2000 is to date the last time in which no Federal, State or Territory elections were held and the first time that no general election was held for any house of Parliament since 1942.[1]
Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic releases Care Australia worker Branko Jeken from imprisonment in Serbia.[2]
The National Archives releases 1969 Cabinet documents.[3]
Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Akhtar returns home to Pakistan after the ICC rules that his bowling action during a recent match was illegal.[4]
2 January – A massive oil spill occurs off the coast of Phillip Island, endangering the region's penguin population.[5]
3 January – When Federal Justice Minister, Senator Amanda Vanstone is asked whether alleged Nazi war criminal Konrad Kalejs would be welcome when he arrived in Australia in the coming days, she replies, "Would you expect a situation where any Australian citizen would not be?", an answer which caused much controversy.[6][7]
7 January – Alleged Nazi war criminal Konrad Kalejs returns to Australia, arriving at Tullamarine Airport, Melbourne, and met by a barrage of protesters.[8]
8 January – Queensland Labor Member for Woodridge, Bill D'Arcy resigns from Queensland Parliament due to the controversy caused by the Net Bet scandal.[9][10]
10 January – CASA issues an Airworthiness Directive which grounds all aircraft after being advised the day before that more contaminants had been found in fuel produced at Mobil's Altona refinery in Melbourne.[11][12]
11 January
Australia's biggest ecstasy haul is discovered in Brisbane and seven are arrested.[13]
Another 83 asylum seekers arrive in Darwin.[citation needed]
A commuter train derails in Hornsby, Sydney.[15][16]
12 January – Leonard Fraser is committed to stand trial over the murder of Rockhampton schoolgirl Keyra Steinhardt.[citation needed]
21 January – Former Queensland Labor MP, Bill D'Arcy, is named as the political figure facing child-sex charges. He is committed to the District Court on 49 charges relating to his career as a school teacher.[17][18]
Cyclist Peter Cribb is attacked by a gang of up to ten thugs on the Brisbane Riverside Bikeway and suffers severe brain damage as a result, prompting a widespread ongoing police crackdown on gang violence.[20]
9 February – A 15–year–old Aboriginal boy, who was imprisoned for 28 days for stealing stationery, commits suicide in a Northern Territoryprison, sparking controversy about the mandatory sentencing laws of the Territory and neighbouring Western Australia.[21]
16 February – 21–year–old Jamie Wurramara, who stole $23 worth of biscuits on Christmas Day 1999, is sentenced to a year in jail under the Northern Territory's mandatory sentencing laws, prompting a wave of protests around the nation.[22]
25 February – The Federal Opposition calls on Aged Care Minister Bronwyn Bishop to resign after revelations she waited four weeks to act on reports that elderly residents of the Riverside Nursing Home were given kerosene baths in an effort to rid them of scabies, a skin rash.[23]
29 February – Katherine Knight murders her partner John Price by stabbing him 37 times in Aberdeen, New South Wales. She proceeded to decapitate, skin and cook the victim in a crime that shocked the country.[24]
16 March – A nationwide recall of Herron headache tablets is ordered after a Brisbane doctor and his 18–year–old son are hospitalised with strychnine poisoning.
18 March – Herron offers a $250,000 reward to try to find out who tampered with its paracetamol products. A 32–year–old Brisbane man is subsequently arrested.
20 March – Queensland Premier Peter Beattie announces that State Cabinet has approved a $30 million deal to exclude trawling from 35 percent of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park and reduce the fish catch from the reef by 15 percent.[25]
25 March – Brisbane City Council election - Jim Soorley is elected for a fourth term as Lord Mayor of Brisbane, defeating Liberal candidate Gail Austen.[26]
6 April – Train carriages derail at Redfern, Sydney. No passengers are involved.
10 April – Prime Minister John Howard reaches agreement with the Northern Territory Chief Minister Denis Burke on mandatory sentencing. In exchange for Commonwealth funding, the Territory's laws will be changed to give diversionary programmes as a substitute for jail time to children accused of minor crimes. Police will have discretion to give children who've committed more serious crimes access to these programmes.[27]
27 April – Four elderly people, between the ages of 65 to 88, are hospitalised after catching the potentially fatal Legionnaire's disease at the new Melbourne Aquarium in what became Victoria's worst outbreak of the disease with possible exposure to up to 10,000 people.[28]
