1970 in Australia
Encyclopedia
Incumbents
- 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...
– John GortonJohn GortonSir John Grey Gorton, GCMG, AC, CH , Australian politician, was the 19th Prime Minister of Australia.-Early life:... - 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...
– Paul HasluckPaul HasluckSir Paul Meernaa Caedwalla Hasluck KG GCMG GCVO KStJ was an Australian historian, poet, public servant and politician, and the 17th Governor-General of Australia.-Early life:... - Premier of New South Wales – Robert AskinRobert AskinSir Robert William Askin GCMG, was an Australian politician and the 32nd Premier of New South Wales from 1965 to 1975, the first representing the Liberal Party of Australia. He was born in 1907 as Robin William Askin, but always disliked his first name and changed it by deed poll in 1971...
- Premier of South Australia – Steele HallSteele HallRaymond Steele Hall was the 36th Premier of South Australia 1968-70, a senator for South Australia 1974-77, and federal member for the Division of Boothby 1981-96.-Biography:...
; Don DunstanDon DunstanDonald Allan "Don" Dunstan, AC, QC was a South Australian politician. He entered politics as the Member for Norwood in 1953, became state Labor leader in 1967, and was Premier of South Australia between June 1967 and April 1968, and again between June 1970 and February 1979.The son of a business... - Premier of Queensland – Joh Bjelke-PetersenJoh Bjelke-PetersenSir Johannes "Joh" Bjelke-Petersen, KCMG , was an Australian politician. He was the longest-serving and longest-lived Premier of Queensland, holding office from 1968 to 1987, a period that saw considerable economic development in the state...
- Premier of Tasmania – Angus Bethune
- 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...
– David BrandDavid BrandSir David Brand KCMG was the 19th and longest serving Premier of Western Australia and a Member of the Legislative Assembly from 1945 to 1975.-Early life:... - Premier of Victoria – Henry BolteHenry BolteSir Henry Edward Bolte GCMG was an Australian politician. He was the 38th and longest serving Premier of Victoria.- Early years :...
Events
- 17 January – Cyclone Ada hits Central QueenslandCentral QueenslandCentral Queensland is an ambiguous geographical division of Queensland that centres on the eastern coast, around the Tropic of Capricorn. Its major regional centre is Rockhampton and the Capricorn Coast and the area extends west to the Central Highlands at Emerald, north to the Mackay Regional...
, killing 14. - 21 April – The Hutt River Province PrincipalityHutt River Province PrincipalityThe Principality of Hutt River, previously known as the Hutt River Province, is the oldest micronation in Australia. The principality claims to be an independent sovereign state having achieved legal status on 21 April 1972, although it remains unrecognized except by other micronations.The...
is established. - 3 May – A new international terminal is opened at Sydney AirportSydney AirportSydney Airport may refer to:* Sydney Airport, also known as Kingsford Smith International Airport, in Sydney, Australia* Sydney/J.A. Douglas McCurdy Airport, in Nova Scotia, Canada...
- 1 July – Melbourne AirportMelbourne AirportMelbourne Airport , also known as Tullamarine Airport, is the primary airport serving the city of Melbourne and the second busiest in Australia. It was opened in 1970 to replace the nearby Essendon Airport. Melbourne Airport is the sole international airport of the four airports serving the...
is officially opened. - 15 October – A portion of the West Gate BridgeWest Gate BridgeThe West Gate Bridge is a steel box girder cable-stayed bridge in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It spans the Yarra River, just north of its mouth into Port Phillip, and is a vital link between the inner city and Melbourne's western suburbs with the industrial suburbs in the west and with the city...
in Melbourne collapses, killing 35 - Pope Paul VIPope Paul VIPaul VI , born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church from 21 June 1963 until his death on 6 August 1978. Succeeding Pope John XXIII, who had convened the Second Vatican Council, he decided to continue it...
visits Australia. - Elizabeth II and other members of the royal family tour Australia.
Science and technology
With the arrival of Asian immigrants after the abolition of the White Australia policyWhite Australia policy
The White Australia policy comprises various historical policies that intentionally restricted "non-white" immigration to Australia. From origins at Federation in 1901, the polices were progressively dismantled between 1949-1973....
, Australia began mass productions of paper, and gunpowder.
Arts and literature
- Germaine GreerGermaine GreerGermaine Greer is an Australian writer, academic, journalist and scholar of early modern English literature, widely regarded as one of the most significant feminist voices of the later 20th century....
publishes her book, The Female EunuchThe Female EunuchThe Female Eunuch is a book first published in 1970 that became an international bestseller and an important text in the feminist movement. The author, Germaine Greer, became well known in broadcast media of the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada and her home of Australia...
. - Eric SmithEric Smith (artist)Eric John Smith is an award-winning Australian artist. Smith has won many of Australia's major art prizes multiple times including the Archibald Prize for portraiture three times; the Wynne Prize twice; the Sulman Prize three times; and the Blake Prize for Religious Art six times.-Life 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 Gruzman – Architect - Frederick Bates wins 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...
for landscape with his painting Redfern – Southern Portal - Dal StivensDal StivensDal Stivens was an Australian writer.After serving in the army during the war, from 1944 to 1949, Stivens was on the staff of the Australian Department of Information. He served in the press office at Australia House in London until 1950...
