1959 in Australia

1959 in Australia
Monarchy	Elizabeth II
Governor-General	William Slim
Prime minister	Robert Menzies
Population	10,056,479
Elections	SA, WA, NSW, TAS

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1959
in
Australia

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Decades:

1930s
1940s
1950s
1960s
1970s

Incumbents

State Premiers

Premier of New South Wales – Joseph Cahill (until 22 October), then Robert Heffron
Premier of South Australia – Sir Thomas Playford
Premier of Queensland – Frank Nicklin
Premier of Tasmania – Eric Reece
Premier of Western Australia – Albert Hawke (until 2 April), then David Brand
Premier of Victoria – Henry Bolte

State Governors

Governor of New South Wales – Sir Eric Woodward
Governor of Queensland – Sir Henry Abel Smith
Governor of South Australia – Sir Robert George
Governor of Tasmania – Thomas Corbett, 2nd Baron Rowallan (from 21 October)
Governor of Victoria – Sir Dallas Brooks
Governor of Western Australia – Sir Charles Gairdner

Events

26 January (Australia Day) – Darwin was granted city status
12 February – The Melbourne outdoor performance venue the Sidney Myer Music Bowl is officially opened by Prime Minister Robert Menzies.
15 February – American evangelist Billy Graham begins a tour of Australia.^[1]
February – major floods in Queensland ^[2]
March – formal construction of the Sydney Opera House began
4 June – the Soviet embassy in Canberra was reopened. It had been closed since 29 April 1954 as a result of the Petrov Affair ^[3]
29 July – Qantas launched its first jet service from Sydney to San Francisco via Nadi and Honolulu.
August and September – Princess Alexandra toured Australia ^[4]
September – Australian National University building an "Atom Smasher" ^[5]
23 September the M/S Princess of Tasmania Australia's first passenger Roll-on/roll-off diesel ferry makes maiden voyage across Bass Strait.
November – Donald Bradman batted for 15 minutes in a demonstration. He retired from cricket.^[6]

Arts and literature

Main article: 1959 in Australian literature

William Dobell wins the Archibald Prize with a portrait of Dr Edward MacMahon
The Big Fellow by Vance Palmer wins the Miles Franklin Literary Award

Film

On the Beach starring Gregory Peck and Ava Gardner was shot around Melbourne. The film was based on the novel by Nevil Shute.

Television

Six O'Clock Rock screened on the Australian Broadcasting Commission's channel. It was compered by Johnny O'Keefe and was the ABC's response to Bandstand on Channel Nine.

Adelaide's first television station, NWS-9, begins broadcasting on 5 September

Sport

Cricket
- New South Wales wins the Sheffield Shield
- England toured Australia in the summer of 1958/59 for The Ashes; Australia won the series 4-0.
Football
- Brisbane Rugby League premiership: Northern Suburbs defeated Brothers 24-18
- New South Wales Rugby League premiership: St. George defeated Manly-Warringah 20-0
- South Australian National Football League premiership: won by Port Adelaide
- Victorian Football League premiership: Melbourne defeated Essendon 115-78
Golf
- Australian Open: won by Kel Nagle
Horse Racing
- Regal Wench wins the Caulfield Cup
- Noholme wins the Cox Plate
- Fine and Dandy wins the Golden Slipper
- Macdougal wins the Melbourne Cup
Motor Racing
- Jack Brabham wins the 1959 Formula One Drivers' Championship
- The Australian Grand Prix was held at Longford, Tasmania and won by Stan Jones driving a Maserati
Tennis
- Australian Open men's singles: Alex Olmedo defeats Neale Fraser 6-1 6-2 3–6 6-3
- Australian Open women's singles: Mary Carter defeats Renee Schuurman 6-2 6-3
- Davis Cup: Australia defeats the United States 3-2 in the 1959 Davis Cup final
Yachting
- Solo takes line honours and Cherana wins on handicap in the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race

Births

31 January – Anthony LaPaglia, actor
8 February – Andrew Hoy, equestrian rider
12 February – Sigrid Thornton, actress
24 February – Mike Whitney, cricketer
5 March – Colleen Noonan, mother
5 June – Mark Ella, rugby union player
21 July – Paul Vautin, rugby league footballer, coach and media personality
26 July – Gary Honey, long jumper
29 July – Gene Miles, rugby league footballer of the 1980s and 1990s
12 August – Kerry Boustead, rugby league footballer
19 August – Rodney Adler, businessman
30 August – Mark "Jacko" Jackson, footballer and actor
12 September – Brad Dalton, basketball player
6 October – Robyn Maher, basketball player
11 October – Wayne Gardner, motorcycle and touring car racer
24 October – Rowland S. Howard, musician (died 2009)
4 September – Kevin Harrington, Australian actor
13 November – Anne Manning, racewalker
1 December – Wally Lewis, rugby league footballer and coach
12 December – Christine Stanton, high jumper
15 December – Greg Matthews, cricketer

Deaths

22 February – Harold Hardwick (born 1888), freestyle swimmer
20 June – Sir Ian Clunies Ross (born 1899), scientist
8 August – Albert Namatjira (born 1902), Aboriginal artist
19 September – Arthur Hennessy (born 1876), Australia's first rugby league captain
14 October – Errol Flynn (born 1909), actor (died in Canada)
14 October – Jack Davey (born 1907), radio comedian and quiz show host
22 October – Joseph Cahill (born 1891), Premier of New South Wales (1952–1959)
10 November – Gertrude Bodenweiser, choreographer
11 November – Charles Chauvel (born 1897), filmmaker
24 November – Dally Messenger (born 1883), rugby union and league footballer
18 December – Edouard Borovansky (born 1902), Czech born ballet dancer and choreographer; founder of the Borovansky Australian Ballet

References

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

1959 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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