Australian Bicentenary

The government instead funded a rival display of Tall Ships which sailed up Australia's east coast and entered Sydney Harbour on the day, and it was felt that this was more acceptable to the Indigenous community.

[5] 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.

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.

Not all events went well with the disastrous Round Australia Yacht Race claiming several lives and being the subject of legal action.

A new musical Manning Clark's History of Australia, directed by John Bell, that was loosely based on the life of historian Manning Clark opened in January at Princess Theatre (Melbourne) to coincide with the Bicentenary, but facing poor reviews and concomitant lack of attendance, closed before the end of February.

It was named Army Tattoo 88 and toured Sydney, Brisbane, Townsville, Darwin, Perth, Adelaide, Hobart, Melbourne and Canberra (although cancelled due to weather).

The theme was the 200 years of military history in Australia Australians: a historical library was published in ten large volumes to mark the bicentenary.

Anglican Church of Australia bishop George Hearn described the celebrations as an "historical absurdity" for its ignorance of 40,000 years of Aboriginal life and culture.

Former Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser had intervened to change the motto to "The Australian Achievement" in order to be more celebratory.

[12] On 26 January 1988, more than 40,000 people, including Indigenous Australians from across the country, staged the largest march in Sydney since the early 1970s Vietnam Moratorium demonstrations.