2007 in Australia

The following lists events that happened during 2007 in Australia.

← 2006 2005 2004 2007 in Australia → 2008 2009 2010
Decades:	1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s
See also:	Other events of 2007 Federal election Timeline of Australian history

Incumbents

John Howard

Kevin Rudd

• Monarch – Elizabeth II
• Michael Jeffery
• Prime Minister – John Howard (until 3 December), then Kevin Rudd
  • Deputy Prime Minister – Mark Vaile (until 3 December), then Julia Gillard
  • Opposition Leader – Kevin Rudd (until 3 December), then Brendan Nelson
• Chief Justice – Murray Gleeson

State and territory leaders

• Premier of New South Wales – Morris Iemma
  • Opposition Leader – Peter Debnam (until 2 April), then Barry O'Farrell
• Premier of Queensland – Peter Beattie (until 13 September), then Anna Bligh
  • Opposition Leader – Jeff Seeney
• Premier of South Australia – Mike Rann
  • Opposition Leader – Iain Evans (until 12 April), then Martin Hamilton-Smith
• Premier of Tasmania – Paul Lennon
  • Opposition Leader – Will Hodgman
• Premier of Victoria – Steve Bracks (until 30 July), then John Brumby
  • Opposition Leader – Ted Baillieu
• Premier of Western Australia – Alan Carpenter
  • Opposition Leader – Paul Omodei
• Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory – Jon Stanhope
  • Opposition Leader – Bill Stefaniak (until 13 December), then Zed Seselja
• Chief Minister of the Northern Territory – Clare Martin (until 26 November), then Paul Henderson
  • Opposition Leader – Jodeen Carney
• Chief Minister of Norfolk Island – David Buffett (until 28 March), then Andre Nobbs

Governors and administrators

• Governor of New South Wales – Marie Bashir
• Governor of Queensland – Quentin Bryce
• Governor of South Australia – Marjorie Jackson-Nelson (until 8 August), then Kevin Scarce
• Governor of Tasmania – William Cox
• Governor of Victoria – David de Kretser
• Governor of Western Australia – Ken Michael
• Administrator of the Australian Indian Ocean Territories – Neil Lucas
• Administrator of Norfolk Island – Grant Tambling (until 7 August), then Owen Walsh
• Administrator of the Northern Territory – Ted Egan (until 31 October), then Tom Pauling

Events

Whole year

• Year of the Surf Lifesaver^[1]

January

• 1 January – An estimated five hundred rioters turn on police in Rye, Victoria.^[2]
• 4 January – Storms lash the town of Esperance, Western Australia. A natural disaster area is declared.^[3]
• 13 January – Youth attending an illegal drag race in the
  Noble Park turn on police throwing flares and trashing a video store.^[4]
• 15 January – The first day of competition at the
  Victorian police.^[5]
• 16 January – Large parts of
  electricity grid.^[6]
• 23 January – John Howard reshuffles his federal cabinet. Such changes include the sacking of the Immigration Minister, Amanda Vanstone.^[7]
• 26 January – Organisers of the Big Day Out in Sydney plead with event-goers not to bring Australian flags with them, fearing outbreaks of racial violence. The plea is ignored, and the day passes without incident.^[8]
• 31 January – A report commissioned by the
  rainfall of up to 40 per cent over the next 70 years.^[9]

• 5 February – The first inquest into the deaths of the Balibo Five begins.^[10]
• 7 February –
  James Hardie announces it has approved long-term compensation arrangements for asbestos victims.^[11]
• 11 February – Prime Minister John Howard causes a diplomatic stir when he publicly criticises U.S. presidential nominee Barack Obama for his plan to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq.^[12]

