1941 in Australia
| 1941 in Australia | |
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| Monarchy | George VI |
| Governor-General | Alexander Hore-Ruthven, 1st Earl of Gowrie |
| Prime minister | Robert Menzies, Arthur Fadden, John Curtin |
| Population | 7,109,898 |
| Elections | QLD, NSW, SA, TAS |
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Incumbents
- Monarch – George VI
- Governor-General – Alexander Hore-Ruthven, 1st Baron Gowrie
- Prime Minister – Robert Menzies (until 28 August), then Arthur Fadden (until 7 October), then John Curtin
State Premiers
- Premier of New South Wales – Alexander Mair (until 16 May), then William McKell
- Premier of Queensland – William Forgan Smith
- Premier of South Australia – Thomas Playford
- Premier of Tasmania – 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 Malcolm Barclay-Harvey
- Governor of Tasmania – Sir Ernest Clark
- Governor of Victoria – Sir Winston Dugan
- Governor of Western Australia – none appointed
Events
- 25 March – The Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force (WAAAF) is formed.
- 31 March – The Siege of Tobruk begins.
- 7 April – The Women's Royal Australian Naval Service (WRANS) is formed.
- 10 May – A general election is held in New South Wales. The ALP led by William McKell defeats the incumbent United Australia Party and Premier Alexander Mair.
- 12 May – The Daily Mirror newspaper is first published in Sydney.
- 30 June – HMAS Waterhen sinks off Libya – the first Australian naval vessel lost in the war.
- 3 October – Prime Minister Arthur Fadden resigns following the rejection of his budget by two independent MPs.
- 7 October – John Curtin is sworn in as Prime Minister after Arthur Fadden's government loses majority support in the House of Representatives.
- 11 November – The Australian War Memorial is opened in Canberra.
- 19 November – The light cruiser HMAS Sydney engages the German auxiliary cruiser Kormoran in an hour-long battle off the coast of Western Australia. Both ships are sunk, the Sydney going down with 645 crew.
- 9 December – Australia declares war on Japan, and the Axis powers of Finland, Hungary and Romania.
- 13 December – A general election is held in Tasmania. The Labor Party led by Robert Cosgrove is returned to power.
Arts and literature
Main article: 1941 in Australian literature
- William Dargie wins the Archibald Prize with his portrait of Sir James Elder, KBE
- The Timeless Land by Eleanor Dark is published.
Sport
- 27 September – Melbourne wins the 45th VFL Premiership, defeating Essendon 19.13 (127) to 13.20 (98).
- 4 November – Skipton wins the Melbourne Cup.
- Velocity wins the Caulfield Cup
- Beau Vite wins the Cox Plate
- The Sheffield Shield is not contested due to war
Births
- 23 January – Jock R. Anderson, economist and academic
- 29 January – Maggie Kirkpatrick, actress
- 2 February – John Cornell, actor and producer
- 4 February – Russell Cooper, Premier of Queensland (1989)
- 11 March – Kim Santow, NSW Supreme Court judge
- 29 March – Michael Thornhill, film producer, screenwriter and film director
- 31 March – Faith Leech, swimmer
- 10 April – Wendy Fatin, politician
- 17 April – Bill Landeryou, politician
- 24 April – John Williams, classical guitarist
- 11 May – Ian Redpath, cricketer
- 18 May – Lobby Loyde, rock music guitarist (died 2007)
- 31 May – Julian Croft, poet
- 4 June – Kenneth G. Ross, playwright
- 24 June – Graham McKenzie, cricketer
- 28 June – Harry Quick, politician
- 31 July – Heather McKay, squash player
- 1 September – Graeme Langlands, rugby league footballer and coach of the 1960s and 1970s
- 22 September – Murray Bail, writer
- 27 September – Gay Kayler, country music singer
- 3 October – John Elliott, businessman
- 14 October – David Kemp, politician
- 16 October – Genevieve Lloyd, philosopher and feminist
- 25 October – Helen Reddy, singer
- 28 October – Fred Chaney, WA politician
- 7 November – Willi Sawall, race walker
- 16 November – Max Gillies, actor
- 13 December – Dixie Willis, middle distance runner
Deaths
- 18 March – Harry Boan (born 1860), founder of Boans department store
- 1 April – John Chamberlain (born 1884), cricketer
- 5 April – Banjo Paterson (born 1864), bush poet, author and journalist
- 12 April – James Boyd (born 1867), politician
- 15 April – Emily Pelloe (born 1878), botanical illustrator
- 4 May – Chris McKivat (born 1879), rugby union and league player
- 8 May – Alexander Hay (born 1865), politician
- 15 June – John Lynch (born 1862), politician
- 24 June – Francis Anderson (born 1858), philosopher
- 1 July – Francis Birtles (born 1881), adventurer
- 7 July – Randolph Bedford (born 1868), writer and Queensland politician
- 27 July – James Ronald (born 1861), politician
- 31 July – Ron Barassi, Sr. (born 1913), Australian rules footballer
- 1 August – James Drake (born 1850), member of the first federal ministry
- 23 August – Jack O'Connor (born 1875), cricketer
- 30 August – Gregan McMahon (born 1874), actor and theatrical producer
- 31 August – Thomas Bavin (born 1874), Premier of New South Wales (1927–1930)
- 1 September – Millice Culpin (born 1846), politician
- 5 September – George Marchant (born 1857), soft drink manufacturer
- 1 October – John Longstaff (born 1861), artist
- 18 November – Chris Watson (born 1867), Prime Minister of Australia (1904)
- 19 November – Joseph Burnett (born 1899), captain of HMAS Sydney
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