1981 in Australia
Encyclopedia
Incumbents
- Queen of Australia – Elizabeth II
- Governor General – Sir Zelman Cowen
- 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...
– 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... - Premier of New South Wales – Neville WranNeville WranNeville Kenneth Wran, AC, CNZM, QC was the Premier of New South Wales from 1976 until 1986. He was National President of the Australian Labor Party from 1980 to 1986 and Chairman of both the Lionel Murphy Foundation and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation from 1986...
- Premier of South Australia – David TonkinDavid TonkinDr David Oliver Tonkin AO was the 38th Premier of South Australia, serving from 18 September 1979 to 10 November 1982. He was elected to the House of Assembly seat of Bragg at the 1970 election, serving until 1983. He became the leader of the South Australian division of the Liberal Party of...
- 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 – Doug LoweDoug Lowe (Australian politician)Douglas Ackley "Doug" Lowe AM was the 35th Premier of Tasmania, from 1 December 1977 to 11 November 1981. His time as Premier coincided with controversy over a proposal to build a dam on Tasmania's Gordon River, which would have flooded parts of the Franklin River...
, then Harry HolgateHarry HolgateHarold Norman "Harry" Holgate AO was an Australian Labor Party politician and Premier of Tasmania from 11 November 1981 to 26 May 1982.... - 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...
– Sir Charles CourtCharles CourtSir Charles Walter Michael Court, was a Western Australian politician, 21st Premier of Western Australia and member for the seat of Nedlands for the Liberal Party for nearly 30 years.-Early life:... - Premier of Victoria – Rupert HamerRupert HamerSir Rupert James Hamer, AC, KCMG, ED , generally known until he was knighted in 1982 as Dick Hamer, Australian Liberal Party politician, was the 39th Premier of Victoria, serving from 1972 to 1981.-Early years:...
, then Lindsay ThompsonLindsay ThompsonLindsay Hamilton Simpson Thompson AO, CMG , Australian Liberal Party politician, was the 40th Premier of Victoria from June 1981 to April 1982... - Chief Minister of the Australian Capital TerritoryChief Minister of the Australian Capital TerritoryThe Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory is the head of government of the Australian Capital Territory. The leader of party with the largest representation of seats in the unicameral Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly usually takes on the role...
– Post did not exist in 1981. - Chief Minister of the Northern TerritoryChief Minister of the Northern TerritoryThe Chief Minister of the Northern Territory is appointed by the Administrator, who in normal circumstances will appoint the head of whatever party holds the majority of seats in the legislature of the territory...
– Paul EveringhamPaul EveringhamPaul Anthony Edward Everingham AO was the first Chief Minister of the Northern Territory of Australia when it was granted self-government in 1978....
Events
- 10 February – Townsville International AirportTownsville International AirportTownsville Airport is a major Australian regional airport that services the city of Townsville. The airport is also known as Townsville International Airport, and Garbutt Airport, a reference to its location in the Townsville suburb of Garbutt...
opens in TownsvilleTownsville, QueenslandTownsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Australia, in the state of Queensland. Adjacent to the central section of the Great Barrier Reef, it is in the dry tropics region of Queensland. Townsville is Australia's largest urban centre north of the Sunshine Coast, with a 2006 census... - 14 February – AustraliaAustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
withdraws recognition of the Pol PotPol PotSaloth Sar , better known as Pol Pot, , was a Cambodian Maoist revolutionary who led the Khmer Rouge from 1963 until his death in 1998. From 1976 to 1979, he served as the Prime Minister of Democratic Kampuchea....
regime in CambodiaCambodiaCambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...
. - 15 April – Foreign MinisterForeign ministerA Minister of Foreign Affairs, or foreign minister, is a cabinet minister who helps form the foreign policy of a sovereign state. The foreign minister is often regarded as the most senior ministerial position below that of the head of government . It is often granted to the deputy prime minister in...