March

• 3 March – Liberal Senator Ian Campbell resigns his cabinet portfolio as Minister for Human Services after it is revealed that he, like Kevin Rudd, had met with disgraced former Premier of Western Australia, Brian Burke.
• 4 March – At the request of president
  Alfredo Reinhado
  . Four Timorese men are killed in the battle, and Reinhado escapes.
• 6 March – The Australian government approves a proposed A$11.1 billion sale of the national airline Qantas to an international consortium after the Foreign Investment Review Board finds that the sale would not breach foreign ownership laws.
• 7 March – Five Australians are killed when Garuda Indonesia Flight 200 crashes and explodes in Java: a journalist, two Australian Federal Police officers, an Australian embassy official and a foreign aid worker.
• 8 March – Two people are killed when Severe Tropical Cyclone George makes landfall near Port Hedland, Western Australia. A third death occurs three days later when a man dies of head injuries sustained in the cyclone.
• 9 March – Shadow Attorney-General Kelvin Thomson resigns from the Opposition front bench after it is revealed that he wrote a positive character reference for Melbourne gangland figure and fugitive Tony Mokbel six years ago.
• 14 March – An electrical fault on a
  Sydney's CityRail
  train system for nearly three hours, and causes substantial delays during the evening rush hour.
• 16 March – Senator Santo Santoro resigns as Minister for Ageing following a scandal involving his ownership of shares in a company related to his portfolio. He resigns from the Senate on 20 March.
• 18 March – More than 200,000 people walk across the Sydney Harbour Bridge to celebrate its 75th anniversary.
• 23 March – Three people are killed when three trucks and four cars are involved in a major collision and explosion in Melbourne's Burnley Tunnel.
• 23 March – The PlayStation 3 games console is released in Australia, exactly a year after the Australian release of Microsoft's Xbox 360.
• 24 March – The Australian Labor Party and Premier Morris Iemma are returned to power with a reduced majority in the 2007 New South Wales state election. Peter Debnam resigns as Opposition Leader & Barry O'Farrell is elected leader on 4 April.
• 26 March – Australian Guantanamo Bay detainee David Hicks pleads guilty to a charge of providing material support for terrorism before a United States military commission in Cuba.
• 28 March – Four people are killed after a private charter boat collides with a Sydney Harbour ferry.
• 29 March –
  captain, for alleged involvement in the theft and distribution of M72 LAW rocket launchers to criminals.^[13]
• 31 March – Earth Hour, in which Sydneysiders were encouraged to turn off their lights between 7:30 pm and 8:30 pm, takes place.

April

• 2 April – The
  South Pacific Ocean is detected. Precautions are taken, such as the suspension of Sydney Ferries services, but Australia is unaffected. The tsunami, however, causes devastation in the Solomon Islands
  .
• 10 April – Four elderly residents of the Broughton Hall nursing home in Melbourne die after a gastroenteritis outbreak at the home over the Easter weekend. A fifth resident dies in hospital on 16 April.
• 19 April – Prime Minister
  Murray-Darling Basin
  within the next six to eight weeks, Australia will face a major agricultural crisis with no irrigation allocations available to farmers.
• 24 April – Two Australian soldiers are injured when a roadside bomb goes off in Iraq.
• 26 April – Former immigration minister Senator Amanda Vanstone announces her immediate resignation from the Australian Senate. It is announced later that day that Vanstone will take up the position of Australia's Ambassador to Italy in late June.

May

• 20 May – Australian
  Adelaide's Yatala Labour Prison
  .

• 1 June – The Australian Government climate task force releases its report, recommending Australia implement an emissions trading scheme by 2012. Prime Minister John Howard declines to set a target for greenhouse gas reduction until after the 2007 election.^[14]
• 5 June – Eleven people are killed, 12 seriously injured, 50 others wounded and 13 still missing after a
  collides with a truck at a level crossing near Kerang, Victoria.^[15]
• 6 June – Fugitive Tony Mokbel is recaptured in Greece after being missing since March 2006.^[16]
• 8–10 June – Major storms strike New South Wales, killing at least nine people and causing major flooding. The coal freighter Pasha Bulker is forced to run aground on Nobby's Beach, a major Newcastle beach.

^[17][18][19]

• 18 June –
  shoots three people, killing one, and then escapes.^[20]
• 21 June – After the release of a report into child abuse and domestic violence in indigenous communities, the Prime Minister declares the situation a "national emergency" and announces a series of measures (most of which are controversial) to deal with the crisis.
• 25 June – John Laws announces his retirement from radio after a career spanning 54 years.^[21]

July

• 2 July – The Pasha Bulker is refloated after 25 days aground.
• 2 July –
  polio.^[22]
• 3 July – Wesfarmers announces a A$22 billion takeover of the Coles Group in the nation's largest ever corporate takeover.
• 3 July – Dr.
  2007 Glasgow International Airport attack
  .
• 7 July – Sydney Football Stadium in Sydney hosts one of seven global legs of the Live Earth concert series, which aim to promote action on climate change.
• 14 July – Dr.
  2007 Glasgow International Airport attack.^[23]
• 27 July –
  Premier of Victoria.^[24] Deputy Premier John Thwaites also resigns.^[25]
• 27 July – The
  Mohamed Haneef.^[26]
• 30 July – John Brumby and Rob Hulls are elected unopposed as Premier and Deputy Premier of Victoria respectively, following the sudden resignation of Steve Bracks and John Thwaites.

