1940 in Australia
The following lists events that happened during 1940 in Australia.
| 1940 in Australia | |
|---|---|
| Monarchy | George VI |
| Governor-General | Alexander Hore-Ruthven, 1st Earl of Gowrie |
| Prime minister | Robert Menzies |
| Population | 7,039,490 |
| Elections | Federal, VIC |
| |||||
| Decades: |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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
Story Bridge (built 1940), Brisbane in 2009
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A.B.C. truck recording soldiers off to war, Darling Harbour, May 1940
- 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
- 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
- 24 April – Trevor Kent, actor (died 1989)
- 26 April – Ian Geoghegan, race car driver (died 2003)
- 15 June – Ken Fletcher, tennis player (died 2006)
- 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
- 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
- 8 March – Michael Kelly (born 1850), Catholic Archbishop of Sydney (1911–1940)
- 16 April – Herbert James Carter (born 1858), entomologist
- 22 June – Monty Noble (born 1873), cricketer
- 23 June – Hugh Denis Macrossan (born 1881), Queensland politician and judge
- 6 July – Michael O'Connor (born 1865), WA politician
- 22 July – Sir George Fuller (born 1861), Premier of New South Wales (1921)
- 30 July – Arthur Merric Boyd (born 1862), painter
- 30 July – Archibald Watson (born 1849), surgeon and professor of anatomy
- 13 August – Geoffrey Street (born 1894), politician
- 13 August – Henry Gullett (born 1878), politician
- 13 August – James Fairbairn (born 1897), politician
- 13 August – Sir Brudenell White (born 1876), Chief of the General Staff
- 9 September – Percy Abbott (born 1869), politician
- 11 September – Issy Smith (born 1890), soldier and Victoria Cross recipient
- 22 September – Robert Blackwood
- 2 October – Albert Green, politician
- 14 October – Helen de Guerry Simpson (born 1897), novelist
- 25 October – Thomas Waddell (born 1854), Premier of New South Wales (1904)
- 31 October – Frank Anstey (born 1865), politician
- 2 November – Colin Rankin (born 1869), soldier, politician, cane farmer and company director
- 3 November – James Fowler, politician
- 23 November – Stanley Argyle (born 1867), Premier of Victoria (1932–1935)
- 11 December – Belle Golding (born 1864), feminist, suffragist and labor activist[2]
References
- "Nation Mourns Victims of Air Disaster" (scan). The Canberra Times. 15 August 1940. pp. 2, 3. Retrieved 9 August 2017 – via Trove.
- "Obituary - Miss Isabella Golding". The Sydney Morning Herald. 14 December 1940. Retrieved 4 November 2014 – via National Library of Australia.
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