January
2 - Worst bushfire in South Australia in three decades begins in Adelaide Hills - injures 134, destroys 27 homes.
15 - Federal government abandons plan to cut Medicare rebate paid to GPs for short consultations.
18 - Golfer Robert Allenby reportedly bashed, robbed and kidnapped in Hawaii.
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26 - Labor stalwart Tom Uren dies at 93.
26 - Tony Abbott knights Prince Philip, sparking leadership speculation.
26 - Domestic violence campaigner Rosie Batty named Australian of Year.
28 - High Court rules government acted legally in detaining 157 Tamil asylum seekers aboard Customs boat.
29 - Author Colleen McCullough dies aged 77.
31 - Labor sweeps to victory in Queensland. Premier Campbell Newman loses seat, quits politics.
February
1 - Journalist Peter Greste freed after 400 days in Egyptian prison.
3 - Two electrical contractors die, two badly burned in Perth shopping centre explosion.
9 - Abbott remains PM after move to call leadership spill defeated 61-39.
9 - Surfer Tadashi Nakahara dies after great white shark attack near Ballina; 13 other non-fatal attacks, predominantly in northern NSW.
14 - Nationwide recall of Nanna berries after Hepatitis A linked to berries from China.
18 - US Court of Military Commission Review strikes down David Hicks' March 2007 conviction for supporting terrorism.
23 - Disgraced entertainer Rolf Harris stripped of Australian honours.
16 - Seventy greyhound trainers in Victoria, NSW and Qld implicated in live baiting; 24 suspended, three later jailed.
20 - Cyclone Marcia hits central Queensland, damaging at least 1000 homes.
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March
3 - Australia to send 300 more troops to Iraq to train local forces.
3 - Abbott declares $5 GP co-payment "dead, buried and cremated".
5 - Rugby league star Karmichael Hunt, 28, fined $30,000 for cocaine possession.
13 - Australian jihadi Jake Bilardi, 18, dies carrying out suicide-bombing attack in Iraq.
20 - Former PM Malcolm Fraser dies aged 84.
20 - Lindt cafe reopens three months after siege in which two of 17 hostages and gunman Man Haron Monis are killed.
24 - Two Australians among 150 killed in Germanwings plane crash in French Alps.
26 - Data retention laws require phone and internet providers to store metadata for two years.
30 - Former National Gallery of Australia director Betty Churcher dies aged 84.
April
6 - Prince Harry starts month-long secondment at Royal Military College, Duntroon.
7 - Federal Court rules internet providers must disclose details of those who illegally downloaded Dallas Buyers Club.
8 - Three of four children die when car driven by their mother plunges into Melbourne lake. Mother survives.
8 - Abbott announces national task force after revelations of ice use and related suicides in Navy.
10 - Cricket legend Richie Benaud dies of skin cancer, aged 84.
21 - Three dead as floods wash away houses in Dungog, NSW.
25 - Centenary of Anzac landings marked with ceremonies in Australia, NZ and at Anzac Cove, Turkey.
26 - Australian Renu Fotadar one of 19 killed at Everest Base Camp in avalanche triggered by earthquake.
29 - Bali Nine ringleaders Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran executed on Nusakambangan Island, Indonesia.
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May
6 - Richard Di Natale becomes Greens leader following shock resignation of Christine Milne.
14 - Johnny Depp's wife Amber Heard brings pet dogs Pistol and Boo into Australia illegally; Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce says they should "bugger off" to LA.
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June
1 - Former Victorian Premier Joan Kirner dies aged 76.
3 - NRL star Daly Cherry-Evans reneges on Gold Coast Titans agreement; accepts $10m offer to stay at Manly.
5 - Businessman and former Australian of the Year Alan Bond dies in Perth hospital aged 77.
9 - Ute crashes into cafe in Ravenshoe, Qld; explosion kills two, injures 18.