August

• 14 August – The federal
  Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.^[27]
• 15 August – Three journalists (Paul Daley and Michael Brissenden of the ABC, and Tony Wright of The Age and previously The Bulletin) give details of a dinner they attended in 2005 with Treasurer Peter Costello, at which Costello outlined his intention to challenge Prime Minister John Howard for the leadership of the Liberal Party.^[28]
• 19 August –
  Leader of the Opposition Kevin Rudd admits that he once visited New York strip club Scores in 2003.^[29]
• 21 August – The
  Mohamed Haneef on character grounds, although the Australian Government announces it will appeal the decision.^[30]
• 27 August – The Australian Government releases a draft booklet of Australian facts and values from which 20 questions of a citizenship test will be drawn. Applicants for citizenship will be required to score 12 out of 20 (60%) in the test to be eligible.^[31]

September

• 2–9 September – The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation hosts its annual leaders meeting in Sydney. A public holiday was held in the Sydney Metropolitan area on 7 September.
• 10 September –
  Premier of Queensland
• 11 September –
  Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper became the first Canadian Prime Minister, since Canadian Confederation, to address the Parliament of Australia
  .
• 13 September – Anna Bligh is sworn in as Queensland's first female premier.
• 15 September – A three-year-old toddler,
  Qian Xun Xue (nicknamed "Pumpkin" by authorities), is found wandering alone at Melbourne's Southern Cross station
  . Police believe the child had arrived several days before from New Zealand, and that her father had fled to the United States.
• 22 September – The 171-year-old Myer building in Hobart is destroyed by fire.

October

• 4 October – The controversial Gunns Bell Bay Pulp Mill is given the go-ahead by federal Environment and Water Resources Minister Malcolm Turnbull, with some conditions imposed on its development and with the Shadow minister for Environment and Water's backing.^[32]
• 8–11 October – Severe thunderstorms have pounded South-East Queensland and Northern New South Wales, with hailstones the size of tennis balls and destructive winds being recorded in Brisbane, Sunshine Coast, Gold Coast and Lismore.^[33]

November

• 6 November – An Australian children's toy known as Bindeez is recalled and a safety warning is issued after several children who had swallowed the beads were hospitalised suffering the symptoms of ingestion of gamma-Hydroxybutyric acid or GHB. The toys are also recalled in the United States and United Kingdom after several U.S. children suffer the same effects.^[34]
• 9 November – The Assistant Commissioner of Victoria Police, Noel Ashby, resigns, after a long service.
• 21 November – Three days before the federal election, members of the Liberal Party are caught letterboxing the electorate of Lindsay with pamphlets from a bogus Islamic organisation, praising Labor for its support of the Bali bombers. Jackie Kelly, the retiring member for Lindsay whose husband was involved in the scandal, dismissed the incident as a "Chaser-style prank."
• 24 November – A federal election is held. Kevin Rudd is elected as Prime Minister of Australia after the Australian Labor Party wins a majority in the House of Representatives.
• 25 November – Peter Costello indicates he will not run for either Leader or Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party following their electoral defeat.
• 26 November – Clare Martin announces her resignation as Chief Minister of the Northern Territory. Paul Henderson, the Territory's education minister is sworn in as her replacement on the same day.
• 29 November – Brendan Nelson is elected Liberal Leader by 45 votes to 42 over Malcolm Turnbull. Julie Bishop is elected Deputy Leader.

December

• 3 December – On his first day as Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd ratifies the Kyoto Protocol on climate change.
• 11 December – Julia Gillard becomes Acting Prime Minister as Kevin Rudd attends the 2007 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Bali, technically making her Australia's first female prime minister.
• 13 December – Zed Seselja becomes Opposition Leader of the ACT after the resignation of Bill Stefaniak. This follows the expulsion from the party of former Shadow Treasurer Richard Mulcahy on 10 December.
• 21 December – The
  immigration minister Kevin Andrews was wrong to revoke the visa of Indian doctor and terrorism suspect Muhamed Haneef.^[35]

• eco-friendly dwelling is constructed in Northcote, Victoria.^[36]

• 1 March – John Beard wins the 2007 Archibald Prize for his portrait of fellow artist Janet Laurence.
• 13 April – Australian author
  Man Booker Prize.^[37]
• 5 June – Australian crime writer Peter Temple wins the prestigious Duncan Lawrie Dagger Award for his novel The Broken Shore.
• 21 June –
  Miles Franklin Literary Award
• Australian Literature Society Gold Medal for Carpentaria
  .
• Peter Carey's novel Theft: A Love Story wins the Christina Stead Prize for fiction.
• Vance Palmer Prize for Fiction
  .