Andrew PeacockAndrew PeacockAndrew Sharp Peacock AC, GCL , is a former Australian Liberal politician. He was a minister in the Gorton, McMahon and Fraser governments, and was federal leader of the Liberal Party of Australia 1983–1985 and 1989–1990...
resigns from cabinet accusing the Prime MinisterPrime ministerA prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...
of gross disloyalty. - 29 April – A fire at the Pacific Nursing Home kills 16 in Sylvania Heights, a Suburb of Sydney.
- 5 June – Rupert HamerRupert HamerSir Rupert James Hamer, AC, KCMG, ED , generally known until he was knighted in 1982 as Dick Hamer, Australian Liberal Party politician, was the 39th Premier of Victoria, serving from 1972 to 1981.-Early years:...
resigns as Premier of Victoria after losing the support of his 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...
. - 25 August – The Rembrant Hotel fire kills 19 people in Kings CrossKings Cross, New South WalesKings Cross is an inner-city locality of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is located approximately 2 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Sydney...
, 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...
. - 19 September – The ALPAustralian 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 of Neville Wran is re-electedNew South Wales state election, 1981Elections were held in the state of New South Wales, Australia, on Saturday 19 September 1981. The result was a second "Wranslide": a landslide victory for the Australian Labor Party under Neville Wran, in which the government increased its already sizeable majority.The Liberals suffered the double...
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...
, increasing his majority from his "Wranslide" win in 1978. - 11 November – Harry Holgate becomes PremierPremiers of the Australian statesThe Premiers of the Australian states are the de facto heads of the executive governments in the six states of the Commonwealth of Australia. They perform the same function at the state level as the Prime Minister of Australia performs at the national level. The territory equivalents to the...
of Tasmania after the resignation of Doug Lowe. - 12 December – A referendumReferendumA referendum is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal. This may result in the adoption of a new constitution, a constitutional amendment, a law, the recall of an elected official or simply a specific government policy. It is a form of...
is held in Tasmania to vote for whether or not the Franklin DamFranklin DamThe Franklin Dam or Gordon-below-Franklin Dam project was a proposed dam on the Gordon River in Tasmania, Australia, that was never constructed. The movement that eventually led to the project's cancellation became one of most significant environmental campaigns in Australian history.The dam was...
should be built. 47% vote for the original proposal, 8% vote for the compromise solution & 45% vote informally. It is estimated that up to one-third of all votes were for 'no dams', which was not a sanctioned option.
Unknown Dates
- Public funding of election campaigns introduced 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...
. - Victoria Decriminalizes Homosexual acts Between Consenting Adults
Arts & Literature
- Peter Carey's novel BlissBliss (novel)Bliss is a novel by Australian writer Peter Carey. Published in 1981, the book won that year's Miles Franklin Award.-Plot:Written as a dark, comic fable, the story concerns an advertising executive, Harry Joy, who briefly 'dies' of a heart attack. On being resuscitated, he realizes that the life he...
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 ...
Television
- 2 March – Good Morning AustraliaGood Morning AustraliaGood Morning Australia from Network Ten was the name of two different programs. This article is for Bert Newton's morning program, not to be confused with the breakfast news program of the same name....
premieres on Network TenNetwork TenNetwork Ten , is one of Australia's three major commercial television networks. Owned-and-operated stations can be found in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth, while affiliates extend the network to cover most of the country...
, marking the return of breakfast televisionBreakfast televisionBreakfast television or morning show , is a type of infotainment television program, broadcast live in the morning...
to Australian televisionAustralian televisionTelevision in Australia began experimentally as early as 1929 in Melbourne with stations 3DB and 3UZ using the Radiovision system by Gilbert Miles and Donal McDonald, and later from other locations, such as Brisbane in 1934....
screens. - 10 April – The TV WeekTV WeekTV Week is a weekly television magazine in Australia, first published as a Melbourne-only publication in December 1957 , and bearing a strong affiliation to television station GTV.The publication is still publishing weekly...
