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2001 in Australia

See also: 2000 in Australia, other events of 2001, 2002 in Australia

Incumbents

• Monarch - Queen Elizabeth II
• Governor General - Sir William Deane, then Peter Hollingworth
• Prime Minister - John Howard
• Premier of New South Wales - Bob Carr
• Premier of South Australia - John Olsen, then Rob Kerin
• Premier of Queensland - Peter Beattie
• Premier of Tasmania - Jim Bacon
• Premier of Western Australia - Richard Court, then Geoffrey Gallop
• Premier of Victoria - Steve Bracks
• Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory - Gary Humphries, then Jon Stanhope
• Chief Minister of the Northern Territory - Denis Burke, then Clare Martin

Events

• January 1 - A ceremony at Uluru (Ayers Rock) and a parade in Sydney kick off a year of celebrations to mark the centenary of federation.
• February 10 - In Western Australia, the Liberal Party/National Party coalition government of Richard Court is voted out and replaced by the Australian Labor Party (ALP), led by Geoff Gallop
• February 27 - The Labor government of Peter Beattie is comfortably re-elected for a second term in Queensland, despite a scandal that broke out weeks before the election that involved breaches of the Electoral Act by several MPs, including the Deputy Premier.
• July - Anglican Archbishop of Brisbane Dr Peter Hollingworth is sworn in as Governor-General of Australia. He would later resign amidst controversy over his handling of child sex cases during his time as Archbishop.
• July 20 - Australian citizen Vivian Solon is unlawfully deported to the Philippines by the Department of Immigration.
• August 18 - For the first time since self government was granted to the Northern Territory in 1978, the Country Liberal Party is voted out of office and replaced by the ALP
• August 24 - The Tampa crisis begins when the MV Tampa tries to help a boatload of refugees, mainly from Afghanistan. The crisis is resolved when New Zealand aggress to take some of the refugees and countries such as Nauru and Papua New Guinea agree to take the rest. This was known as the Pacific Solution.
• October - Australia agrees to provide 1550 troops to the US operation in Afghanistan.
• October 19 - SIEV-X, an Indonesian fishing boat en-route to Christmas Island, carrying over 400 asylum seekers, sank in international waters with the loss of 353 people.
• October 20 - The Legislative Assembly election in the Australian Capital Territory results in the Labor Party coming to power for the first time since 1995.
• November 10 - In the wake of the September 11 attacks and the Tampa crisis, the Liberal/National coalition government of John Howard is re-elected for a third term in office. Kim Beazley resigns as opposition leader and is replaced by Simon Crean.
• December 25–January 6 - Bushfires rage across New South Wales. No-one is killed.
• December 26 — the south coast tornado occurs during the 2001 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race.

Arts and literature

• ARIA Music Awards of 2001

Film

• October 4 - The Australian film Lantana debuts.
• The Hard Word

Television

• January 1 - Digital Television arrives in the major state capitals of Australia, with the ABC and SBS permitted to operate multi-channel services.
• April 24 - The Australian version of Big Brother premieres on Network Ten.
• September 11 - Television networks relay coverage from CNN, NBC, ABC America and the BBC for up to 48 hours in the wake of the September 11 attacks.
• November - After Prime Television axes Regional television news bulletins in Newcastle, Wollongong and Canberra, and Southern Cross Ten axes regional bulletins in Canberra and North Queensland, the ABA holds an inquiry into the adequacy of regional news services. Bulletins eventually return to those areas in 2004, albeit in the form of two minute updates during weekdays in the ratings season.
• December - After 21 years, Sale of the Century is "rested". It later returns to the Nine Network as Temptation in 2005.

Sport

• March 23 – First day of the Australian Track & Field Championships for the 2000-2001 season, which are held at the ANZ Stadium in Brisbane, Queensland. The 5,000 metres (men and women) were conducted at the Hobart Grand Prix, Tasmania on Sunday March 11, 2001. The 10,000 metres (men and women) were conducted at the Zatopek Classic, Melbourne on Monday December 4, 2000.
• June 1 – Australia shock reigning world champions France 1-0 in a group stage game in the Confederations Cup. The Socceroos later go on to claim 3rd place in the tournament, by beating superpower Brazil 1-0.
• June 3 – Wollongong Wolves defeat Minor Premiers South Melbourne 2-1 in the NSL Grand Final at Parramatta Stadium, becoming Champions for the second season in succession.
• July 1 - Allan Langer makes a spectacular comeback to Australian rugby league to lead the Queensland State of Origin team to a 40-14 victory over their New South Wales counterparts at ANZ Stadium, in what was supposed to be Brad Fittler's last representative game.
• August 31 - The Sydney Swifts defeat the Adelaide Thunderbirds 57-32 in the Commonwealth Bank Trophy netball grand final.
• September 29 - The Brisbane Lions (15.18.108) defeat the Essendon Bombers (12.10.82) to win the 105th VFL/AFL premiership. It is the first of three consecutive premierships for Brisbane & until March 2007, the last ever game of Australian rules football broadcast on the Seven Network.
• September 30 - The Newcastle Knights defeat the Parramatta Eels 30-24 to win the 94th NSWRL/ARL/NRL premiership. It is the second premiership for the Knights & the first grand final played at night.
• October 7 - Mark Skaife and Tony Longhurst survive a late race challenge from Brad Jones and John Bowe to win the V8Supercar Bathurst 1000 for the Holden Racing Team.
• October 28 - Borislav Devic wins the men's national marathon title, clocking 2:29:11 in Sydney, while Krishna Wood claims the women's title in 2:38:11.
• November 6 - Sheila Laxon becomes the first female trainer to win the Melbourne Cup when Ethereal wins.
• November 25 - The Socceroos lose 0-3 to Uruguay in the 2nd leg of the CONMEBOL-OFC playoff & fail to qualify for the 2002 FIFA World Cup on aggregate.

Births

Deaths

• February 25 - Donald Bradman (b. 1908), cricketer and businessman
• August 5 - Christopher Skase (b. 1948), businessman and fugitive
• August 29 - Graham "Shirley" Strachan (b. 1952), singer & television presenter
• September 1 - Foster Neil Williams (b. 1922), Australian Rules footballer and coach