History of Australia since 1945 Fraser, Hawke re-established a new, universal system of health insurance called Medicare. Hawke and Keating abandoned traditional Labor support for tariffs to protect industry and jobs. They moved to deregulate Australia's financial system and ‘floated’ the Australian dollar. An agreement was reached with trade unions to moderate wage demands and accept more flexible working condition arrangements by accepting tax cuts in return. Ultimately, many of the reforms, continued by successive governments, appear to have been successful in pushing the economy along. The Australian Bicentenary was celebrated in 1988 along with the opening of a new Parliament House in Canberra. The
1988 in motoring a replacement for the Strada-based Regata. Toyota planned to launch their new Lexus brand. Its new brand would concentrate solely on luxury cars, and the LS 400 went on sale in 1989 to compete with the BMW 7 Series and Mercedes-Benz S-Class, powered by a 4.0 V8 engine. 1988 in motoring 1988 in motoring includes developments in the automotive industry throughout the year 1988 by various automobile manufacturers, grouped by country. The automotive industry designs, develops, manufactures, markets, and sells motor vehicles. The newly independent Leyland Bus company was acquired by Volvo Buses. The remaining Rover Group business, which by