Logie Awards air on Ten for the first time. It is also the first time that the logies have not been screened on the Nine Network. - 27 July – Wheel of FortuneWheel of Fortune (Australian game show)Wheel of Fortune was an Australian television game show produced by Grundy Television. The programme aired on the Seven Network from 1981 to 2004 and November 2005 to July 2006, and is mostly based on the same general format as the original US version of the programme...
premieres on the Seven NetworkSeven NetworkThe Seven Network is an Australian television network owned by Seven West Media Limited. It dates back to 4 November 1956, when the first stations on the VHF7 frequency were established in Melbourne and Sydney.It is currently the second largest network in the country in terms of population reach...
. - 16 September – The Nine NetworkNine NetworkThe Nine Network , is an Australian television network with headquarters based in Willoughby, a suburb located on the North Shore of Sydney. For 50 years since television's inception in Australia, between 1956 and 2006, it was the most watched television network in Australia...
celebrates 25 years of televisionTelevisionTelevision is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
in Australia. - November – A Country PracticeA Country PracticeA Country Practice is an Australian television drama series. One of the longest-running of its kind, produced by James Davern of JNP Productions, it ran on the Seven Network for 1,058 episodes from 18 November 1981 to 22 November 1993. It was produced in ATN-7's production facility at Epping,...
debuts on Channel 7.
Sport
- 1 February – Trevor ChappellTrevor ChappellTrevor Martin Chappell is a former Australian cricketer, a member of the South Australian Chappell family which excelled at cricket...
bowls underarmUnderarm bowlingIn cricket, underarm bowling is as old as the sport itself. Until the introduction of the roundarm style in the first half of the 19th century, bowling was performed in the same way as in bowls, the ball being delivered with the hand below the waist...
in the final delivery of the game against New ZealandNew Zealand cricket teamThe New Zealand cricket team, nicknamed the Black Caps, are the national cricket team representing New Zealand. They played their first in 1930 against England in Christchurch, New Zealand, becoming the fifth country to play Test cricket. It took the team until 1955–56 to win a Test, against the...
at the MCGMcGJoseph McGinty Nichol , better known as McG, is an American director and producer of film and television, as well as a former record producer....
. The deliveryUnderarm bowling incident of 1981The underarm bowling incident of 1981 took place on 1 February 1981, when Australia was playing New Zealand in a One Day International cricket match, the third of five such matches in the final of the Benson & Hedges World Series Cup, at the Melbourne Cricket Ground...
leads to the banning of underarm deliveries in cricketCricketCricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
. - 28 March – Australia is represented by fifteen long-distance runners (nine men, six women) at the ninth IAAF World Cross Country Championships1981 IAAF World Cross Country ChampionshipsThe 9th IAAF World Cross Country Championships were held on March 28, 1981 in Madrid, Spain. There were a total number of 457 participating athletes from 39 countries.- Individual :- Team :- Individual :- Team :- Individual :- Team :...
in Madrid, Spain. Robert de CastellaRobert de CastellaRobert Francois de Castella, MBE is an Australian former world champion marathon runner. He is widely known as "Deek" or "Deeks" to the Australian public, and "Tree" to his competitors due to his thick legs and inner calm...
is Australia's best finisher, claiming the sixth spot (35:20.0) in the race over 12 kilometres. - March – The Canberra RaidersCanberra RaidersThe Canberra Raiders are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the national capital city of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. They have competed in Australasia's elite rugby league competition, the National Rugby League premiership since 1982...
are accepted as the 14th team in the NSWRLNew South Wales Rugby LeagueThe New South Wales Rugby League is the governing body of rugby league in New South Wales and is a member of the Australian Rugby League. It was formed in Sydney on 8 August 1907 and was known as the New South Wales Rugby Football League until 1984 when forward thinking marketing managers decided...
for 1982. - The Sin Bin rule is introduced in rugby leagueRugby leagueRugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...
. 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...
hooker Barry Jensen becomes the first player sent there. - 25 July – Garry Bentley wins the men's national marathon title, clocking 2:16:58 in Werribee, while Rosemary Longstaff claims the inaugural women's title in 2:46:48.
