1920 in Australia
Encyclopedia
See also:
1919 in Australia
,
other events of 1920,
1921 in Australia
and the
Timeline of Australian history
.
1919 in Australia
1919 in Australia
See also:1918 in Australia,other events of 1919,1920 in Australia and theTimeline of Australian history.-Incumbents:*Monarch – King George V*Governor-General – Sir Ronald Munro-Ferguson*Prime Minister – Billy Hughes-State premiers:...
,
other events of 1920,
1921 in Australia
1921 in Australia
See also:1920 in Australia,other events of 1921,1922 in Australia and theTimeline of Australian history.-Incumbents:*Monarch – King George V*Governor-General – Henry Forster*Prime Minister – Billy Hughes-State premiers:...
and the
Timeline of Australian history
Timeline of Australian history
This is a timeline of Australian history.-BC:*c. 68,000–40,000 BC: Aboriginal tribes are thought to have arrived in Australia.*c. 13,000 BC: Land bridges between mainland Australia and Tasmania are flooded. Tasmanian Aboriginal people become isolated for the next 12,000 – 13,000 years.*c...
.
Incumbents
- MonarchMonarchy in AustraliaThe Monarchy of Australia is a form of government in which a hereditary monarch is the sovereign of Australia. The monarchy is a constitutional one modelled on the Westminster style of parliamentary government, incorporating features unique to the Constitution of Australia.The present monarch is...
– King George VGeorge V of the United KingdomGeorge V was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 through the First World War until his death in 1936.... - Governor-GeneralGovernor-General of AustraliaThe Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia is the representative in Australia at federal/national level of the Australian monarch . He or she exercises the supreme executive power of the Commonwealth...
– Ronald Munro-FergusonRonald Munro-Ferguson, 1st Viscount NovarRonald Craufurd Munro Ferguson, 1st Viscount Novar KT GCMG PC , was a Scottish politician and colonial governor. He served as the sixth Governor-General of Australia , and is considered as probably the most politically influential holder of this post...
(until 6 October), then Henry Forster - Prime MinisterPrime Minister of AustraliaThe Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Australia is the highest minister of the Crown, leader of the Cabinet and Head of Her Majesty's Australian Government, holding office on commission from the Governor-General of Australia. The office of Prime Minister is, in practice, the most powerful...
– Billy HughesBilly HughesWilliam Morris "Billy" Hughes, CH, KC, MHR , Australian politician, was the seventh Prime Minister of Australia from 1915 to 1923....
State premiers
- Premier of New South Wales – William HolmanWilliam HolmanWilliam Arthur Holman was an Australian Labor Party Premier of New South Wales, Australia, who split with the party on the conscription issue in 1916 during World War I, and immediately became Premier of a conservative Nationalist Party Government.-Early life:Holman was born in St Pancras, London,...
(until 12 April), then John StoreyJohn Storey (politician)John Storey was an Australian politician who was Premier of New South Wales from 12 April 1920 until his sudden death in Sydney... - Premier of Queensland – Ted TheodoreTed TheodoreEdward Granville Theodore was an Australian politician. He was Premier of Queensland 1919–25, a federal politician representing a New South Wales seat 1927–31, and Federal Treasurer 1929–30.-Early life:...
- Premier of South Australia – Archibald PeakeArchibald PeakeArchibald Henry Peake was an Australian politician and the 25th Premier of South Australia, serving on three separate occasions in the 1910s.-Early life and career:...
(until 8 April), then Henry BarwellHenry BarwellSir Henry Newman Barwell KCMG was the 28th Premier of South Australia.Born in Adelaide, South Australia, Barwell was educated at St Peter's College and Adelaide University, graduating in law... - Premier of Tasmania – Walter LeeWalter Lee (Australian politician)Sir Walter Henry Lee KCMG was an Australian politician and member of the Tasmanian House of Assembly. He was Premier of Tasmania on three occasions: from 15 April 1916 to 12 August 1922; from 14 August 1923 to 25 October 1923; and from 15 March 1934 to 22 June 1934.Lee was born in Longford in...
