1949 in Australia
Encyclopedia
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 VIGeorge 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... - 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...
– William McKellWilliam McKellSir William John McKell GCMG , Australian politician, was Premier of New South Wales from 1941 to 1947, and was the 12th Governor-General of Australia. He was also the oldest Governor General of Australia, at 93 when he died.... - 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...
– Ben ChifleyBen ChifleyJoseph Benedict Chifley , Australian politician, was the 16th Prime Minister of Australia. He took over the Australian Labor Party leadership and Prime Ministership after the death of John Curtin in 1945, and went on to retain government at the 1946 election, before being defeated at the 1949...
(until 19 December), then Robert MenziesRobert MenziesSir Robert Gordon Menzies, , Australian politician, was the 12th and longest-serving Prime Minister of Australia....
State Governors
- Governor of New South Wales – Sir John NorthcottJohn NorthcottLieutenant General Sir John Northcott KCMG, KCVO, CB was an Australian Army general who served as Chief of the General Staff during World War II, and commanded the British Commonwealth Occupation Force in the Occupation of Japan...
- Governor of Queensland – Sir John LavarackJohn LavarackLieutenant General Sir John Dudley Lavarack KCMG, KCVO, KBE, CB, DSO was an Australian soldier who was Governor of Queensland from 1 October 1946 to 4 December 1957, the first Australian-born governor of that state....
- Governor of South Australia – Sir Charles NorrieCharles Norrie, 1st Baron NorrieLieutenant-General Charles Willoughby Moke Norrie, 1st Baron Norrie GCMG, GCVO, CB, DSO, MC & Bar was a British Army general during World War II, following which he served terms as Governor of South Australia and the eighth Governor-General of New Zealand.-Army career:After education at Eton and...
- Governor of Tasmania – Sir Hugh BinneyHugh BinneyAdmiral Sir Thomas Hugh Binney, KCB, KCMG, DSO was a British naval officer and administrator who was Governor of Tasmania from 1945 to 1953.-Early life:...
- Governor of Victoria – Sir Winston DuganWinston Dugan, 1st Baron Dugan of VictoriaMajor-General Winston Joseph Dugan, 1st Baron Dugan of Victoria GCMG, CB, DSO, KStJ , known as Sir Winston Dugan between 1934 and 1949, was a British administrator and a career British Army officer...
(until 20 February), then Sir Dallas BrooksDallas BrooksBrooks made his first-class debut for the Royal Navy against Cambridge University in 1919 as a right-handed batsman who bowled right-arm medium. The same season Brooks made his debut for Hampshire against Surrey in the County Championship...
(from 18 October) - 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 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....
Events
- 26 January – The Nationality and Citizenship Act is passed. Rather than being identified as subjects of Britain, the Act established Australian citizenshipAustralian nationality lawAustralian nationality law determines who is and who is not an Australian, and is based primarily on the principle of Jus soli. The status of Australian citizenship was created by the Nationality and Citizenship Act 1948 which received Royal Assent on 21 December 1948 and came into force on...
for people who met eligibility requirements. - 10 March – A Lockheed Model 18 Lodestar crashes near CoolangattaCoolangatta, QueenslandCoolangatta is the southernmost suburb of the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. It has a population of 4,869 and is named after the schooner Coolangatta which was wrecked there in 1846....
, QueenslandQueenslandQueensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
, killing 21 people. - 16 March – Australia's domestic counter-intelligence and security agency, the Australian Security Intelligence OrganisationAustralian Security Intelligence OrganisationThe Australian Security Intelligence Organisation is Australia's national security service, which is responsible for the protection of the country and its citizens from espionage, sabotage, acts of foreign interference, politically-motivated violence, attacks on the Australian defence system, and...
(ASIO) is established, by order of the Directive for the Establishment and Maintenance of a Security ServiceDirective for the Establishment and Maintenance of a Security ServiceOn 16 March 1949, Australian Prime Minister Ben Chifley issued a Directive for the Establishment and Maintenance of a Security Service, appointing South Australian Supreme Court Justice Geoffrey Reed as the first Director-General of Security...
. - 16 March – Indigenous AustraliansIndigenous AustraliansIndigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands. The Aboriginal Indigenous Australians migrated from the Indian continent around 75,000 to 100,000 years ago....
who are eligible to vote in state elections in New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania are also given the right to vote in federal elections. - 27 June – A seven-week coal strike1949 Australian coal strikeThe 1949 Australian coal strike is the first time that Australian military forces were used during peacetime to break a Trade union strike. The strike by 23,000 coal miners lasted for seven weeks, from 27 June 1949 to 15 August 1949, with troops being sent in by the Ben Chifley Federal Labor...
begins, involving 23,000 miners and broken by the sending in of troops. - 17 October – Construction of the Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric Scheme begins.