- 29 July – The VFL board announces that South MelbourneSydney SwansThe Sydney Swans Football Club is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League . The club is based in Sydney, New South Wales. The club, founded in 1874, was known as the South Melbourne Football Club until it relocated to Sydney in 1982 to become the Sydney...
will play 11 games 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...
in 1982. - 29 August – South MelbourneSydney SwansThe Sydney Swans Football Club is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League . The club is based in Sydney, New South Wales. The club, founded in 1874, was known as the South Melbourne Football Club until it relocated to Sydney in 1982 to become the Sydney...
play their last game at the Lake Oval in Albert ParkAlbert ParkAlbert Park may refer to:In Australia:* Albert Park, Lismore, home to international baseball stadium Baxter Field* Albert Park, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne** Albert Park and Lake, the park itself...
against North MelbourneNorth Melbourne Football ClubThe North Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed The Kangaroos, is the fourth oldest Australian rules football club in the Australian Football League and is one of the oldest sporting clubs in Australia and the world...
. North Melbourne win, 15.17.107 to 10.14.74. - 26 September – The Carlton Blues (12.20 (92)) defeat the Collingwood Magpies (10.12 (72)) to win the 85th VFLAustralian Football LeagueThe Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...
premiership. It is the last time CollingwoodCollingwood, VictoriaCollingwood is an inner city suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 3 km north-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Yarra...
would feature in a grand final until 1990. - 27 September – The Parramatta EelsParramatta EelsThe Parramatta Eels are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Sydney suburb of Parramatta. The Parramatta District Rugby League Football Club was formed in 1947, with their First Grade side playing their first season in the New South Wales Rugby Football League...
defeat the Newtown JetsNewtown 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...
20-11† to win the 74th NSWRL premiership. It is also the first premiership for the Parramatta EelsParramatta EelsThe Parramatta Eels are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Sydney suburb of Parramatta. The Parramatta District Rugby League Football Club was formed in 1947, with their First Grade side playing their first season in the New South Wales Rugby Football League...
, who had been trying to win one since 1947. Fans celebrate by burning down the main grandstand of the Cumberland Oval, which was due to be demolished. - 3 October – 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...
(14.11 (95)) defeat Glenelg (6.8 (44)) at Football ParkAAMI StadiumFootball Park is an Australian rules football stadium located in West Lakes, a western suburb of Adelaide, South Australia...
to win their 27th SANFL premiership. Russell EbertRussell EbertRussell Ebert is acknowledged as one of the greatest players in the long history of Australian rules football.Born in Berri, South Australia, Ebert debuted for the Port Adelaide Football Club in the South Australian National Football League as an 18 year old in 1968 and immediately made an...
is awarded the inaugural Jack Oatey medal for best player during the grand final. - 3 November – Just A Dash 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...
.
†=Scored under outdated scoring system.
Births
- 24 February – Lleyton HewittLleyton HewittLleyton Glynn Hewitt born 24 February 1981) is an Australian professional tennis player and former world no. 1.In 2000, Hewitt had won ATP titles on all three major surfaces and reached one final on carpet. By 2001, he became the youngest male ever to be ranked no. 1 at the age of 20...
, tennis player - 26 February – Daniel GealeDaniel GealeDaniel Geale is a middleweight boxer and current IBF middleweight champion from Australia, who won the gold medal in the men's welterweight division at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, United Kingdom.-Amateur career:Other than winning the 2002 2002 Commonwealth Games at welterweight,...
, welterweight boxer - 2 April – Michael ClarkeMichael Clarke (cricketer)Michael John Clarke is an Australian cricketer. He was appointed captain of the Test and ODI teams on 30 March 2011. Nicknamed 'Pup', he is a right-handed batsman, and occasional left-arm orthodox spin bowler...
, cricketer - 11 May – Lauren JacksonLauren JacksonLauren Elizabeth Jackson is an Australian professional basketball player. Jackson began her professional career at the Australian Institute of Sport in the WNBL before moving on to the Canberra Capitals. She is currently a forward/centre with the Seattle Storm of the WNBA and the Australian...
