1939 in Australia

1939 in Australia
Monarchy	George VI
Governor-General	Alexander Hore-Ruthven, 1st Baron Gowrie
Prime minister	Joseph Lyons, Earle Page, Robert Menzies
Population	6,967,754
Elections	WA

Incumbents

Monarch – King George VI
Governor-General – Alexander Hore-Ruvthen, 1st Baron Gowrie
Prime Minister – Joseph Lyons (until 7 April), then Sir Earle Page (until 26 April), then Robert Menzies

State Premiers

Premier of New South Wales – Bertram Stevens (until 5 August) then Alexander Mair
Premier of Queensland – William Forgan Smith
Premier of South Australia – Thomas Playford IV
Premier of Tasmania – Albert Ogilvie (until 10 June), then Edmund Dwyer-Gray (until 18 December), then Robert Cosgrove
Premier of Victoria – Albert Dunstan
Premier of Western Australia – John Willcock

State Governors

Governor of New South Wales – John Loder, 2nd Baron Wakehurst
Governor of Queensland – Sir Leslie Orme Wilson
Governor of South Australia – Sir Winston Dugan (until 23 February), then Sir Malcolm Barclay-Harvey (from 12 August)
Governor of Tasmania – Sir Ernest Clark
Governor of Victoria – William Vanneck, 5th Baron Huntingfield (until 4 April), then Sir Winston Dugan (from 17 July)
Governor of Western Australia – none appointed

Events

13 January – The bushfires of Black Friday kill 70 people in Victoria.
27 March – The first CAC Wirraway training aircraft, A20-3, takes to the air at Fishermans Bend, Victoria.
7 April – Prime Minister Joseph Lyons dies of a sudden heart attack, the first Prime Minister to die in office. Sir Earle Page, the leader of the Country Party is appointed caretaker Prime Minister until the United Australia Party can elect a new leader.
26 April – Robert Menzies is elected leader of the United Australia Party, and is sworn in as Prime Minister.
10 June – Premier of Tasmania Albert Ogilvie dies in office. Edmund Dwyer-Gray acts as Premier until he is officially elected as leader of the Labor Party in Tasmania on 6 July.
3 September – World War II begins. Australia declares war on Germany, following the United Kingdom and British Dominions' declaration of same, after the German invasion of Poland.
15 September – Robert Menzies announces a new War Cabinet.
1 December – Australia agrees to take 15,000 Jewish refugees fleeing Europe, following the German occupation of Austria and Czechoslovakia.
18 December – Edmund Dwyer-Gray steps aside as Premier of Tasmania, by prior arrangement with Robert Cosgrove to assume the premiership.

Arts and literature

Main article: 1939 in Australian literature

Max Meldrum wins the Archibald Prize with his portrait of The Hon G J Bell, Speaker of the House of Representatives

Sport

Rivette wins the Melbourne Cup and Caulfield Cup
Mosaic wins the Cox Plate
South Australia wins the Sheffield Shield
The Balmain club wins the 1939 NSWRFL premiership

Births

6 January – Murray Rose, swimmer
29 January – Germaine Greer, academic and feminist
13 February – Andrew Peacock, politician
13 February- Allan Pearson, Australian Farmer and Rural Businessmen
5 March – Tony Rundle, Premier of Tasmania (1996–1998)
4 April – Alex George, botanist
7 April – Brett Whiteley (died 1992), artist
12 April – Johnny Raper, Australian rugby league footballer
20 April – Elspeth Ballantyne, actress
10 May – Peter Wilenski, Australian public servant (d. 1994)
12 May – Reg Gasnier, Australian rugby league footballer
12 July – Phillip Adams, broadcaster and writer
26 July – John Howard, Prime Minister of Australia (1996–2007)
5 September – George Lazenby, actor (James Bond)
8 October – Paul Hogan, comedian and actor
9 October – John Pilger, journalist and filmmaker
10 October – Clive James, writer and social commentator
25 November – Ian Smith, politician
26 December – Fred Schepisi, film director

Deaths

14 February – James Webb, NSW politician
9 March – Edwin Greenslade Murphy (born 1866), journalist and poet
7 April – Joseph Lyons (born 1879), Prime Minister of Australia (1932–1939) and Premier of Tasmania (1923–1928)
25 April – Sir Charles Powers (born 1853), High Court judge
10 June – Albert Ogilvie (born 1890), Premier of Tasmania (1934–1939)
6 August – James MacCallum Smith (born 1868), WA politician
30 August – Edward Sydney Simpson (born 1875), mineralogist and geochemist
3 October – Henry Augustus Ellis (born 1861), physician and federalist
22 October – Sir John Langdon Bonython (born 1848), politician and journalist
15 November – William Hill (born 1866), politician
6 December – Sir Ernest Scott (born 1867), historian

Years in Australia (1788–present)

1788 1789 1790 1791 1792 1793 1794 1795 1796 1797 1798 1799 1800

1801 1802 1803 1804 1805 1806 1807 1808 1809 1810 1811 1812 1813 1814 1815 1816 1817 1818 1819 1820 1821 1822 1823 1824 1825 1826 1827 1828 1829 1830 1831 1832 1833 1834 1835 1836 1837 1838 1839 1840 1841 1842 1843 1844 1845 1846 1847 1848 1849 1850 1851 1852 1853 1854 1855 1856 1857 1858 1859 1860 1861 1862 1863 1864 1865 1866 1867 1868 1869 1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900

1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Timeline of Australian history

1939 in Oceania

Sovereign states	Australia Federated States of Micronesia Fiji Kiribati Marshall Islands Nauru New Zealand Palau Papua New Guinea Samoa Solomon Islands Tonga Tuvalu Vanuatu

Associated states of New Zealand	Cook Islands Niue

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