1927 in Australia
Encyclopedia
See also:
1926 in Australia
,
other events of 1927,
1928 in Australia
and the
Timeline of Australian history
.
1926 in Australia
1926 in Australia
See also:1925 in Australia,other events of 1926,1927 in Australia and theTimeline of Australian history.-Incumbents:*Monarch – King George V...
,
other events of 1927,
1928 in Australia
1928 in Australia
See also:1927 in Australia,other events of 1928,1929 in Australia and theTimeline of Australian history.-Incumbents:*Monarch – King George V*Governor-General – John Baird, 1st Viscount Stonehaven*Prime Minister – Stanley Bruce-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...
– John Baird, 1st Viscount StonehavenJohn Baird, 1st Viscount StonehavenJohn Lawrence Baird, 1st Viscount Stonehaven, GCMG, DSO, PC, JP, DL , known as Sir John Baird, Bt, between 1920 and 1925 and as The Lord Stonehaven between 1925 and 1928, was a British Conservative politician, who served as a Member of Parliament, government minister, and was later the eighth... - 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...
– Stanley BruceStanley BruceStanley Melbourne Bruce, 1st Viscount Bruce of Melbourne, CH, MC, FRS, PC , was an Australian politician and diplomat, and the eighth Prime Minister of Australia. He was the second Australian granted an hereditary peerage of the United Kingdom, but the first whose peerage was formally created...
State premiers
- Premier of New South Wales – Jack LangJack Lang (Australian politician)John Thomas Lang , usually referred to as J.T. Lang during his career, and familiarly known as "Jack" and nicknamed "The Big Fella" was an Australian politician who was Premier of New South Wales for two terms...
(until 18 October) then Thomas Bavin - Premier of Queensland – William McCormackWilliam McCormackWilliam McCormack , was Premier of Queensland, Australia, from 1925 to 1929.He was born in Purnam, Queensland and died in Brisbane on 21 November 1947....
- Premier of South Australia – Lionel HillLionel HillLionel Laughton Hill was the thirtieth Premier of South Australia.Born in Adelaide, South Australia but raised on a farm near Maitland, Hill left school aged 12 to work on the South Australian government railways, where he first became involved in the labour movement...
(until 8 April) then Richard Layton ButlerRichard Layton ButlerSir Richard Layton Butler KCMG was the 31st Premier of South Australia, serving two disjunct terms in office: from 1927 to 1930, and again from 1933 to 1938.... - Premier of Tasmania – Joseph LyonsJoseph LyonsJoseph Aloysius Lyons, CH was an Australian politician. He was Labor Premier of Tasmania from 1923 to 1928 and a Minister in the James Scullin government from 1929 until his resignation from the Labor Party in March 1931...
- Premier of Victoria – John AllanJohn Allan (Australian politician)John Allan , Australian politician, was the 29th Premier of Victoria. He was born near Lancefield, where his father was a farmer of Scottish origin, and educated at state schools. He took up wheat and dairy farming at Wyuna and was director of a butter factory at Kyabram...
(until 20 May) then Edmond HoganEdmond HoganEdmond John "Ned" Hogan , Australian politician, 30th Premier of Victoria, was born in Wallace, Victoria, where his Irish-born parents were small farmers... - 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...
– Philip CollierPhilip CollierPhilip Collier was Premier of Western Australia for nine years, the longest ever term for an Australian Labor Party premier....
State governors
- Governor of New South Wales – Sir Dudley de ChairDudley de ChairAdmiral Sir Dudley Rawson Stratford de Chair, KCB, KCMG, KBE, MVO was a Naval Officer and Governor. De Chair joined the Royal Navy from the age of 16 and served in the Anglo-Egyptian War and later as an Admiral in the First World War. He was appointed as Governor of New South Wales in 1923...
- Governor of Queensland – Sir John GoodwinJohn Goodwin (governor)Lieutenant General Sir Thomas Herbert John Chapman Goodwin KCB, KCMG, DSO , known as Sir John Goodwin, was a British soldier and medical practitioner, who served as the Governor of the Australian state of Queensland between 1927 and 1932.Goodwin was born in 1871 in Kandy, Ceylon to a British Army...
(from 13 July) - Governor of South Australia – Sir Tom Bridges (until 4 December)
- Governor of Tasmania – Sir James O'GradyJames O'GradySir James O'Grady, KCMG was a trade unionist and Labour Party politician in the United Kingdom. He was the first colonial governor appointed by the Labour Party from within its own ranks.- Early life :...
- Governor of Victoria – Arthur Somers-Cocks, 6th Baron SomersArthur Somers-Cocks, 6th Baron SomersLieutenant-Colonel Arthur Herbert Tennyson Somers-Cocks, 6th Baron Somers, KCMG, DSO, MC , son of Herbert Haldane Somers-Cocks by Blanche Margaret Standish Clogstoun...
- 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 CampionWilliam CampionColonel Sir William Robert Campion KCMG, DSO, TD, DL was a British politician and Governor of Western Australia from 1924 to 1931....
