1983 saw both Gary and John balancing their workload with the commitments of their respective recent arrivals. However, never the types to stand still and rest on their laurels, the two men knew that they had to take advantage of the professional momentum they had built over the past couple of years. They began to think about and work towards another move, both literal and figurative, that would help them secure the future of their practice for the next two decades.
The following events also occurred in 1983:
– The new Redcliffe Police Station and District Headquarters opened on 19 December;
– Bally Cara Village of Friends Retirement Living Complex opens;
– Bob Hawke defeats Malcolm Fraser in a landslide Federal Election on 5 March, Andrew Peacock subsequently becomes Opposition Leader;
– Soviet embassy official Valery Ivanov is expelled for allegedly attempting to recruit spies in the Federal Government;
– Australia II wins the America’s Cup on 26 September, ending the 132 year reign held by the New York Yacht Club;
– The new Prime Minister goes on national television to denounce any employer that sacks a worker for not showing up for work that day as “a bum”;
– The Australian Dollar is floated by Treasurer Paul Keating;
– The second space shuttle, Challenger, makes a successful maiden voyage, including the first space walk in nine years and the first US female astronaut, Sally K. Ride, as a crew member;
– 125 million Americans tune into the final episode of MASH, an all time viewership record that still stands today;
– The introduction of the compact disc starts a rapid decline of the vinyl record;
– The Big Chill, The Right Stuff, The King of Comedy, Scarface, Eddie Murphy Delirious and Terms of Endearment are released;
Births: Johnathan Thurston (25 April), Billy Slater & Cameron Smith (18 June), Cooper Cronk (5 December)
Deaths: Tennessee Williams (25 February)
