1955 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...
– Elizabeth II - 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...
– Sir William SlimWilliam Slim, 1st Viscount SlimField Marshal William Joseph "Bill"'Slim, 1st Viscount Slim, KG, GCB, GCMG, GCVO, GBE, DSO, MC, KStJ was a British military commander and the 13th Governor-General of Australia.... - 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...
– Robert MenziesRobert MenziesSir Robert Gordon Menzies, , Australian politician, was the 12th and longest-serving Prime Minister of Australia....
State Premiers
- Premier of New South Wales – Joseph CahillJoseph CahillJohn Joseph Cahill was Premier of New South Wales in Australia from 1952 to 1959. He is best remembered as the Premier who approved construction on the Sydney Opera House, and for his work increasing the authority of local government in the state.-Early years:Joe Cahill, as he was popularly known,...
- Premier of Queensland – Vince GairVince GairVincent Clare "Vince" Gair was an Australian politician. He served as Premier of Queensland from 1952 until 1957, when his stormy relations with the trade union movement saw him expelled from the Australian Labor Party. He was elected to the Australian Senate and led the Democratic Labor Party...
- Premier of South Australia – Thomas Playford IVThomas Playford IVSir Thomas Playford, GCMG was a South Australian politician. He served continuously as Premier of South Australia from 5 November 1938 to 10 March 1965, the longest term of any elected government leader in the history of Australia. His tenure as premier was marked by a period of population and...
- Premier of Tasmania – Robert CosgroveRobert CosgroveSir Robert Cosgrove KCMG was an Australian politician, trade unionist, and twice Premier of Tasmania from 18 December 1939 to 18 December 1947 and 25 February 1948 to 26 August 1958....
- Premier of Victoria – John Cain IJohn Cain (senior)John Cain was an Australian politician, who became the 34th premier of Victoria, and was the first Australian Labor Party leader to win a majority in the Victorian Legislative Assembly. He was the only premier of Victoria whose son also served as premier.-Early life:Cain was born, one of 18...
(until 7 June), then Henry BolteHenry BolteSir Henry Edward Bolte GCMG was an Australian politician. He was the 38th and longest serving Premier of Victoria.- Early years :... - 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...
– Albert HawkeAlbert HawkeAlbert Redvers George Hawke was the 18th Premier of Western Australia.Hawke was born to James Renfrey Hawke and Eliza Ann Blinman Pascoe, both of Cornish descent, in Kapunda, South 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 Robert GeorgeRobert GeorgeAir Vice Marshal Sir Robert Allingham George KCMG, KCVO, KBE, CB, MC was a senior officer in the Royal Air Force and Governor of South Australia from 23 February 1953 until 7 March 1960. He was born in the County of Ross and Cromarty, Scotland, on 25 July 1896, and educated at Invergordon and...
- Governor of Tasmania – Sir Ronald Cross, 1st Baronet
- Governor of Victoria – 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...
- 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 Charles GairdnerCharles GairdnerGeneral Sir Charles Henry Gairdner, GBE, KCMG, KCVO, CB was a British Army general during World War II and was Governor of Western Australia from 1951 to 1963, and Governor of Tasmania from 1963 to 1968.-Early life:...
Events
- 19 February – The Southeast Asia Collective Defense Treaty (SEATO) comes into force
- 12 August – The aircraft carrierAircraft carrierAn aircraft carrier is a warship designed with a primary mission of deploying and recovering aircraft, acting as a seagoing airbase. Aircraft carriers thus allow a naval force to project air power worldwide without having to depend on local bases for staging aircraft operations...
HMAS VengeanceHMS Vengeance (R71)HMS Vengeance was a Colossus class light aircraft carrier built for the Royal Navy during World War II. The carrier served in three navies during her career: the Royal Navy, the Royal Australian Navy , and the Brazilian Navy .Constructed during World War II, Vengeance was...
is returned to the Royal NavyRoyal NavyThe Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service... - 28 October – The aircraft carrier HMAS MelbourneHMAS Melbourne (1945)HMAS Melbourne was a Majestic-class light aircraft carrier of the Royal Australian Navy . Operating from 1955 until 1982, she was the third and final conventional aircraft carrier to serve in the RAN...
is commissioned into the Royal Australian NavyRoyal Australian NavyThe Royal Australian Navy is the naval branch of the Australian Defence Force. Following the Federation of Australia in 1901, the ships and resources of the separate colonial navies were integrated into a national force: the Commonwealth Naval Forces... - 23 November – The Cocos IslandsCocos (Keeling) IslandsThe Territory of the Cocos Islands, also called Cocos Islands and Keeling Islands, is a territory of Australia, located in the Indian Ocean, southwest of Christmas Island and approximately midway between Australia and Sri Lanka....