10 - Noor Ellis jailed for 12 years for ordering murder of Bali-based Australian husband Robert Ellis.
11 - Rupert Murdoch steps down as CEO of 21st Century Fox in favour of son James.
16 - Chancey Luna, 17, jailed for life for shooting murder of Australian baseballer Chris Lane in Oklahoma.
17 - Champion distance runner and former Gold Coast mayor Ron Clarke dies aged 78.
22 - Government orders inquiry into ABC after former terrorism suspect Zaky Mallah appears on Q&A program.
23 - Australian IS recruit Mohamed Elomar reportedly killed in Iraq; doubts remain about Khaled Sharrouf's death.
30 - Inmates riot at Melbourne's Metropolitan Remand Prison over introduction of smoking ban.
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July
3 - Volcanic ash cloud strands Bali holiday-makers; flights disrupted several times through year.
3 - Adelaide Crows coach Phil Walsh stabbed to death during domestic dispute; son Cy charged with murder.
6 - Summit of 40 indigenous leaders, Abbott, Shorten on possible 2017 referendum for constitutional recognition.
8 - Federal government conditionally approves Watermark open-cut coalmine near Gunnedah, NSW, sparking intense opposition.
8 - Queensland thrashes NSW 52-6 in State of Origin series decider.
9 - Iron ore prices plunge to fresh six-year low as commodity gets caught up in fallout from China market volatility. Fall intensifies through remainder of year.
13 - Royal commission into family violence begins hearings in Melbourne.
14 - Indonesia cuts quarterly Australian cattle imports to 50,000 from previous 250,000.
15 - Brisbane estate agent Gerard Baden-Clay jailed for life for murder of wife Allison - later downgraded to manslaughter on appeal.
19 - Millions watch live as Australian surfer Mick Fanning escapes shark during competition at Jeffreys Bay, South Africa.
21 - Federal WA Liberal MP Don Randall, 62, found dead in car after suspected heart attack.
29 - Russia vetos UN Security Council draft resolution to prosecute those suspected of downing flight MH17 in Ukraine.
August
2 - Bronwyn Bishop resigns as Speaker after chartering helicopter from Melbourne to Geelong for Liberal fundraiser. Later replaced by Tony Smith.
6 - Plane wing part washed up on Reunion Island confirmed as from MH370.
6 - Jobless tops 800,000 for first time in 20 years.
6 - Hutchison Ports sacks 94 workers via SMS and email, triggering strikes at Brisbane and Sydney ports.
9 - Test cricket captain Michael Clarke retires after losing Ashes in England; Steve Smith takes over.
12 - CBA profit $9.1 billion - record for Australian bank.
13 - James Packer stands down as Crown Resorts chairman.
16 - Jason Day wins first major - US PGA at Whistling Straits, Arizona.
18 - Rocker Jimmy Barnes and family narrowly escape Bangkok bombing that kills 20.
19 - Bankrupt whistleblower Kathy Jackson ordered to pay HSU $1.4 million after court finds she misused union money.
20 - Hackers expose personal information from cheating website Ashley Madison.
20 - Seven men stopped from boarding flights allegedly to join terrorists in Middle East.
30 - Legendary racehorse trainer Bart Cummings dies aged 87.
31 - Unions royal commissioner Dyson Heydon rules he will not step aside over speaking engagement at Liberal fundraiser.
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September
9 - Australian refugee intake increased by 12,000 in response to humanitarian crisis in Syria and Iraq.
14 - Tony Abbott ousted 54-44 in party-room spill; Malcolm Turnbull becomes 29th prime minister.
14 - Jarryd Hayne plays first NFL game for San Francisco 49ers.
16 - Australian fighter jets hit IS targets inside Syria for first time.
19 - Former SAS captain Andrew Hastie wins by-election for federal seat of Canning, WA.
21 - Turnbull drops Joe Hockey from ministry; appoints Scott Morrison as Treasurer and Marise Payne as first female defence minister.
