Australian Bicentenary

The bicentenary of Australia was celebrated in 1988. It marked 200 years since the arrival of the First Fleet of British convict ships at Sydney in 1788.

Tall ship First Fleet re-enactment on Sydney Harbour, Australia Day, 1988. TheAustralian Bicentenary was marked with much ceremony across Australia.

History[edit]

The Australian Bicentennial Authority Official Logo

The bicentennial year of Captain Arthur Phillip's arrival with the 11 ships of the First Fleet in Sydney Harbour in 1788, and the founding of the city of Sydney and the colony of New South Wales. 1988 is considered the official bicentenary year of the founding of Australia.

Skyneedle at World Expo 88, as part of the celebrations for the 1988 Bicentenary

Celebrations[edit]

The Australian Bicentenary was marked by huge pomp and ceremony across Australia to mark anniversary of the arrival of the First Fleet of British ships at Sydney in 1788.^[1] The Australian Bicentennial Authority (ABA) was set up to plan, fund and coordinate projects that emphasized the nation's cultural heritage. State Councils were also created to ensure cooperation between the federal and state governments. The result was a national programme of events and celebrations to commemorate the Bicentenary, including:

• Australia Live, a television special on New Year's Night.
• The arrival of the First Fleet Re-enactment Voyage in Sydney Harbour on Australia Day.
• World Expo 88 in Brisbane, the largest event of these celebrations.
• Australian Bicentennial Exhibition, toured throughout Australia
• all Australian schoolchildren were presented with a Bicentennial "Heritage Medallion"
• the issue by the NSW Department of Motor Transport (from late 1987 to the end of 1988) of over 160,000 commemorative Bicentennial number plates which were sold at a premium.
• the painting of A class locomotive A66 by regional Victorian train operator V/Line in a unique green and gold livery featuring the official ABA Bicentennial Logo and the wording '1788 Australian Bicentennary 1988'.
• Aus Steam '88, a railway display of steam locomotives at Spencer Street Station.

The opening ceremony of the 16th World Scout Jamboree, which took place at midnight on 31 December 1987, was the first official event of Australia's Bicentenary.

On Australia Day, Sydney Harbour hosted a re-enactment of the arrival of the tall ships of the Fleet. The Hawke Government refused to fund the tall ship re-enactment, because it believed this might offend Indigenous Australians.^[2]

On 26 January 1988, more than 40,000 people, including aborigines from across the country, staged the largest march in Sydney since the early 1970s Vietnam Moratorium demonstrations. The protesters marched through Sydney chanting for land rights. The march ended at Hyde Park where several prominent aboriginal leaders and activists spoke, among them Gary Foley.

1988 was also marked by the completion of many unique development projects such as the Bicentennial National Trail and on 9 May of that year, Queen Elizabeth II opened the New Parliament House in Canberra.^[4] As well as this, the modern Darling Harbour precinct was completed and opened, as was the modern Sydney Football Stadium. It was also marked by the creation of one of Australia's most significant art works, the Aboriginal Memorial, which commemorated those Indigenous Australians who died as a result of European settlement.^[5]

Significant improvements to Australian roads were made through the Australian Bicentennial Road Development Program.