1944 in Australia

1944 in Australia
Monarchy	George VI
Governor-General	Alexander Hore-Ruthven, 1st Earl of Gowrie
Prime minister	John Curtin
Population	7,309,711
Elections	SA, QLD, NSW

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1944
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Decades:

1920s
1930s
1940s
1950s
1960s

Incumbents

Monarch – King George VI ^[1]
Governor-General – Alexander Hore-Ruthven, 1st Baron Gowrie
Prime Minister – John Curtin ^[2]

State Premiers

Premier of New South Wales – William McKell
Premier of Queensland – Frank Cooper
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 (until 26 April), then Sir Charles Norrie (from 19 December)
Governor of Tasmania – Sir Ernest Clark
Governor of Victoria – Sir Winston Dugan
Governor of Western Australia – none appointed

Events

14 January – Meat rationing begins in Australia.^[3]
20 January – Seventeen people are killed at Brooklyn, New South Wales when a mail train and a bus collide at a level crossing. There is only one survivor, Gloria Iren Silvia.^[4]
15 February – Bushfires in the Western District, Gippsland and Yallourn regions of Victoria kill 51 people.
15 April – Fred Paterson is elected to the Parliament of Queensland, representing the seat of Bowen. He remains the only member of the Communist Party of Australia to ever be elected to an Australian Parliament.
30 June – Sydney waiter Antonio Agostini is sentenced to six years prison for the manslaughter of his wife, Linda Agostini, in what was known as the "Pyjama Girl" murder.^[5]
5 August – The Cowra breakout occurs, with 545 Japanese prisoners of war escaping from the camp.^[6]
19 August – A referendum is held, concerning Post-War Reconstruction and Democratic Rights. It proposes to grant the government power to legislate over 14 points of law for a five-year period. The referendum, asked in a single question, is not carried.^[7]
21 October – The heavy cruiser HMAS Australia, operating in the Philippines, is hit by a kamikaze aircraft, killing 20 and wounding 54, in what is believed to be the first attack of its kind.
25 November – Reg Saunders becomes the first Aboriginal commissioned officer in the Australian Army.
14 December – The Liberal Party of Australia is formed, replacing the United Australia Party.

Arts and literature

Main article: 1944 in Australian literature

Ern Malley poems first published, revealing a major Australian literary hoax.
Joshua Smith wins the Archibald Prize with his portrait of Sol Rosevear

Film

The film of the story of The Rats of Tobruk is released, directed by Charles Chauvel

Sport

29 July - North Melbourne (11.21.87) beat Richmond (14.2.86) in the only VFL/AFL match where the winning team scored three fewer goals
26 August - Newtown beat St. George 55-7 in the most one-sided NSWRFL/NSWRL/ARL/NRL final in history
Sirius wins the Melbourne Cup

Births

14 January – Graham Marsh, golfer
18 January – Paul Keating, Prime Minister of Australia (1991–1996)
19 January – Paul Gibson, NSW politician
3 February – Trisha Noble, singer and actress
9 February – Derryn Hinch, media personality
10 February – Peter Allen, entertainer (died 1992)
17 February – Robert Dessaix, writer
18 March – Dick Smith, businessman
22 April – Damien Broderick, science fiction author
22 May – John Flanagan, author
23 May – John Newcombe, tennis player
26 May – Andrew Jones, politician
28 May – Paul D. Scully-Power, oceanographer and astronaut
6 June – Matt Carroll, film and television producer
6 June – Rene Rivkin, businessman (died 2005)
4 July – Ray Meagher, actor
23 July – Alex Buzo, playwright and author (died 2006)
31 July – James Strong, businessman, CEO of Qantas (died 2013)
17 August – Nicholas John Vine-Hall, genealogist
21 August – Peter Weir, film director
2 September – Ray Groom, Premier of Tasmania (1992–1996)
8 September – Terry Jenner, cricketer
5 September – Gareth Evans, politician
11 September – Alan Gilbert, academic and university Vice-Chancellor
13 September – Midget Farrelly, surfer
16 September – Peter Harvey, journalist and television presenter (died 2013)
19 September – Colin Dibley, tennis player
25 October - Ron Coote, rugby league footballer
21 November – Kay Patterson, Liberal Senator for Victoria
4 December – Lawrie Peckham, high jumper
20 December – Ray Martin, television presenter (60 Minutes – 1979–1985, A Current Affair – 1994–1998 & 2003–3005, Midday – 1985–1993)
27 December – Bob Brown, politician

Deaths

1 January – Charles Turner (born 1862), cricketer
3 January – Tom Brennan (born 1866), Victorian politician
15 January – Patrick Lynch (born 1867), Labor Senator for Western Australia
5 March – George John Bell (born 1872), politician
31 March – Maurice Blackburn (born 1880), politician
10 May – Digby Denham (born 1859), Premier of Queensland (1911–1915)
24 May – William Butcher (born 1858), WA politician
29 July – Walter Price (born 1886), cricketer
5 August – Ralph Jones (born 1900), soldier killed during the Cowra breakout
21 October – Emile Dechaineux (born 1902), naval officer, captain of HMAS Australia
12 November – Roy Agnew (born 1891), composer and pianist
18 November – James Blair, politician and judge
20 November – Charles Frederick Cox (born 1863), soldier

References

↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 27 October 2015. Retrieved 18 December 2015.
↑ "John Curtin". naa.gov.au.
↑ "Rationing of food and clothing during the Second World War". awm.gov.au.
↑ "21 Jan 1944 - 15 KILLED IN NSW CROSSING TRAGEDY Mail Train Wre...". nla.gov.au.
↑ "01 Jul 1944 - ANTONIO AGOSTINI. SENTENCE OF SIX YEARS. "Jury M...". nla.gov.au.
↑ "Cowra breakout". awm.gov.au.
↑ "Referendum dates and results". Australian Electoral Commission.

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

1944 in Oceania

Sovereign states	Australia Federated States of Micronesia Fiji Indonesia 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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