The 80s still saw the Cold War in full swing. After the fiasco of the American Embassy hostage crisis in Iran, Ronald Reagan was elected US President by a landslide. He was a hawkish anti-communist who described the Soviet Union as "an evil empire". The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan also led to a Western boycott of the Moscow Olympics. While people in the West were becoming richer, distress in the Third World was intensified by drought, famine and civil war - which led to the musical phenomena of the Band Aid and Live Aid concerts. After the nuclear disaster at Chernobyl and the discovery of a hole in the Earth's ozone layer, environmental issues began to arouse global anxiety and action. Then in the middle of this decade, we began to witness the dramatic collapse of the "Iron Curtain" and the end of the Cold War. In 1985 Mikhail Gorbachev became the leader of the Soviet Union and his policies of "perestroika" and "glasnost" encouraged democratic movements in Eastern Europe which led to the fall of the Soviet Empire. But while European Communism was dissolving, the move for democracy in China ended with the massacre in Tiananmen Square. This decade also witnessed a number of assassinations (John Lennon in New York, Sadat in Egypt and Indira Gandi in India), war break out between Iran and Iraq, the wedding of Prince Charles and Diana Spencer, an assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II, war in the Falklands between Britain and Argentina and the outbreak of the deadly AIDS virus.

Wedding of Prince Charles and Diana	British paratroopers in the Falklands
Iraqis signal victory	Mikhail Gorbachev
Bob Geldof at Live Aid	Tanks in Tiananmen Square

During the 80s in Australia, governments and businesses were focused on 'competition' and 'productivity'. This led to high unemployment as the government and many companies believed that the best way to be competitive was to have fewer employees and a workforce that worked harder. New technology, such as computers and industrial robots also affected the number of jobs available. The decade was dominated by four events: In 1980 a baby named Azaria Chamberlain disappeared at Ayers Rock. An inquiry into this incident turned into a series of dramatic court cases lasting years. In 1981 the Pitjantjatjara Aboriginal Community of Central Australia won an historic 'Land Rights' decision. In 1987 the crash of the stock market lead to the demise of many high profile business leaders such as Allan Bond and Christopher Skase. In 1988 the Bicentennial of European settlement was celebrated. During the celebrations, a protest march was held in Sydney to commemorate the survival of the Aboriginal people. Aboriginal leaders saw this as the start of a period of 'reconciliation' between European and Aboriginal Australians.

Pitjantjatjara win Land Rights deal	Retrenched men join the dole queues
Lindy and Azaria Chamberlain	Australian stock market crash
Bicentennial celebrations	Australia Day protest march

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simply CLICK on any one of the YEAR PLAQUES listed below.