come under Australian control - 19 December – Dame Edna EverageDame Edna EverageDame Edna is a character created and played by Australian dadaist performer and comedian, Barry Humphries, famous for her lilac-coloured or "wisteria hue" hair and cat eye glasses or "face furniture," her favorite flower, the gladiola and her boisterous greeting: "Hello Possums!" As Dame Edna,...
makes her first appearance - Malcolm FraserMalcolm FraserJohn Malcolm Fraser AC, CH, GCL, PC is a former Australian Liberal Party politician who was the 22nd Prime Minister of Australia. He came to power in the 1975 election following the dismissal of the Whitlam Labor government, in which he played a key role...
first enters Federal Parliament - BauxiteBauxiteBauxite is an aluminium ore and is the main source of aluminium. This form of rock consists mostly of the minerals gibbsite Al3, boehmite γ-AlO, and diaspore α-AlO, in a mixture with the two iron oxides goethite and hematite, the clay mineral kaolinite, and small amounts of anatase TiO2...
is first discovered at Weipa, QueenslandWeipa, QueenslandWeipa is the largest town on the Gulf of Carpentaria coast of the Cape York Peninsula in Queensland, Australia. At the 2006 census, Weipa had a population of 2,830; the largest community on Cape York Peninsula. It exists because of the enormous bauxite deposits along the coast... - The city of Elizabeth, South AustraliaElizabeth, South AustraliaElizabeth is a northern suburb of Adelaide, South Australia. It is located in the City of Playford.-History:Elizabeth was established in 1955 as part of a planned satellite town by the South Australian Housing Trust on rural land between the older towns of Salisbury and...
is established - The Democratic Labor Party (DLP)Democratic Labor Party (historical)The Democratic Labor Party was an Australian political party that existed from 1955 until 1978.-History:The DLP was formed as a result of a split in the Australian Labor Party that began in 1954. The split was between the party's national leadership, under the then party leader Dr H.V...
is formed after the Australian Labor Party split of 1955Australian Labor Party split of 1955The Australian Labor Party split of 1955 was a splintering of the Australian Labor Party along sectarian and ideological lines in the mid 1950s...
Science and technology
- The Guthega power station becomes the first to generate electricity in the Snowy Mountains SchemeSnowy Mountains SchemeThe Snowy Mountains scheme is a hydroelectricity and irrigation complex in south-east Australia. It consists of sixteen major dams; seven power stations; a pumping station; and 225 kilometres of tunnels, pipelines and aqueducts and was constructed between 1949 and 1974. The Chief engineer was Sir...
Arts and literature
- Ivor HeleIvor HeleSir Ivor Henry Thomas Hele, CBE was an Australian artist. He was the longest serving war artist for the Australian War Memorial and completed more commissioned works than any other Australian artist in the history of Australian art.He was the first war artist appointed in the Second World War, and...
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...
with his portrait of Robert Campbell EsqRobert Campbell (Art gallery director)Robert Campbell , director of the Art Gallery of South Australia , the first director of the Queensland Art Gallery and also a painter in his own right... - Donald FriendDonald FriendDonald Stuart Leslie Friend was an Australian artist, writer and diarist.- Early life :Born in Sydney, precociously talented both as an artist and a writer, Friend grew up in the artistic circle of his bohemian mother...
wins the Blake Prize for Religious ArtBlake Prize for Religious ArtThe Blake Prize for Religious Art is an annual art prize in Australia.The prize was established in 1949 as an incentive to raise the standard of religious art. Founded by Mr R. Morley, the Reverend Michael Scott SJ, Rector of Newman College, University of Melbourne, and lawyer Mrs M. Tenison, it...
with his work St John and Scenes from the Apocalypse - Patrick WhitePatrick WhitePatrick Victor Martindale White , an Australian author, is widely regarded as an important English-language novelist of the 20th century. From 1935 until his death, he published 12 novels, two short-story collections and eight plays.White's fiction employs humour, florid prose, shifting narrative...
's The Tree of Man is published - I Can Jump Puddles is published by Alan Marshall
- "Men's Wear" and "Collins st,5 p.m" by John BrackJohn BrackJohn Brack was an Australian painter, and a member of the Antipodeans group.-Life:...
painted in Oakleigh, Melbourne, Victoria
Sport
- 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... - England defeats Australia 3–1 in The AshesThe AshesThe Ashes is a Test cricket series played between England and Australia. It is one of the most celebrated rivalries in international cricket and dates back to 1882. It is currently played biennially, alternately in the United Kingdom and Australia. Cricket being a summer sport, and the venues...
- New South Wales
- Football
- South Australian National Football League premiership: won by Port AdelaidePort Adelaide MagpiesThe Port Adelaide Football Club, nicknamed The Magpies, is an Australian rules football club which competes in the South Australian National Football League...