- 10 December – A federal electionAustralian federal election, 1949Federal elections were held in Australia on 10 December 1949. All 121 seats in the House of Representatives, and 42 of the 60 seats in the Senate were up for election, where the single transferable vote was introduced...
is held. The incumbent Australian 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 Ben ChifleyBen ChifleyJoseph Benedict Chifley , Australian politician, was the 16th Prime Minister of Australia. He took over the Australian Labor Party leadership and Prime Ministership after the death of John Curtin in 1945, and went on to retain government at the 1946 election, before being defeated at the 1949...
is defeated by Robert MenziesRobert MenziesSir Robert Gordon Menzies, , Australian politician, was the 12th and longest-serving Prime Minister of Australia....
' Liberal PartyLiberal Party of AustraliaThe Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office...
. - 18 December – Prime Minister-electPrime 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...
Robert MenziesRobert MenziesSir Robert Gordon Menzies, , Australian politician, was the 12th and longest-serving Prime Minister of Australia....
announces his cabinetFourth Menzies MinistryThe Fourth Menzies Ministry was the thirty-fifth Australian Commonwealth ministry, and ran from 19 December 1949 to 11 May 1951.Liberal Party of Australia–Australian Country Party Coalition*Rt Hon Robert Menzies, KC MP: Prime Minister...
, including Dame Enid LyonsEnid LyonsDame Enid Muriel Lyons, AD, GBE was an Australian politician and the first woman to be elected to the Australian House of Representatives as well as the first woman appointed to the federal Cabinet...
as Australia's first female cabinet minister.
Science and technology
- November – Australia's first digital computer, CSIRACCSIRACCSIRAC , originally known as CSIR Mk 1, was Australia's first digital computer, and the fourth stored program computer in the world. It was first to play digital music and is one of only a few surviving first-generation computers .The CSIRAC was constructed by a team led by Trevor Pearcey and...
, runs its first test programs.
Arts and literature
- 21 January – William DobellWilliam DobellSir William Dobell, OBE was an Australian artist .The electoral Division of Dobell is named after him.- Life :...
wins the Archibald PrizeArchibald PrizeThe Archibald Prize is regarded as the most important portraiture prize in Australia. It was first awarded in 1921 after a bequest from J. F. Archibald, the editor of The Bulletin who died in 1919...
and the Wynne PrizeWynne PrizeThe Wynne Prize is an Australian landscape painting or figure sculpture art prize. One of Australia's longest running art prizes, it was established in 1897 from the bequest of Richard Wynne...
.
Sport
- Athletics
- 17 September - Robert Prentice wins his first men's national marathon title, clocking 2:43:46 in 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....
- 17 September - Robert Prentice wins his first men's national marathon title, clocking 2:43:46 in Perth
- Cricket
- New South WalesNew South Wales BluesThe New South Wales cricket team are an Australian first class cricket team based in Sydney, New South Wales...
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...
- New South Wales
- Football
- Bledisloe CupBledisloe CupRugby Union's Bledisloe Cup is contested by the Australia national rugby union team and New Zealand national rugby union team. It is named after Lord Bledisloe, the former Governor-General of New Zealand who donated the trophy in 1931. The trophy was designed in New Zealand by Nelson Isaac, and...
: won by the WallabiesAustralia national rugby union teamThe Australian national rugby union team is the representative side of Australia in rugby union. The national team is nicknamed the Wallabies and competes annually with New Zealand and South Africa in the Tri-Nations Series, in which they also contest the Bledisloe Cup with New Zealand and the... - Brisbane Rugby League premiership: Souths defeated EastsEasts TigersThe Eastern Suburbs Tigers are a rugby league club based at Langlands Park, which is in the suburb of Coorparoo in Brisbane, Australia. They competed in the Brisbane Rugby League from 1934 to 1996. From 1996 they have competed in the Queensland Cup. Their jersey is traditionally an all gold jersey...
22-8 - New South Wales Rugby League premiershipNew South Wales Rugby League premiershipThe New South Wales Rugby League premiership was the first rugby league football club competition established in Australia. Run by the New South Wales Rugby League from 1908 until 1994, the premiership was the state's and later the country's elite rugby league competition...
: Western SuburbsWestern Suburbs MagpiesThe Western Suburbs Magpies are an Australian rugby league football club based in the western suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales. Formed in 1908, Wests, as they are commonly referred to, were one of the nine foundation clubs of the first New South Wales Rugby League competition in Australia...
defeated BalmainBalmain 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...
8-5 - South Australian National Football League premiership: won by North AdelaideNorth Adelaide RoostersNorth Adelaide Football Club is an Australian rules football club, who play in the South Australian National Football League.- History :Formed in 1888 as Medindie, in 1893 the club renamed itself to North Adelaide. It is the fourth oldest club still in operation in the SANFL...
- Victorian Football League premiership: EssendonEssendon Football ClubThe Essendon Football Club, nicknamed The Bombers, is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League...
defeated CarltonCarlton Football ClubThe Carlton Football Club is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria. The club competes in the Australian Football League, and was one of the eight founding members of that competition in 1897...