10 August – Beginning of the Sydney gang rapes by a group from up to fourteen men.
15 August – Queensland Attorney–General Matt Foley announces that the Government has ordered an independent investigation into allegations of widespread electoral rorting within the Queensland Labor Party.[32]
17 August – It is announced that the current Queensland Assistant Police Commissioner Bob Atkinson will replace Jim O'Sullivan as Police Commissioner when he retires on 31 October.[33]
10 October – It is revealed that Workplace Relations Minister Peter Reith has incurred almost $50,000 on a taxpayer-funded Telecard for a service he says he hasn't used for years, but which he admits he gave to his son.[34]
1 November – Former Queensland Labor MP Bill D'Arcy is found guilty of 18 child sex charges committed while he was a school teacher.[35]
November – New South Wales suffers its worst floods in 40 years, with 240 cm of rain falling in one week.
22 November – Jim Elder resigns as Queensland Deputy Premier, citing allegations of electoral rorting within the Labor Party currently under investigation by the Shepherdson Inquiry.[36]
1 January – The Seven Network introduces a new logo to celebrate the 2000 Sydney Olympics, the first one not to have the 7 inside a circle.
February – Popstars becomes the first Australian reality talent show, earns massive ratings for the Seven Network & leads to Bardot, the end product of the show, becoming the first Australian act to debut at no.1 on the ARIA charts,
September – The Sydney Olympics earn record ratings for Channel 7 with the Olympic Opening & Closing Ceremonies & its continuous coverage.
1 January – Carlton defeats Collingwood in a Millennium special pre–season match
11 January – NRL announces strict penalties for clubs found guilty of breaching salary caps
14 January – Tennis – Mark Philippousis defeats Pete Sampras to win the Colonial Classic Final[37]
Grant Hackett wins 800 metres at the Queensland swimming titles.
24 February – First day of the Australian Track & Field Championships for the 1999–2000 season, which are held at the Stadium Australia in Sydney. The 10,000 metres was conducted at the Melbourne Grand Prix on 2 March 2000.
11 June – Wollongong Wolves come from 3–0 behind at half-time to defeat Perth Glory and win the NSL Grand Final on penalties after the game finished 3–3. The attendance at Subiaco Oval was 43,242, the record attendance in Australian domestic football history until broken in 2006.
15 July – Essendon becomes the first VFL/AFL team to begin a season with nineteen consecutive wins, beating Collingwood's record from 1929.
2 August – Essendon becomes the first team to finish with a 21–1 record; a feat subsequently equalled by Geelongin2008.
2 September – Essendon (19.21.135) defeats Melbourne (11.9.75) to win the 104th VFL/AFL premiership. It is the last occasion until 2010 that the grand final has been an all-Melbourne affair and the last occasion until 2008 that the grand final has been an all-Victorian affair.
^Kremmer, Christopher; Marshallsea, Trevor (2 January 2000). "Care worker set free". The Age. p. 16. Retrieved 6 August 2023.
^Nicholson, Brendan; Daley, Paul; Macdonald, Janine (1 January 2000). "1969 Cabinet papers". The Age. p. 13. Archived from the original on 6 August 2023. Retrieved 6 August 2023.
^Ray, Mark; Wilkins, Phil (1 January 2000). "ICC bans Akhtar". The Age. p. 32. Archived from the original on 6 August 2023. Retrieved 6 August 2023.
^"Showdown - Double election puts Beattie to test". The Sunday Mail. 9 January 2000.
^"ALP loses majority as sick MP quits". The Sydney Morning Herald. Australian Associated Press. 10 January 2000. p. 8. Archived from the original on 6 August 2023. Retrieved 6 August 2023.
^Carney, Shaun; Gordon, Michael; Hudson, Phillip (1 July 2000). "Welcome to GST day one..."The Age. p. 1. Archived from the original on 6 August 2023. Retrieved 6 August 2023.
^"Hindmarsh, Mary (1921–2000)". Dictionary of Women Worldwide: 25,000 Women Through the Ages. 2006. Archived from the original on 20 April 2021. Retrieved 20 April 2021 – via Encyclopedia.com.