- Victorian Football League premiership: MelbourneMelbourne Football ClubThe Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed The Demons, is an Australian rules football club playing in the Australian Football League , based in Melbourne, Victoria....
defeated CollingwoodCollingwood Football ClubThe Collingwood Football Club, nicknamed The Magpies, is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League...
64–36
- South Australian National Football League premiership: won by Port Adelaide
- Rugby
- 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 All BlacksAll BlacksThe New Zealand men's national rugby union team, known as the All Blacks, represent New Zealand in what is regarded as its national sport.... - Brisbane Rugby League premiership: ValleysFortitude Valley DiehardsThe Fortitude Valley Diehards were an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Brisbane suburb of Fortitude Valley.-History:...
defeated Brothers 17–7 - 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...
: South SydneySouth Sydney RabbitohsThe South Sydney Rabbitohs are an Australian professional rugby league football team based in Redfern, a suburb of South-central Sydney, New South Wales. They participate in the National Rugby League premiership and are one of nine existing teams from the state capital...
defeated NewtownNewtown JetsThe Newtown Jets are an Australian rugby league football club based in Newtown, a suburb of Sydney's inner west. They currently compete in the NSWRL Premier League competition, having left the top grade after the 1983 NSWRFL season...
12–11
- 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 Bobby LockeBobby LockeArthur D'Arcy "Bobby" Locke was the first internationally successful South African professional golfer. He won four Open Championships.-Early years:... - 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 Ossie PickworthOssie PickworthHorace Henry Alfred "Ossie" Pickworth was a leading Australian professional golfer of the 1940s and 1950s, winner of three successive Australian Open titles from 1946 to 1948, the first and last of which came in playoffs against Jim Ferrier.Pickworth was born in Sydney.Unlike his contemporary...
- Australian Open
- Horse Racing
- Rising FastRising FastRising Fast was an outstanding New Zealand-bred Thoroughbred racehorse. In 1954 he became the only horse in history to win the Melbourne Cup, Caulfield Cup and Cox Plate races in the same season - the Spring Grand Slam - and since that time no Melbourne Cup winner has performed such a feat...
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... - Kingster 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...
- Toparoa 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...
- Rising Fast
- 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 Port WakefieldPort Wakefield, South AustraliaPort Wakefield was the first government town to be established north of the capital, Adelaide, in South Australia.Port Wakefield is situated approximately 98.7 kilometres from Adelaide and lies on the Port Wakefield Road section of the A1 National Highway...
and won by Jack BrabhamJack BrabhamSir John Arthur "Jack" Brabham, AO, OBE is an Australian former racing driver who was Formula One champion in , and . He was a founder of the Brabham racing team and race car constructor that bore his name....
driving a Cooper BristolCooper Car CompanyThe Cooper Car Company was founded in 1946 by Charles Cooper and his son John Cooper. Together with John's boyhood friend, Eric Brandon, they began by building racing cars in Charles' small garage in Surbiton, Surrey, England in 1946...
- The Australian Grand Prix
- Tennis
- Australian Open men's singles: Ken RosewallKen RosewallKenneth Robert Rosewall AM MBE is a former world top-ranking amateur and professional tennis player from Australia. He won 23 Majors including eight Grand Slam singles titles and before the Open Era a record fifteen Pro Slam titles . Rosewall won 9 slams in doubles with a career double grand slam...
defeats Lew HoadLew HoadLewis Alan Hoad was a champion tennis player....
9–7 6–4 6–4 - Australian Open women's singles: Beryl Penrose Collier defeats Thelma Coyne LongThelma Coyne LongThelma Dorothy Coyne Long was one of the female tennis players who dominated Australian tennis from the mid-1930s to the 1950s.-Tennis career:...
6–4 6–3 - 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....
defeats the United States 5–0 in the 1955 Davis Cup1955 Davis CupThe 1955 Davis Cup was the 44th edition of the most important tournament between national teams in men's tennis. The Eastern Zone was reinstated with increasing entries from Asia...
final - WimbledonThe Championships, WimbledonThe Championships, Wimbledon, or simply Wimbledon , is the oldest tennis tournament in the world, considered by many to be the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Club in Wimbledon, London since 1877. It is one of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments, the other three Majors...
: Rex HartwigRex HartwigRex Noel Hartwig was an Australian tennis player.-Wimbledon:He won the doubles in Wimbledon twice: In 1954 with Mervyn Rose and in 1955 with Lew Hoad.-Australian Championships:...
and Lew HoadLew HoadLewis Alan Hoad was a champion tennis player....
win the Gentlemen's Doubles
- Australian Open men's singles: Ken Rosewall
- Yachting
- Even takes line honours and Moonbi 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...
