanian Seamounts Marine Reserve (Australia’s first deep sea reserve) is proclaimed. May 26 Financial pressures temporarily close the Hobart YMCA, but a joint rescue plan between the State Government and the Glenorchy City Council is announced in June. June Commonwealth Government announces that a further part of Telstra would be sold and the resulting funds deployed as a social bonus package. Tasmania is allocated approximately $150m for a range of specific telecommunications and electronic service delivery-related projects. September 27 The first gold ingot for 85 years is poured from Beaconsfield Mine. October 30 Tasmania votes 'No' in the Republican Referendum. November 13 Five rock lobster fishermen drown off Pineapple Rocks, 300 m south of Bruny Island in Tasmania's worst ever small boating accident. November 16 Colonial Ltd announces it will buy the Trust Bank and its 40 branches. December Hydro Tasmania announces its intention to proceed with Stage 1 of a $200m 130 megawatt multi-stage wind farm at the historic Woolnorth property on the North-West Coast. Pipers Brook Vineyard is named the Australian Exporter of the Year. December 10 Anti-Discrimination Commission Tasmania is established by the Tasmanian Parliament.
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