, basketball player - 15 June – Andrew McDonaldAndrew McDonald (cricketer)Andrew Barry McDonald is an Australian Test cricketer who plays for the Victorian Bushrangers, and who made his Test debut in Sydney on 3 January 2009, against South Africa. McDonald also represented Australia at under 19 level and has played for the Prime Minister's XI...
, cricketer - 17 June – Shane WatsonShane WatsonShane Robert Watson is an Australian cricketer. He is a right-handed batsman and a right-handed fast medium bowler. He mainly bats as an opener in international cricket, although he does not do so domestically....
, cricketer - 24 July – Doug BollingerDoug BollingerDouglas Erwin Bollinger is a professional Australian cricketer who currently plays first-class cricket for the New South Wales Blues and international cricket for Australia. He is a left-handed batsman and a left-arm fast bowler...
, cricketer - 26 July – Abe ForsytheAbe ForsytheAbe Forsythe is an Australian film and television actor, director, writer and producer. He is the son of actor and comedian Drew Forsythe.-Career:He first appeared on the TV series The Miraculous Mellops...
, actor - 8 August – Vanessa AmorosiVanessa AmorosiVanessa Amorosi is an Australian singer-songwriter and recording artist. Her combined album and single sales have reached over 2 million worldwide.-Early life:...
, singer-songwriter - 18 October – Nathan HauritzNathan HauritzNathan Michael Hauritz is an Australian cricketer who has represented Australia in Tests, One-dayers and Twenty20 Internationals. He is mainly noted for his off spin bowling....
, cricketer - 19 October – Sarah TaylorSarah Taylor (field hockey)Sarah Young is a female field hockey midfielder from Australia. She made her debut for the Australian women's national team during the 2001 season...
, field hockey player - 22 October – Bradley HoreBradley HoreBradley Arthur Hore is a retired male flyweight boxer from Australia. He competed for his native country at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, where he was stopped in the second round of the men's flyweight division by USA's Ronald Siler .-References:*...
, boxer - 26 October – Guy SebastianGuy SebastianGuy Theodore Sebastian is an Australian pop, R&B, and soul singer-songwriter who was the first winner of Australian Idol in 2003. He is currently a judge on the Australian version of The X Factor. Sebastian has released six top ten platinum/multi platinum albums, including a number-one and...
, singer-songwriter - 2 November – Mitchell JohnsonMitchell Johnson (cricketer)Mitchell Guy Johnson is an Australian cricketer. He is a left-arm fast bowler and left-handed batsman. He was awarded the International Cricket Council's 2009 "Cricketer of the Year" award, the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy.-Career:...
, cricketer - 21 December – Justin KaneJustin KaneJustin Stewart Kane is a bantamweight boxer from Australia, who won the gold medal in the men's bantamweight division at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, United Kingdom...
, bantamweight boxer - 27 December – Emilie de RavinEmilie de RavinEmilie de Ravin born 27 December 1981)is an Australian actress. She is commonly associated with her roles as Tess Harding on Roswell and Claire Littleton on the ABC drama Lost....
, actress
Deaths
- 16 June – Sir Thomas PlayfordThomas 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...
(b. 1896), former Premier of South Australia - 29 June – Russell DrysdaleRussell DrysdaleSir George Russell Drysdale, AC was an Australian artist. He won the prestigious Wynne Prize for Sofala in 1947, and represented Australia at the Venice Biennale in 1954...
(b. 1912), painter - 19 October – Dymphna CusackDymphna CusackDymphna Cusack AM was an Australian author.Born in West Wyalong, New South Wales, Dymphna Cusack was educated at St Ursula's College, and graduated from Sydney University with an honours degree in Arts and a diploma in Education...
(b. 1902), writer - 2 September – 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...
(b. 1897), politician - 9 September – Sir 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...
(b. 1907), former Premier of New South Wales - 23 December – Sir Reginald AnsettReg AnsettSir Reginald Myles "Reg" Ansett KBE was an Australian businessman and aviator; best known for founding Ansett Transport Industries Limited, which owned one of Australia's two leading domestic airlines between 1957 and 2001...
(b. 1909), businessman