Leader 60th anniversary photos from the 1990s

One project that met many protests involved the demolition of North Cronulla Hotel (Northies).

The hotel, with its popular balcony, closed in 1997 before its redevelopment into a 14-storey apartment complex and modern hotel.

The decade is also remembered for horrific bushfires.

At the start of 1994, a line of fires threatened the townships of Bundeena and Maianbar before 104 homes were lost at Como, Jannali and in the Menai area.

There was further heartbreak three years later when another 10 homes were destroyed at Menai .

The importance of Botany Bay, both in the nation's history and continuing development, was highlighted during the 1990s.

In 1992, Prime Minister Paul Keating threw a switch to start work on the airport's third runway, the second to be built into Botany Bay.

The project was completed in 1994 and two years later a new control tower opened and construction of the Airport Link rail line started.

The bay's historical importance was underlined when National Sorry Day was held for the first time in 1998 on the first anniversary of the release of the Bringing Them Home report into the separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island children from their families.

Ceremonies were held at Kurnell, at schools throughout St George and Sutherland Shire and in Peace Park at Sutherland.

At Kurnell, a proposal was announced to rename Botany Bay National Park. This initiative came to fruition four years later with the addition of the prefix "Kamay" - the name by which the bay was known to Aborigines before European settlement.