The following lists events that happened during 1951 in Australia .
Decades:
1930s
1940s
1950s 1960s
1970s See also:
Incumbents
Robert Menzies
State Premiers
State Governors
Events
Womboota Uniting Church, built in 1951Five Latvian girls in the bush near Brisbane, 1951 1 January – The 50th anniversary of Australian federation is celebrated.
19 February – Jean Lee becomes the last woman to be hanged in Australia, when she, Robert Clayton and Norman Andrews are executed in Melbourne for the murder of a 73-year-old man.
1 March – The Bank of Australasia merges with the Union Bank of Australia to form the ANZ Bank .
9 March – The High Court of Australia rules in the case Australian Communist Party v Commonwealth Communist Party Dissolution Bill 1950 , passed by the parliament to ban the Communist Party of Australia , was unconstitutional.
19 March – The Governor-General, William McKell , issues a double dissolution of parliament for the second time in its history, citing the Senate 's referral of the Commonwealth Bank Bill as a "failure to pass" the bill.
12 April – Conscription begins as the first call-up notice is issued under the National Service Act (1951) , requiring Australian 18-year-old males to undergo compulsory military training.
28 April – A federal election is held. The Liberal government of Robert Menzies retains power.
8 June – The first lessons of the School of the Air are broadcast from the Royal Flying Doctor Service in Adelaide.[ 1]
13 June – Labor leader and former Prime Minister Ben Chifley suddenly dies of a heart attack.
20 June – Herbert Vere Evatt succeeds Ben Chifley as leader of the Labor Party.
16 August – The Australian Financial Review
1 September – The Anzus Treaty , between Australia, New Zealand and the United States, is signed.
9 September – Australia signs the Treaty of San Francisco , formalising peace with Japan.
22 September – A federal referendum is held, proposing to alter the Australian Constitution to allow the banning of the Communist Party . The referendum was not carried.
4 October – Francis McEncroe sells the first Chiko Rolls at the Wagga Wagga agricultural show.
15 October – A De Havilland Dove aircraft crashes near Kalgoorlie killing all 7 on board.[ 2]
13 November – William McKell is gazetted a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George , becoming the only Governor-General of Australia to be knighted during their term.
Arts and literature
Sport
Athletics
5 March – Gordon Stanley wins the men's national marathon title, clocking 2:59:44.6 in Hobart . Cricket
Football
Golf
Horse racing
Motor racing
Tennis
Yachting
Births
19 January – Charles Blunt , politician
20 January – Clyde Sefton , road cyclist
22 January – Steve J. Spears , actor, singer, and playwright (died 2007)
26 February – Wayne Goss , Premier of Queensland (died 2014)
29 April – Jon Stanhope , Chief Minister of the ACT
29 May – Don Baird , pole vaulter
4 July – John Alexander , tennis player and politician
6 July – Geoffrey Rush , actor
31 July – Evonne Goolagong Cawley , tennis player
6 August – Daryl Somers , television personality
30 August –
9 September – Alexander Downer , politician
27 September – Geoff Gallop , Premier of Western Australia
9 October – Rod Galt , Australian rules footballer (died 2019)
14 November – Shelley Hancock , politician
1 December – Doug Mulray , radio personality (died 2023)
18 December – Andy Thomas , astronaut
22 December – Jan Stephenson , professional golfer
Deaths
29 January – Frank Tarrant , cricketer (b. 1880 )[ 3] 18 April – Daisy Bates , journalist and anthropologist (born in Ireland ) (b. 1859 )27 May – Sir Thomas Blamey , field marshal (b. 1884 )11 June – William Higgs , Queensland politician (b. 1862 )13 June – Ben Chifley , 16th Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1885 )17 June - Vin Coutie , footballer (b. 1881 )3 July – Sydney Jephcott , poet (b. 1864 )4 October – Bartlett Adamson , journalist, poet, author and political activist (b. 1884 )[ 4] 10 December – Ernest Edwin Mitchell , composer (b. 1865 )[ 5]
See also
References
18th century 19th century 20th century 21st century
1951 in Oceania
Sovereign states
Federated States of Micronesia
Fiji
Indonesia
Kiribati
Marshall Islands
Nauru
New Zealand Palau
Papua New Guinea
Samoa
Solomon Islands
Timor-Leste
Tonga
Tuvalu
Vanuatu Associated states
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