- Premier of Victoria – Harry LawsonHarry LawsonSir Harry Sutherland Wightman Lawson KCMG , Australian politician, was the 27th Premier of Victoria.Lawson was born in Dunolly, the son of a Presbyterian clergyman of Scottish descent. He was educated at a local school and then briefly Scotch College in Melbourne. He was a noted Australian rules...
- Premier of Western AustraliaPremier of Western AustraliaThe Premier of Western Australia is the head of the executive government in the Australian State of Western Australia. The Premier has similar functions in Western Australia to those performed by the Prime Minister of Australia at the national level, subject to the different Constitutions...
– James MitchellJames Mitchell (Australian politician)Sir James Mitchell GCMG was the 13th Premier of Western Australia, serving on two occasions, the Lieutenant-Governor of Western Australia for 15 years and the 22nd Governor of Western Australia....
State governors
- Governor of New South Wales – Sir Walter DavidsonWalter Edward DavidsonSir Walter Edward Davidson KCMG was a colonial Administrator and diplomat. He served periods as Governor of the Seychelles, Governor of Newfoundland and as Governor of New South Wales, in which he died in office....
- Governor of Queensland – Sir Hamilton Goold-AdamsHamilton Goold-AdamsMajor Sir Hamilton John Goold-Adams, GCMG, CB was an Irish soldier and colonial administrator who was Governor of Queensland in Australia from 1915 to 1920.-Biography:...
(until 3 February), then Sir Matthew NathanMatthew NathanLieutenant-Colonel Sir Matthew Nathan GCMG, PC was a British soldier and civil servant, who variously served as the Governor of Sierra Leone, Gold Coast, Hong Kong, Natal and Queensland...
(from 3 December) - Governor of South Australia – Sir Henry GalwayHenry GalwayLieutenant-Colonel Sir Henry Lionel Galway, KCMG, DSO was the Governor of South Australia from 18 April 1914 until 30 April 1920....
(until 30 April), then Sir William WeigallWilliam WeigallLieutenant Colonel Sir William Ernest George Archibald Weigall, 1st Baronet KCMG was a British Conservative politician who was Governor of South Australia from 9 June 1920 until 30 May 1922.-Family:...
(from 9 June) - Governor of Tasmania – Sir Francis NewdegateFrancis NewdegateSir Francis Alexander Newdigate Newdegate GCMG was Governor of Tasmania from 1917 to 1920, and Governor of Western Australia from 1920 to 1924....
(until 9 February), then Sir William AllardyceWilliam Lamond AllardyceSir William Lamond Allardyce KCMG was a career British civil servant in the Colonial Office who served as governor of Fiji , the Falkland Islands , Bahamas , Tasmania , and Newfoundland .Allardyce was born near Bombay, India, the son of Georgina Dickson Abbott and Colonel James Allardyce...
(from 16 April) - Governor of Victoria – Sir Arthur Stanley (until 30 January)
- Governor of Western AustraliaGovernor of Western AustraliaThe Governor of Western Australia is the representative in Western Australia of Australia's Monarch, Queen Elizabeth II. The Governor performs important constitutional, ceremonial and community functions, including:* presiding over the Executive Council;...
– Sir William Ellison-MacartneyWilliam Ellison-MacartneySir William Grey Ellison-Macartney, KCMG was a British politician, who also served as the Governor of the Australian states of Tasmania and Western Australia.-Early life:...
(until 9 April)
Events
- 22 January – The national Country Party of AustraliaNational Party of AustraliaThe National Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Traditionally representing graziers, farmers and rural voters generally, it began as the The Country Party, but adopted the name The National Country Party in 1975, changed to The National Party of Australia in 1982. The party is...
is formed. - 20 March – A general election is held in New South WalesNew South WalesNew South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
. The Labor PartyAustralian Labor PartyThe Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...
led by John StoreyJohn Storey (politician)John Storey was an Australian politician who was Premier of New South Wales from 12 April 1920 until his sudden death in Sydney...
defeats the incumbent Nationalist PartyNationalist Party of AustraliaThe Nationalist Party of Australia was an Australian political party. It was formed on 17 February 1917 from a merger between the conservative Commonwealth Liberal Party and the National Labor Party, the name given to the pro-conscription defectors from the Australian Labor Party led by Prime...
