1940 in Australia
The following lists events that happened during 1940 in Australia.
| 1940 in Australia | |
|---|---|
| Monarch | George VI |
| Governor-General | Alexander Hore-Ruthven, 1st Earl of Gowrie |
| Prime minister | Robert Menzies |
| Population | 7,039,490 |
| Elections | Federal, VIC |
| |||||
| Decades: |
| ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| See also: | |||||
Incumbents
- Monarch – George VI
- Governor-General – Alexander Hore-Ruthven, 1st Baron Gowrie
- Prime Minister – Robert Menzies
- Chief Justice – Sir John Latham
State Governors
Events
- 28 February – The Australian 7th Division is formed.
- 16 March – A state election is held in Victoria. The Country Party led by Albert Dunstan is returned to government.
- 14 June – The Volunteer Defence Corps is formed, a militia force based on the British Home Guard.
- 6 July – The Story Bridge is opened in Brisbane.
- 19 July – The Australian cruiser HMAS Sydney takes part in the sinking of the Italian cruiser Bartolomeo Colleoni
- 1 August – The first of sixty Bathurst-class corvettes, HMAS Bathurst, is launched in Sydney.
- 13 August – An RAAF Lockheed Hudson crashes near Canberra, killing three members of Cabinet and the Chief of the General Staff.[1]
- 3 September – The heavy cruiser HMAS Australia takes part in Operation Menace off Dakar.
- 6 September – The British prison ship HMT Dunera docks in Sydney, carrying refugees and prisoners of war considered a danger to British security, for internment in Hay and Tatura.
- 21 September – The 1940 federal election results in a hung parliament, with Prime Minister Robert Menzies remaining in office at the head of a minority government.
- 16 October – Country Party leader Archie Cameron resigns and is succeeded by Arthur Fadden as acting leader.
- 26 October – Double-decker buses replace the last cable trams in Melbourne.
Arts and literature
- Max Meldrum wins the Archibald Prize with his portrait of Dr J Forbes McKenzie
- The Man Who Loved Children by Christina Stead is published.
- The Magic Basket a musical play for children by Alfred Wheeler is published
Film
- Forty Thousand Horsemen, directed by Charles Chauvel and starring Chips Rafferty, is released
Sport
- Old Rowley wins the Melbourne Cup
- Beaulivre wins the Caulfield Cup
- Beau Vite wins the Cox Plate
- New South Wales wins the Sheffield Shield
- Eastern Suburbs win the 1940 NSWRFL season, defeating Canterbury-Bankstown 24–14. Western Suburbs finish in last place, claiming the wooden spoon.
Births
- 5 January – Athol Guy, musician
- 19 January – Paul Calvert, Liberal Senator for Tasmania
- 17 February – Marilyn Jones, ballet dancer
- 22 February – Neil Brown, politician
- 24 February – Ian Shelton, Australian rules football player (died 2021)
- 27 February – Bill Hunter, actor (died 2011)
- 1 March – Robin Gray, Premier of Tasmania (1982–1989)
- 8 March – Don Barker, actor
- 19 March – Andrew Taylor, poet
- 20 March – Paul Neville, politician (died 2019)
- 12 April – Jack Hibberd, playwright
- 16 April – Marion Halligan, writer (died 2024)[2]
- 24 April – Trevor Kent, actor (died 1989)
- 26 April – Ian Geoghegan, race car driver (died 2003)
- 15 June – Ken Fletcher, tennis player (died 2006)
- 17 June – Alan Murray, Australian golfer (died 2019)
- 23 June – Diana Trask, country music singer
- 25 June – Judy Amoore, athlete
- 29 June – Ken Done, artist
- 3 August – Judith Troeth, Liberal Senator for Victoria
- 16 August – Bruce Beresford, film director
- 18 August – Jan Owen, poet
- 31 August – Jack Thompson, actor
- 9 September – Hugh Morgan, businessman
- 13 September – Kerry Stokes, chairman of the Seven Network
- 15 September – Allan Andrews, NSW politician
- 21 September – John Pochee, jazz musician (died 2022)
- 3 October – Diana Warnock, radio broadcaster and politician
- 4 October – Ian Kiernan, environmentalist, 1994 Australian of the Year (died 2018)
- 5 October – Bob Cowper, cricketer
- 15 October – Peter C. Doherty, medical researcher, Nobel Prize recipient
- 19 October – Ian Causley, politician (died 2020)
- 21 October – Peter Arnison, Governor of Queensland (1997–2003)
- 1 November – John Bell, actor and theatre director
- 4 November – John Sanderson, Governor of Western Australia (2000–2005)
- 12 November – John Dowd, NSW politician
- 7 December – Robin Miller, aviator and nurse (died 1975)
- 19 December – Jane Mathews, judge (died 2019)
Deaths
- 3 February – John Henry Michell, mathematician (b. 1863)
- 5 February – Bill Wilks, New South Wales politician (b. 1863)
- 8 March – Michael Kelly, Catholic archbishop (b. 1850)
- 16 April – Herbert James Carter, entomologist (b. 1858)
- 20 April – Sir Ernest Gaunt, naval admiral (b. 1865)
- 22 June – Monty Noble, cricketer (b. 1873)
- 23 June – Hugh Denis Macrossan, Queensland politician and judge (b. 1881)
- 6 July – Michael O'Connor, Western Australian politician (b. 1865)
- 22 July – Sir George Fuller, 22nd Premier of New South Wales (b. 1861)
- 27 July – Bluey Wilkinson, speedway rider (b. 1911)
- 30 July
- Arthur Merric Boyd, painter (b. 1862)
- Archibald Watson, surgeon and professor of anatomy (b. 1849)
- 13 August
- James Fairbairn, Victorian politician (b. 1897)
- Henry Gullett, Victorian politician (b. 1878)
- Geoffrey Street, Victorian politician (b. 1894)
- Sir Brudenell White, 10th Chief of the General Staff (b. 1876)
- 9 September – Percy Abbott, New South Wales politician (b. 1869)
- 11 September – Issy Smith, soldier and Victoria Cross recipient (b. 1890)
- 22 September – Robert Blackwood, New South Wales politician (b. 1861)
- 2 October – Albert Green, Western Australian politician (b. 1869)
- 14 October – Helen de Guerry Simpson, novelist (b. 1897)
- 25 October – Thomas Waddell, 15th Premier of New South Wales (b. 1854)
- 31 October
- Frank Anstey, Victorian politician (born in the United Kingdom) (b. 1865)
- John Keating, Tasmanian politician (b. 1872)
- 2 November – Colin Rankin, Queensland politician and soldier (b. 1869)
- 3 November – James Fowler, Western Australian politician (born in the United Kingdom) (b. 1863)
- 23 November – Sir Stanley Argyle, 32nd Premier of Victoria (b. 1867)
- 11 December – Belle Golding, feminist, suffragist and labour activist (b. 1864)
- 20 December – Tom Foster, composer (b. 1870)
References
- "Nation Mourns Victims of Air Disaster" (scan). The Canberra Times. 15 August 1940. pp. 2, 3. Retrieved 9 August 2017 – via Trove.
- "Marion Halligan". AustLit: Discover Australian Stories. The University of Queensland. Retrieved 24 February 2024.
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