- Even takes line honours and Moonbi wins on handicap in the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race
Births
- 10 February – Greg NormanGreg NormanGregory John Norman AO is an Australian professional golfer and entrepreneur who spent 331 weeks as the world's Number 1 ranked golfer in the 1980s and 1990s...
, golfer - 4 March – Tim CostelloTim CostelloTimothy Ewen Costello AO is a prominent Baptist minister and current CEO of World Vision Australia.He is an "Australian Living Treasure". He is the brother of former treasurer of Australia and Federal Member for Higgins Peter Costello....
, Baptist minister and CEO of World Vision - 31 March – Angus YoungAngus YoungAngus McKinnon Young is a Scottish-born Australian musician, and the lead guitarist, songwriter, and co-founder of the rock and roll band AC/DC. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame along with other members of AC/DC in 2003 and is known for his energetic performances,...
, musician - 23 April – Judy DavisJudy DavisJudy Davis is an Australian actress best known for her roles in Husbands and Wives, Barton Fink, A Passage to India and in the TV miniseries Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows....
, actress - 3 May – David HookesDavid HookesDavid William Hookes was an Australian cricketer, broadcaster and coach of the Victorian cricket team. An aggressive left-handed batsman, Hookes usually batted in the middle order...
(d. 2004), cricketer - 31 May – Tommy EmmanuelTommy EmmanuelWilliam Thomas "Tommy" Emmanuel AM is an Australian guitarist, best known for his complex fingerpicking style, energetic performances and the use of percussive effects on the guitar. In the May 2008 and 2010 issues of Guitar Player Magazine, he was named as "Best Acoustic Guitarist" in their...
, musician - 5 July – Peter McNamaraPeter McNamaraPeter McNamara is a retired Australian tennis player.He won five singles and nineteen doubles titles during his professional career. A right-hander, McNamara reached his highest singles ATP-ranking on 14 March 1983 when he became World number 7...
, tennis player - 24 July – David SmithDavid Smith (race walker)David Gregory Smith is a retired male race walker from Australia, who represented his native country at two consecutive Summer Olympics, starting in 1980 . His best Olympic result was finishing in tenth place in the men's 20 km race at the 1984 Summer Olympics.-Achievements:-References:**...
, race walker - 27 July – Allan BorderAllan BorderAllan Robert Border AO is a former Australian cricketer. A batsman, Border was for many years the captain of the Australian team. His playing nickname was "A.B.". He played 156 Test matches in his career, a record until it was passed by fellow Australian Steve Waugh...
, cricketer - 5 August – Robert FlowerRobert FlowerRobert Flower is a former Australian rules footballer with Melbourne Football Club. His first game was against Geelong in 1973 and he captained the team from 1981 until his final game in 1987...
, footballer - 19 August – Mary-Anne FaheyMary-Anne FaheyMary-Anne Fahey is an Australian actor, comedian and writer.-Biography:Fahey has starred in and written for comedy programs including The Comedy Company, Kittson, Fahey , Get a Life and One Size Fits All...
, actress and comedienne - 5 October – Wilbur WildeWilbur WildeWilbur Wilde is an Australian saxophonist. He rose to prominence with the bands Ol' 55, Jo Jo Zep & The Falcons...
, musician - 8 October – Paul LennonPaul LennonPaul Anthony Lennon is an Australian Labor Party politician. He was Premier of Tasmania from 21 March 2004 until his resignation on 26 May 2008. He was member of the Tasmanian House of Assembly for the seat of Franklin from 1990 until officially resigning on 27 May 2008...
, Premier of Tasmania - 11 December – David AtkinsDavid AtkinsDavid Atkins, OAM was recognised in the 2003 Queen’s Birthday Honours with a Medal of the Order of Australia for services to the entertainment industry and is Australia’s most awarded producer, choreographer and director, and CEO of David Atkins Enterprises, a major-events production...
, actor and dancer
Deaths
- 6 June – Max MeldrumMax MeldrumDuncan Max Meldrum was a Scottish born Australian painter. He is known as the founder of Australian Tonalism, a representational style of painting, as well as his portrait work, for which he won the Archibald Prize in 1939 and 1940.-Early Life and Training:Meldrum was born in Edinburgh, Scotland,...
(b. 1875), artist - 11 November – Arthur CobbyArthur Henry CobbyAir Commodore Arthur Henry Cobby CBE, DSO, DFC & Two Bars, GM was an Australian military aviator...
(b. 1894), military aviator - 19 December – Keith SmithKeith Macpherson SmithSir Keith Macpherson Smith KBE, was an Australian aviator, who, along with his brother, Sir Ross Macpherson Smith and two other men, became the first people to fly from England to Australia....
(b. 1890), aviation pioneer