. - 2 April – Edward, Prince of WalesEdward VIII of the United KingdomEdward VIII was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth, and Emperor of India, from 20 January to 11 December 1936.Before his accession to the throne, Edward was Prince of Wales and Duke of Cornwall and Rothesay...
arrives in the country to thank Australians for the part they played in World War IWorld War IWorld War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. - 22 April – The High Court of AustraliaHigh Court of AustraliaThe High Court of Australia is the supreme court in the Australian court hierarchy and the final court of appeal in Australia. It has both original and appellate jurisdiction, has the power of judicial review over laws passed by the Parliament of Australia and the parliaments of the States, and...
rules in the case of R v Licensing Court of Brisbane; Ex parte DaniellR v Licensing Court of Brisbane; Ex parte DaniellR v Licensing Court of Brisbane; Ex parte Daniell 28 CLR 23 is a High Court of Australia case about inconsistency between Commonwealth and State legislation, which is dealt with by s 109 of the Australian Constitution...
, that simultaneous obedience was impossible in cases where federal and state law were inconsistent, and that according to the Constitution of AustraliaConstitution of AustraliaThe Constitution of Australia is the supreme law under which the Australian Commonwealth Government operates. It consists of several documents. The most important is the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Australia...
, in such cases the state law is invalid. - 1 June – Adelaide has its wettest June day on record form a vigorous cold front with 53.6 millimetres setting the scene for the wettest winter on record in the Murray-Darling BasinMurray-Darling BasinThe Murray-Darling basin is a large geographical area in the interior of southeastern Australia, whose name is derived from its two major rivers, the Murray River and the Darling River. It drains one-seventh of the Australian land mass, and is currently by far the most significant agricultural...
and second-wettest for all of southern Australia. - 10 June – PerthPerth, Western AustraliaPerth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
has its highest daily rainfall until 1992 with 99.1 millimetres from a vigorous cold front - 10 August – The Princes HighwayPrinces HighwayThe Princes Highway extends from Sydney to Port Augusta via the coast through the states of New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia, a distance of 1941 km or 1898 km via the former alignments of the highway ....
is officially opened. - 31 August – The High Court of AustraliaHigh Court of AustraliaThe High Court of Australia is the supreme court in the Australian court hierarchy and the final court of appeal in Australia. It has both original and appellate jurisdiction, has the power of judicial review over laws passed by the Parliament of Australia and the parliaments of the States, and...
rules in the case of Amalgamated Society of Engineers v Adelaide Steamship Co. Ltd.Amalgamated Society of Engineers v Adelaide Steamship Co. Ltd.Amalgamated Society of Engineers v Adelaide Steamship Co Ltd 28 CLR 129 was a landmark Australian court case decided in the High Court of Australia on 31 August 1920...
, commonly known as the "Engineers' Case", that decisions of the Commonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration Court were binding on State governments. - 21 October – A general election is held in VictoriaVictoria (Australia)Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
. Harry LawsonHarry LawsonSir Harry Sutherland Wightman Lawson KCMG , Australian politician, was the 27th Premier of Victoria.Lawson was born in Dunolly, the son of a Presbyterian clergyman of Scottish descent. He was educated at a local school and then briefly Scotch College in Melbourne. He was a noted Australian rules...
and the Nationalist PartyNationalist Party of AustraliaThe Nationalist Party of Australia was an Australian political party. It was formed on 17 February 1917 from a merger between the conservative Commonwealth Liberal Party and the National Labor Party, the name given to the pro-conscription defectors from the Australian Labor Party led by Prime...
retain power. - 30 October – The Communist Party of AustraliaCommunist Party of AustraliaThe Communist Party of Australia was founded in 1920 and dissolved in 1991; it was succeeded by the Socialist Party of Australia, which then renamed itself, becoming the current Communist Party of Australia. The CPA achieved its greatest political strength in the 1940s and faced an attempted...
is founded in Sydney, New South Wales. - 16 November – The Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Service, later known as QantasQantasQantas Airways Limited is the flag carrier of Australia. The name was originally "QANTAS", an initialism for "Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services". Nicknamed "The Flying Kangaroo", the airline is based in Sydney, with its main hub at Sydney Airport...