Events
- 1 February – The North Australia Act of 1926 is enforced and the territory of Central AustraliaCentral AustraliaCentral Australia/Alice Springs Region is one of the five regions in the Northern Territory. The term Central Australia is used to describe an area centred on Alice Springs in Australia. It is sometimes referred to as Centralia; likewise the people of the area are sometimes called Centralians...
is created. - 8 February – A cycloneCycloneIn meteorology, a cyclone is an area of closed, circular fluid motion rotating in the same direction as the Earth. This is usually characterized by inward spiraling winds that rotate anticlockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere of the Earth. Most large-scale...
makes landfall north of Cairns, causing flooding at Halifax BayHalifax BayHalifax Bay is a region located around a bay in the Coral Sea, situated on the Australian coast in Far North Queensland. It is bordered by the town of Ingham to the north, city of Townsville to the south and Great Palm Island off the coast to the east....
, InghamIngham, QueenslandIngham is a town in the Great Green Way region of North Queensland, Australia. The town was founded in 1864, gazetted a shire in 1879, and is the service centre for many sugarcane plantations, pioneered in the 1870s by William Ingham, for whom the town is named...
, InnisfailInnisfail, QueenslandInnisfail is a town located in the far north of the state of Queensland, Australia. It is the major township of the Cassowary Coast and is well renowned for its sugar and banana industries, as well as for being one of Australia's wettest towns...
, TullyTully, QueenslandTully is a small town in Queensland, Australia, adjacent to the Bruce Highway approximately south of Cairns by road and north of Townsville. At the 2006 census, Tully had a population of 2,457....
, CardwellCardwell, QueenslandCardwell is a tropical coastal town in northeastern Queensland. It is located at the southern extremity of the Cassowary Coast. At the 2006 census, Cardwell had a population of 1,250. The Bruce Highway National Highway 1 and the North Coast railway line are the dominant transport routes;...
and Townsville. Thirty-six people are killed, and twenty are missing. - 9 April – 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....
. - 3 May – The Australasian Council of Trade UnionsAustralian Council of Trade UnionsThe Australian Council of Trade Unions is the largest peak body representing workers in Australia. It is a national trade union centre of 46 affiliated unions.-History:The ACTU was formed in 1927 as the "Australian Council of Trade Unions"...
is formed at the All-Australian Trade Union Congress in MelbourneMelbourneMelbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
. - 9 May – Parliament HouseOld Parliament House, CanberraOld Parliament House, known formerly as the Provisional Parliament House, was the house of the Parliament of Australia from 1927 to 1988. The building began operation on 9 May 1927 as a temporary base for the Commonwealth Parliament after its relocation from Melbourne to the new capital, Canberra,...
in Canberra is officially opened by the Duke of YorkGeorge VI of the United KingdomGeorge VI was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death...
. - 20 May – Following a swing to the ALP in the Victorian election, Edmond HoganEdmond HoganEdmond John "Ned" Hogan , Australian politician, 30th Premier of Victoria, was born in Wallace, Victoria, where his Irish-born parents were small farmers...
forms a minority LaborAustralian 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...
government with Progressive support, and takes over as Premier of Victoria from John AllanJohn Allan (Australian politician)John Allan , Australian politician, was the 29th Premier of Victoria. He was born near Lancefield, where his father was a farmer of Scottish origin, and educated at state schools. He took up wheat and dairy farming at Wyuna and was director of a butter factory at Kyabram...
. - 29 June – Charles Kingsford SmithCharles Kingsford SmithSir Charles Edward Kingsford Smith MC, AFC , often called by his nickname Smithy, was an early Australian aviator. In 1928, he earned global fame when he made the first trans-Pacific flight from the United States to Australia...
and his copilot Charles UlmCharles UlmCharles Thomas Philippe Ulm AFC was a pioneer Australian aviator.-World War I:Ulm joined the AIF in September 1914, lying about his name and age to get in. He fought and was wounded at Gallipoli in 1915, and on the Western Front in 1918.Charles Ulm was married twice. In 1919 he married Isabel...
complete a round-Australia flight in ten days, five-and-a-half hours. - 27 October – Melbourne gangster Squizzy TaylorSquizzy TaylorJoseph Leslie Theodore "Squizzy" Taylor was an Australian Melbourne-based gangster. He rose to notoriety by leading a violent gang war against a rival criminal faction in 1919, absconding from bail and successfully hiding from the police for over a year in 1921-22, and the Glenferrie robbery in...
is killed in a shootout with Sydney gangsters (including Snowy Cutmore, who also dies) in CarltonCarlton, VictoriaCarlton is an inner city suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 2 km north from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Melbourne...
. - 3 November – The Sydney ferry Greycliffe is cut in half by the liner Tahiti, killing 40 persons.