125-52
- Bledisloe Cup
- Golf
- Australian OpenAustralian Open (golf)The Australian Open is one of the principal annual golf tournaments on the PGA Tour of Australasia, and also the OneAsia Tour since its formation in 2009. The event was first played in 1904 and takes place toward the end of each year...
: won by Eric CreminEric CreminEric James Cremin was an Australian golfer who, later in his career, was instrumental in the establishment of the Asian golf circuit.Cremin was born in Mascot, New South Wales... - Australian PGA ChampionshipAustralian PGA ChampionshipThe Australian PGA Championship, formerly known as the Cadbury Schweppes Australian PGA Championship, is a golf tournament on the PGA Tour of Australasia. It is the home tournament of the Australian PGA and dates back to 1905...
: won by Kel NagleKel NagleKelvin David George Nagle is an Australian professional golfer best known for winning The Open Championship in 1960. He won at least one tournament each year from 1949 to 1975.Nagle was born in North Sydney...
- Australian Open
- Horse Racing
- Persist wins the AJC OaksAJC OaksThe AJC Oaks is a Group 1 Australian Thoroughbred horserace for three-year-old fillies at set weights contested over 2,400 metres at Randwick Racecourse, Sydney in April. The AJC Australian Oaks is the premier staying race for three-year-old fillies during the Sydney autumn racing carnival. Total...
- Lincoln wins the Caulfield CupCaulfield CupThe Caulfield Cup, one of Australia's richest Thoroughbred horse races and the richest of its type in the world is held annually by the Melbourne Racing Club. The race is a handicap like the Melbourne Cup, which means that horses that compete in the Caulfield Cup are capable of running on the...
- Delta wins the Cox PlateCox PlateThe W.S. Cox Plate is an Australian Group 1 Thoroughbred horse race held in Melbourne every October by the Moonee Valley Racing Club to honour W.S. Cox, the club's founder. For three-year-olds and over, the race is considered to be the Weight for Age championship of Australasia...
- Foxzami 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...
- Persist wins the AJC Oaks
- Motor Racing
- The Australian Grand PrixAustralian Grand PrixThe Australian Grand Prix is a motor race held annually and is held to be the pinnacle of motor racing in Australia. The Grand Prix is the oldest surviving motor racing competition held in Australia having been held 76 times since it was first run at Phillip Island in 1928. Since 1985 the race has...
was held at LeyburnLeyburn, QueenslandLeyburn is a town in the Southern Downs region of Queensland, Australia. At the 2006 census, Leyburn and the surrounding area had a population of 348.-History:...
, and was won by John Crouch driving a DelahayeDelahayeDelahaye automobile manufacturing company was started by Emile Delahaye in 1894, in Tours, France. His first cars were belt-driven, with single- or twin-cylinder engines. In 1900, Delahaye left the company.-History:...
- The Australian Grand Prix
- Tennis
- Australian Open men's singles: 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...
defeats John BromwichJohn BromwichJohn Edward Bromwich was a male tennis player from Australia who, along with his countryman Vivian McGrath, was one of the first great players to use a two-handed forehand....
6-3 6-2 6-2 - Australian Open women's singles: Doris HartDoris HartDoris Hart is a former World No. 1 American female tennis player.As a child, she suffered from osteomyelitis, which resulted in a permanently impaired right leg...
defeats Nancye Wynne BoltonNancye Wynne BoltonNancye Wynne Bolton was a female tennis player from Australia. She won the women's singles title six times at the Australian Championships, second only to Margaret Court who won 11 titles...
6-3 6-4 - Davis CupDavis CupThe Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation and is contested between teams of players from competing countries in a knock-out format. The competition began in 1900 as a challenge between Britain and the United States. By...
: AustraliaAustralia Davis Cup teamThe Australian Davis Cup team is the second most successful team ever to compete in the Davis Cup, winning the coveted title on 23 separate occasions, second behind the United States with 32....
is defeated by the United States 1-4 in the 1949 Davis Cup1949 Davis CupThe 1949 Davis Cup was the 38th edition of the most important tournament between national teams in men's tennis. 28 teams would enter the competition, 24 in the Europe Zone, and 4 in the Americas Zone....
final - US Open: John Bromwich and Bill SidwellBill SidwellBill Sidwell was an Australian tennis player.Sidwell reached four Grand Slam doubles finals, winning once, and also played in the Davis Cup in 1948 and 1949. He is currently Treasurer of the AVGA and is playing golf regularly in place of tennis.-Grand Slam finals:-External links:* *...
win the Men's Doubles
- Australian Open men's singles: Frank Sedgman
- Yachting
- Waltzing Matilda takes line honours and Trade Winds wins on handicap in the Sydney to Hobart Yacht RaceSydney to Hobart Yacht RaceThe Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race is hosted by the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, starting in Sydney, Australia on Boxing Day and finishing in Hobart. The race distance is approximately...
- Waltzing Matilda takes line honours and Trade Winds wins on handicap in the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race