, is founded in WintonWinton, Queensland-Qantas:Winton was one of the founding towns of the Australian airline Qantas. The first board meeting was held at the Winton Club on 10 February 1921.-Waltzing Matilda:...
. - 3 December – The first successful flight from Melbourne to PerthPerth, Western AustraliaPerth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
is completed. - 17 December – The authority to issue currency notesBanknoteA banknote is a kind of negotiable instrument, a promissory note made by a bank payable to the bearer on demand, used as money, and in many jurisdictions is legal tender. In addition to coins, banknotes make up the cash or bearer forms of all modern fiat money...
is transferred from TreasuryDepartment of the Treasury (Australia)The Department of the Treasury is an Australian Government department. Its role is to focus and develop economic policy.-History:The Commonwealth Treasury was established in Melbourne in January 1901....
on the Australian Notes Board.
Sport
- 28 January – The New South Wales cricket teamNew South Wales BluesThe New South Wales cricket team are an Australian first class cricket team based in Sydney, New South Wales...
wins the 1919-20 Sheffield ShieldPura CupThe Sheffield Shield is the domestic cricket competition of Australia. The tournament is contested between teams from the six states of Australia. Prior to the Shield being established, a number of intercolonial matches were played. The Shield, donated by Lord Sheffield, was first contested during...
. - 20 April to 12 September – Australia competesAustralia at the 1920 Summer OlympicsAustralia competed at the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp, Belgium. Australian athletes have competed in every Summer Olympic Games.A brother and sister combination swam for Australia, Frank and Lily Beaurepaire.- Silver:...
at the 1920 Summer Olympics1920 Summer OlympicsThe 1920 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the VII Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event in 1920 in Antwerp, Belgium....
in Antwerp, winning one bronze and two silver medals. It is the first time Australia has competed at the Olympics separately from New ZealandNew ZealandNew Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
– the two nations had previously competed as a combined AustralasiaAustralasiaAustralasia is a region of Oceania comprising Australia, New Zealand, the island of New Guinea, and neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term was coined by Charles de Brosses in Histoire des navigations aux terres australes...
team. - 1 September – Balmain TigersBalmain TigersThe Balmain Tigers are a rugby league football club based in the inner-western Sydney suburb of Balmain. They were a founding member of the New South Wales Rugby League and one of the most successful in the history of the premiership, with eleven titles...
win the New South Wales Rugby Football League season 1920New South Wales Rugby Football League season 1920The 1920 New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the thirteenth season of Sydney's professional rugby league football club competition, Australia's first. The introduction of a Sydney University side saw nine teams from across the city contest during he season. Balmain were crowned...
by gaining a seven-point lead with three rounds left in the season. - 25 September – RichmondRichmond Football ClubThe Richmond Football Club, nicknamed The Tigers, is an Australian rules football club which competes in the Australian Football League. Richmond shares healthy rivalries with Carlton, Collingwood and Essendon. After winning five premierships between 1967 and 1980, the club hit the depths in 1990,...
defeat CollingwoodCollingwood Football ClubThe Collingwood Football Club, nicknamed The Magpies, is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League...
7.10 (52) to 5.5 (35) to win the 1920 VFL grand final1920 VFL seasonResults and statistics for the Victorian Football League season of 1920.-Premiership season:In 1920, the VFL competition consisted of nine teams of 18 on-the-field players each, with no "reserves", although any of the 18 players who had left the playing field for any reason could later resume their...
. - 2 November – Poitrel wins the Melbourne CupMelbourne CupThe Melbourne Cup is Australia's major Thoroughbred horse race. Marketed as "the race that stops a nation", it is a 3,200 metre race for three-year-olds and over. It is the richest "two-mile" handicap in the world, and one of the richest turf races...
Births
- 26 February – Michael PateMichael PateMichael Pate was an Australian actor, writer and director.-Early life:He was born Edward John Pate in Drummoyne, Sydney...
, actor - 16 March – Leo McKernLeo McKernReginald "Leo" McKern, AO was an Australian-born British actor who appeared in numerous British and Australian television programmes and movies, and more than 200 stage roles.-Early life:...
, actor (d. 2002) - 26 March – Oriel GrayOriel GrayOriel Gray is an award winning Australian dramatist and playwright who wrote from the 1940s to 1960's. The major themes of her work were "social and political issues such as the environment, Aborigines, assimilation and bush life".Gray was born Oriel Bennett in Sydney, New South Wales...