22 - South Sydney NRL players Aaron Gray, Dylan Walker lucky to survive overdose on prescription painkillers.
24 - Government commits $100 million to boost domestic violence services.
October
2 - Police accountant Curtis Cheng shot dead outside NSW Police HQ by 15-year-old schoolboy Farhad Khalil Mohammad Jabar, who is killed by police.
3 - Hawthorn beats West Coast by 46 points to win third straight AFL premiership.
4 - North Queensland Cowboys beat Brisbane Broncos 17-16 in first NRL golden-point grand final.
6 - Australia and 11 other countries form Trans-Pacific Partnership.
7 - Volkswagen says more than 77,000 diesel vehicles sold in Australia fitted with emissions-cheating software.
7 - High Court rules breast cancer gene BRCA1 is not a patentable invention.
8 - Brian Loughnane resigns as Liberal Party federal director.
8 - Commission of inquiry says 2011 flood in Queensland town of Grantham, which killed 12, was freak act of nature.
13 - Investigators find Russian-made missile brought down MH17 over Ukraine.
21 - Remains of two-year-old girl dumped in suitcase on SA roadside identified as Khandalyce Pearce, five years after mother's body found in Belanglo State Forest, NSW. Daniel James Holdom, 41, later charged with murders.
28 - Modern-day "bushrangers" Gino and Mark Stocco arrested at remote NSW property after eight years on run.
31 - All Blacks beat Wallabies 34-17 at Twickenham to win third Rugby World Cup title.
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November
3 - Michelle Payne becomes first female jockey to win Melbourne Cup, on 100-1 outsider Prince of Penzance.
7 - Trade union royal commission clears Bill Shorten of wrongdoing during time at helm of Victorian AWU.
8 - Detainees riot at Christmas Island following death of asylum seeker Fazel Chegeni after he escaped from detention centre.
10 - Prince Charles and Duchess of Cornwall begin six-day tour of SA, NSW and WA.
13 - Hobart woman Emma Parkinson, 19, injured in Paris terrorism attacks that kill about 130 people.
17 - Four die in bushfires north of Esperance, WA.
17 - Father-and-son trainers Lee and Shannon Hope disqualified for three and five years for intentionally administering cobalt to racehorses.
21 - Two Australians among seven dead in helicopter crash at Fox Glacier, New Zealand.
25 - Bushfire kills two trapped in car north of Adelaide.
26 - Australia moves to new five-tier terrorism threat advisory system.
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December
3 - Dumped former Liberal minister Ian Macfarlane flags switch to Nationals, who later block his membership.
3 - Government strikes deal with Greens to push multinational tax-avoidance laws through parliament.
4 - Two die of drug overdoses at Stereosonic music festivals in Sydney and Adelaide.
5 - Ship carrying 25 tonnes of French radioactive waste arrives in Wollongong - waste later moved to Lucas Heights.
5 - Liberal staffer Trent Zimmerman wins Hockey's seat of North Sydney.
7 - Turnbull unveils $1.1 billion innovation package designed to drive "ideas boom" in Australia.
8 - Hockey appointed ambassador to Washington.
12 - Foreign Minister Julie Bishop among signatories to global climate agreement after two-week summit in Paris.
13 - Illness prevents Cardinal George Pell from leaving Rome to make third appearance at royal commission into institutional sexual abuse. Commission hearings continue throughout year.
13 - Former SA premier John Bannon dies aged 72.
15 - BHP-Billiton shares sink to 10-year low as benchmark S&P/ASX200 index drops below 5,000.
15 - Budget deficit rises to projected $37.4 billion.
15 - Bodies found in burnt-out van in Mexico confirmed as missing WA surfers Dean Lucas and Adam Coleman, both 33.
16 - Tornado with record wind speeds up to 213km/hr sweeps through Sydney's southeast, destroying dozens of houses.
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- Compiled by Sasi Nair and Selina Day