's novel A Horse of AirA Horse of AirA Horse of Air is a Miles Franklin Award winning novel by Australian author Dal Stivens. The horse of the title makes reference to the Australian Aboriginal term for the night parrot. When horses where first introduced to the Australian mainland, their galloping motion was said to resemble the...
wins the Miles Franklin AwardMiles Franklin AwardThe Miles Franklin Literary Award is an annual literary prize for the best Australian ‘published novel or play portraying Australian life in any of its phases’. The award was set up according to the will of Miles Franklin , who is best known for writing the Australian classic My Brilliant Career ...
Sport
- 19 September — The South Sydney RabbitohsSouth 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 Manly-Warringah Sea EaglesManly-Warringah Sea EaglesThe Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles are an Australian professional rugby league club based on the Northern Beaches of Sydney. They compete in the National Rugby League's Telstra Premiership, the premier rugby league competition of Australasia...
in the NSWRL Grand Final at the Sydney Cricket GroundSydney Cricket GroundThe Sydney Cricket Ground is a sports stadium in Sydney in Australia. It is used for Australian football, Test cricket, One Day International cricket, some rugby league and rugby union matches and is the home ground for the New South Wales Blues cricket team and the Sydney Swans of the Australian...
. Souths captain John SattlerJohn SattlerJohn William Sattler is an Australian former rugby league footballer of the 1960s and '70s. He was a rugged Prop forward who led his club, South Sydney to four premiership victories between 1967 and 1971 and who played four tests for Australia – three as the national captain...
played most of the game with a broken jaw. - 26 September – John FarringtonJohn FarringtonJohn Allan Farrington is a former long-distance runner from Australia, who represented his native country in the men's marathon at the 1968 Summer Olympics. There he finished in 43rd position, clocking 2:50:16.8. He came fifth in the same event at the 1974 Commonwealth Games...
wins his second men's national marathon title, clocking 2:15:27 in Werribee. - Baghdad Note 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...
. - Victoria 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...
. - Buccaneer takes line honours and Pacha 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...
. - The US yacht Intrepid defeats the Australian yacht Gretel II in the America's CupAmerica's CupThe America’s Cup is a trophy awarded to the winner of the America's Cup match races between two yachts. One yacht, known as the defender, represents the yacht club that currently holds the America's Cup and the second yacht, known as the challenger, represents the yacht club that is challenging...
. - Australia defeats Germany 3-0 in the Federation CupFed CupFed Cup is the premier team competition in women's tennis, launched in 1963 to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the International Tennis Federation...
. - Margaret Court becomes the second woman to win the Grand Slam of tennis.
- John NewcombeJohn NewcombeJohn David Newcombe, AO, OBE is a former World No. 1 tennis player.-Biography:He won seven Grand Slam singles titles, A natural athlete, Newcombe played several sports as a boy until devoting himself to tennis. He was the Australian junior champion in 1961, 1962, and 1963 and was a member of...
wins both the singles and doubles championships at Wimbledon. - Johnny FamechonJohnny FamechonJohnny Famechon, born 28 March 1945, is a former Australian featherweight boxer, who was born as Jean-Pierre Famechon in Paris, France.He moved to Australia in 1950 at the age of five. Over his twenty-year career he developed a reputation for being a skilled boxer whose strength was his defence...
defeats Fighting HaradaFighting HaradaMasahiko Harada , better known as Fighting Harada, is a former world boxing champion. He is currently the president of the Japanese boxing commission....
to retain the WBCWorld Boxing CouncilThe World Boxing Council was initially established by 11 countries: the United States, Argentina, United Kingdom, France, Mexico, Philippines, Panama, Chile, Peru, Venezuela and Brazil plus Puerto Rico, met in Mexico City on February 14, 1963, upon invitation of the then President of Mexico, Adolfo...
featherweightFeatherweightFeatherweight is a weight class division in the sport of boxing. There are similarly named divisions under several Mixed Martial Arts organizations and in Greco-Roman wrestling.-Professional boxing:...
championship.
Births
- 1 January – Shelley O'DonnellShelley O'DonnellShelley O'Donnell is an Australian netball player. A ten-year veteran of the Australian national team, she was also the inaugural captain of the Melbourne Kestrels in the national Commonwealth Bank Trophy from 1997 to 2000...
, netballer - 8 January – Rachel FriendRachel Friend-Career:Friend joined the cast of the soap opera Neighbours in 1988, when she was eighteen. Friend chose to postpone her university degree to join the show as Bronwyn Davies. Friend quit Neighbours in 1990. That same year saw her win the Logie Award for "Most Popular Actress".Other roles have...
, actress - 27 January – Bradley ClydeBradley ClydeBradley Clyde is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer of the 1980s, 90s and 2000s who, at the peak of his playing career was widely acknowledged as the best lock forward in the game....