, dramatist and playwright (d. 2003) - 10 May – John BrackJohn BrackJohn Brack was an Australian painter, and a member of the Antipodeans group.-Life:...
, painter (d. 1999) - 12 May – Douglas ScottDouglas Scott (Australian politician)Douglas Barr Scott is a former Australian National Party politician and briefly government minister. Scott was born in Adelaide, South Australia and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Sydney. He was a farmer and grazier before entering politics...
, National Party senator - 18 June – Rosemary DobsonRosemary DobsonRosemary de Brissac Dobson AO is an award winning Australian poet, who is also significant as an illustrator, editor and anthologist...
, poet - 20 July – Arthur BoydArthur BoydArthur Merric Bloomfield Boyd, AC, OBE was one of the leading Australian painters of the late 20th Century. A member of the prominent Boyd artistic dynasty in Australia, his relatives included painters, sculptors, architects or other arts professionals. His sister Mary Boyd married John Perceval,...
, artist (d. 1999) - 30 September – Russell Walter FoxRussell Walter FoxRussell Walter Fox AC QC LLB is an Australian author, educator, jurist and former chief judge of the Supreme Court of the Australian Capital Territory. He is best known for his extensive report on uranium mining in Australia in the early 1980s....
, author and SA Supreme Court judge - 3 November – Kath WalkerOodgeroo NoonuccalOodgeroo Noonuccal was an Australian poet, political activist, artist and educator. She was also a campaigner for Aboriginal rights...
, poet and activist (d. 1993) - 16 November – Colin ThieleColin ThieleColin Milton Thiele, AC was an Australian author and educator. He was renowned for his award-winning children's fiction, most notably the novels Storm Boy, Blue Fin, the Sun on the Stubble series, and February Dragon.- Biography :Thiele was born in Eudunda in South Australia to a Barossa German...
, author (d. 2006)
Deaths
- 4 January – Robert Etheridge, JuniorRobert Etheridge, JuniorRobert Etheridge was a British palaeontologist who made important contributions to the Australian Museum.Etheridge was born in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England, the only son of the palaeontologist, Robert Etheridge and his wife Martha, née Smith...
(b. 1847), palaeontologist - 7 January – Edmund BartonEdmund BartonSir Edmund Barton, GCMG, KC , Australian politician and judge, was the first Prime Minister of Australia and a founding justice of the High Court of Australia....
(b. 1849), first Prime Minister of Australia - 6 April – Archibald PeakeArchibald PeakeArchibald Henry Peake was an Australian politician and the 25th Premier of South Australia, serving on three separate occasions in the 1910s.-Early life and career:...
(b. 1859), Premier of South Australia - 9 August – Samuel GriffithSamuel GriffithSir Samuel Walker Griffith GCMG QC, was an Australian politician, Premier of Queensland, Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia and a principal author of the Constitution of Australia.-Early life:...
(b. 1845), Premier of Queensland - 12 August – Louisa LawsonLouisa LawsonLouisa Lawson was an Australian writer, publisher, suffragist, and feminist. She was the mother of the poet and author Henry Lawson.-Early life:...
(b. 1848), writer and feminist - 16 August – Henry DaglishHenry DaglishHenry Daglish was the sixth Premier of Western Australia and the state's first Labor Premier.Henry Daglish was born in Ballarat West, Victoria on 18 November 1866. He was educated in Geelong, and attended Melbourne University...
(b. 1866), Premier of Western Australia - 15 September – Thomas EwingThomas Ewing (Australian politician)Sir Thomas Thomson Ewing KCMG was an Australian politician.-Early life:Ewing was born at Pitt Town, New South Wales to clergyman Thomas Campbell Ewing and Elizabeth, née Thomson. Despite an intention to study for the Bar, he joined a surveyor's party at the age of 17, and became a licensed...
(born 1856), politician - 21 December – Claude TozerClaude TozerClaude John Tozer DSO was an Australian medical doctor and first-class cricketer who played for New South Wales. He was the nephew of Australian Test cricketer Percie Charlton....
(b. 1890), cricketer