Science and technology
- Professor Thomas ParnellThomas Parnell (scientist)Thomas Parnell was the first Professor of Physics at the University of Queensland. He started the famous pitch drop experiment there....
begins the pitch drop experimentPitch drop experimentThe pitch drop experiment is a long-term experiment which measures the flow of a piece of pitch over many years. Pitch is the name for any of a number of highly viscous liquids which appear solid, most commonly bitumen...
at the University of QueenslandUniversity of QueenslandThe University of Queensland, also known as UQ, is a public university located in state of Queensland, Australia. Founded in 1909, it is the oldest and largest university in Queensland and the fifth oldest in the nation...
. It will go on to become the world's longest continuously-running scientific experiment.
Sport
- 27 August – Ronald McMurdo wins the men's national marathon title, clocking 3:06:23 in SydneySydneySydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
. The race was not considered an official Australian championship by the national athletics federation. - 24 September – CollingwoodCollingwood Football ClubThe Collingwood Football Club, nicknamed The Magpies, is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League...
become premiers of the 1927 VFL season1927 VFL seasonResults and statistics for the Victorian Football League season of 1927.-Premiership season:In 1927, the VFL competition consisted of twelve 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...
, defeating 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,...
2.13 (25) to 1.7 (13) in the 1927 grand final. - 1 November – Trivalve 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...
. - South Australia wins the 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...
Births
- 20 January – Dawn LakeDawn LakeDawn Lake was an Australian television comedian, singer, entertainer and actor, whose career spanned more than four decades. Bert Newton described her as "our greatest comedienne - Australia's Lucille Ball"...
, entertainer (d. 2006) - 21 January – Clive ChurchillClive ChurchillClive Bernard Churchill AM was an Australian rugby league footballer and coach of the mid-20th century. An Australian international and New South Wales and Queensland interstate representative fullback, he played the majority of his club football with and later coached the South Sydney Rabbitohs...
, rugby league player (d. 1985) - 20 March – Wally GroutWally GroutArthur Theodore Wallace Grout was a Test cricketer who kept wicket for Australia and Queensland.Grout played in 51 Test matches between 1957 and 1966...
, cricket player (d. 1968) - 1 April – Peter CundallPeter CundallPeter Cundall, AM is a horticulturalist, conservationist, author, broadcaster and television personality in Australia. He currently lives in Tasmania's Tamar Valley, and until the age of 81 continued to be a presenter of the ABC TV program Gardening Australia. His last show aired on 26 July 2008...
, horticulturist and television presenter - 6 June – Alan SeymourAlan SeymourAlan Seymour , is an Australian playwright and author. He was educated at Perth Modern School, leaving at 15 after failing to complete the Junior Certificate. He found work as a radio announcer in a commercial radio station 6PM. During his two years there he wrote a number of short radio plays that...
, playwright - 13 June – David Kirkpatrick (Slim Dusty)Slim DustyDavid Gordon "Slim Dusty " Kirkpatrick AO, MBE was an Australian country music singer-songwriter and producer, with a career spanning nearly eight decades. He was known to record songs in the legacy of Australian poets Henry Lawson and Banjo Patterson that represented the Australian Bush...
, country and western singer (d. 2003) - 13 July – Ian ReedIan ReedIan Manley Reed was a discus thrower, who represented Australia at the 1952 Summer Olympics. He won the gold medal at the 1950 Commonwealth Games in the men's discus throw event.-References:*...
, discus thrower - 14 August – Sid PattersonSid PattersonSid Patterson was a world champion amateur and professional track cyclist from Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. While a teenager, Patterson won every Victorian and Australian title between 1,000 metres and ten miles...
, cyclist (d. 1999) - 29 October – Frank SedgmanFrank SedgmanFrank Arthur Sedgman, born 29 October 1927, in Mont Albert, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, was a tennis player who was arguably the world No.1 in 1952. In his 1979 autobiography Jack Kramer, the long-time tennis promoter and great player himself, included Sedgman in his list of the 21...
, tennis player - 14 November – Bart CummingsBart CummingsJames Bartholomew 'Bart' Cummings, AM is one of the most successful Australian racehorse trainers. He is known as the Cups King, referring to the Melbourne Cup, as the he has won the 'race that stops a nation' a record 12 times....
, Australia's Best Racehorse Trainer (12 Melbourne Cups at the time of writing) - 28 December – Ron Casey, Australian rules football administrator and media personality (d. 2000)
Deaths
- 15 March – Hector RasonCornthwaite RasonSir Cornthwaite Hector William James Rason , better known as Hector Rason, was the seventh Premier of Western Australia....
, Premier of Western Australia (b. 1858) - 26 October – Squizzy TaylorSquizzy TaylorJoseph Leslie Theodore "Squizzy" Taylor was an Australian Melbourne-based gangster. He rose to notoriety by leading a violent gang war against a rival criminal faction in 1919, absconding from bail and successfully hiding from the police for over a year in 1921-22, and the Glenferrie robbery in...
, gangster (b. 1888) - 13 December – Stephen Henry ParkerStephen Henry ParkerSir Stephen Henry Parker KCMG was a lawyer and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Western Australia from 1906 to 1914.-Early life:...
, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Western Australia (b. 1846)