, rugby league footballer - 9 February – Glenn McGrathGlenn McGrathGlenn Donald McGrath AM , nicknamed "Pigeon", is a former Australian cricket player. He is one of the most highly regarded fast-medium pace bowlers in cricketing history, and a leading contributor to Australia's domination of world cricket from the mid-1990s to the early 21st century...
, cricketer - 10 February – Melissa DoyleMelissa DoyleMelissa Jane Doyle is an Australian television personality.Doyle is currently co-host of the Seven Network's Sunrise, The Zoo and Where Are They Now.-Early career:...
, television personality - 25 February – Peter LewPeter LewPeter Lew , is an Australian businessman from Melbourne.He is the Chairman of P Lew Investment Group, owner of the BrandBank Group of Companies and has extensive interests in retail, financial services and property investments inherited from his father, Solomon Lew...
, businessman - 4 April – Jason StoltenbergJason StoltenbergJason Stoltenberg is a former professional tennis player from Australia.Stoltenberg began playing tennis at age ten on an antbed court where his father owned a cotton farm in the Far West of New South Wales. In 1987, he won the boys' singles title at the Australian Open and was ranked the World No...
, tennis player - 11 May – Dean CapobiancoDean CapobiancoDean Capobianco is an Australian businessman and former athlete. As an athlete he is best known as a sprinter. He won the 1990 Stawell Gift.-Athletics:...
, track and field sprinter - 25 May – Danni RocheDanni RocheDanni Roche is a former field hockey player, who was a member of the Australian Women’s Hockey Team, best known as the Hockeyroos, that won the gold medal at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia....
, field hockey player - 8 June – Stephen Renouf, rugby league footballer
- 4 July – Tony VidmarTony VidmarAnthony "Tony" Vidmar is an Australian former professional football player of Slovenian origin. He was a member of the Australian national team, competed at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona for his native country, and is currently Australia's third highest capped player...
, soccer player - 8 July – Lisa Powell, field hockey forward
- 10 July – Adam HillsAdam HillsAdam Hills is an Australian comedian and television presenter. He has appeared on Australian and British television and is best known for his role hosting the Australian ABC music trivia show Spicks and Specks...
, comedian and television presenter - 13 July – Sandon StolleSandon StolleSandon Stolle is a former professional male tennis player from Australia and former World No. 2 in doubles .Stolle is the son of former Australian tennis champion Fred Stolle...
, tennis player - 19 July – Ashley PaskeAshley PaskeAshley Paske and educated at Figtree High School is an actor, best known for his role in the television series Neighbours...
, actor - 27 August – Andy BichelAndy BichelAndrew John Bichel is a retired Australian cricket player and was the bowling coach of the Kolkata Knight Riders for the 2009 Indian Premier League....
, cricketer - 4 September – Deni HinesDeni HinesDohnyale "Deni" Sharon Hines is a solo R&B artist who had chart success in the 1990s in Australia and New Zealand. She is the daughter of Marcia Hines....
, singer - 8 October - Simon Lunn, rugby player and long distance runner
- 17 November – Tania ZaettaTania ZaettaTania Zaetta is an Australian actress and television presenter who acts in Bollywood.-Early life:Zaetta was born to an Italian father and an Australian mother. Grand daughter of James Howard Browne OAM, botanist. She spent the earlier years of her life living in Merbein, Victoria...
, television personality - 18 November – Peta WilsonPeta WilsonPeta Gia Wilson is an Australian actress and model. She is best known as Nikita in the television series La Femme Nikita.-Early life:...
, actress - 26 November – Dave HughesDave HughesDavid William "Hughesy" Hughes is an Australian stand-up comedian, radio and television presenter. He is currently co-host on the Network Ten's The Project and Before the Game as well as the breakfast radio show Hughesy and Kate.-Television:Hughes co-hosted the ABC comedy talk show The Glass House...
, comedian
Deaths
- 1 May – Nan ChauncyNan ChauncyNan Chauncy was a British-born Australian author of children's books.-Early life:Chauncy was born Nancen Beryl Masterman in Northwood, Middlesex, England and emigrated to Tasmania, Australia with her family in 1912, when her engineer father was offered a job with the Hobart City Council. She...
(b. 1900), children's author - 13 May – William DobellWilliam DobellSir William Dobell, OBE was an Australian artist .The electoral Division of Dobell is named after him.- Life :...
(b. 1899), artist and sculptor - 21 May – E. L. Grant WatsonE. L. Grant WatsonElliot Lovegood Grant Watson was a writer and biologist whose works combine the scrutiny of a scientist with the insight of the poet...
(b. 1885), writer and anthropologist - 2 July – Jessie StreetJessie StreetJessie Mary Grey Street was an Australian suffragette, feminist and human rights campaigner....
(b. 1889), suffragette and feminist - 12 December – Doris BlackburnDoris BlackburnDoris Amelia Blackburn was an Australian activist and Member of Parliament.She was born Doris Amelia Hordern in Melbourne, Victoria, and became involved in women's rights and peace issues from a young age and served as the campaign secretary of Vida Goldstein, the first woman to stand for election...
(b. 1889), women's rights activist and politician - 14 December – 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....
(b. 1897), former Governor General