1970 in Australia

The following lists events that happened during 1970 in Australia.

1970 in Australia
MonarchyElizabeth II
Governor-GeneralSir Paul Hasluck
Prime ministerJohn Gorton
Population12,263,014
ElectionsSA, VIC, Half-Senate

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 1970
in
Australia

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Decades:
  • 1950s
  • 1960s
  • 1970s
  • 1980s
  • 1990s
See also:

Incumbents
Sir Paul Hasluck
John Gorton

State and Territory Leaders

Governors and Administrators

Events
  • 1 January – Newcastle, New South Wales suffers a fierce hailstorm.
  • 3 January – Police in Liverpool, Sydney conduct a high speed car chase after Wally Mellish, a central figure in the July 1968 Glenfield siege.
  • 4 January – The Victorian Government appoints William Kaye, QC to investigate allegations that some senior police officers took bribes from abortionists.
    • 1,000 New South Wales state powerhouse operators go on strike.
  • 5 January – Federal Opposition Leader Gough Whitlam tells a meeting of Wewak Councillors in Port Moresby that the Territory House of Assembly was a "rubber stamp" for policies formulated in Canberra.
  • 7 January – The U.S. seismic survey vessel Polaris catches fire at Port Adelaide, causing $750,000 worth of damage.
    • Federal Opposition Leader Gough Whitlam announces in Rabaul, Papua New Guinea that a New Guinean would be appointed as Administrator of the Territory immediately if Labor won the next election.
    • The Australian Wheatgrowers' Federation recommends a national wheat quota reduction for the 1970–71 season.
  • 8 January – The Army Minister Andrew Peacock denies the statement made the previous day by senior Labor figure Jim Cairns that Australian officers in Vietnam had suggested to troops that they would be home by June.
    • Queensland Labor Senator George Georges rejects oil company assurances that drilling in the Great Barrier Reef area could be done in such away that the reef would be preserved in an untouched state.
  • 12 January – Prime Minister John Gorton announces the number of cannons to be distributed and the locations of these cannons for the Captain Cook celebrations. New South Wales, Canberra and Queensland will each receive one of the six cannons jettisoned by Captain Cook from the Endeavour on the Great Barrier Reef in 1770.
    • National Development Minister Reg Swartz announces that an Australian team is in San Francisco drawing up specifications for Australia's first nuclear power station to be stationed at Jervis Bay.
    • Three-year-old Cheryl Grimmer vanishes from Fairy Meadow Beach near Wollongong.
  • 13 January – US Vice-President Spiro Agnew arrives in Canberra. 14 are arrested during protests outside Parliament House over Mr. Agnew's visit on 14 January.
  • 14 January – Prime Minister Gorton announces that Ampol Exploration Ltd. is not proceeding with its intention to drill for oil in the Great Barrier Reef pending a thorough examination of whether there might be damage to the reef.[1]
  • 15 January –
    • Brisbane is hit by a dust storm.
    • Sydney police receive a $10,000 ransom note for the return of missing three-year-old Cheryl Grimmer.
    • Canberra police investigate possibly dangerous chemicals thrown into the swimming pool of the Prime Minister's Lodge which appeared to be eating into the tiled walls of the pool in which Prime Minister Gorton swims every morning.
  • 17 January – Cyclone Ada hits Central Queensland, killing 14.
  • 19 January – Queensland Premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen agrees to a Commonwealth-State inquiry into oil-drilling on the Great Barrier Reef.
    • Prime Minister John Gorton announces that Federal Cabinet has accepted the recommendation of a Senate select committee for Australia to adopt the metric system of weights and measures.
    • The six Premiers unanimously agree in Adelaide to approach Prime Minister John Gorton with a long-range plan aimed at States levying their own income-tax.
  • 21 January – A thunderstorm in Brisbane causes damage to 1,000 homes, widespread power blackouts and peak-hour traffic chaos.
    • Dick Klugman, Labor MP for Prospect, reveals that a middle-aged Ukrainian migrant, Mr. Bronislaw Chyrzynski, had been held in Long Bay Gaol for nearly four weeks because he could not speak English.
  • 22 January – Seven men, including high-ranking Victorian police officers are named in connection with an alleged abortion protection racket at the Victorian Government's Board of Inquiry into allegations of police corruption over abortions.
    • Federal Cabinet reaches a final agreement on the introduction of common health fees acceptable to the Australian Medical Association.
    • Primary Industry Minister Doug Anthony announces at Casino that Australia has agreed to sell about 30,000 tons of meat – worth about $25 million- to Russia within the next six months.
  • 18 February – The Queensland Country Party is defeated in the Albert by-election.
  • 21 April – The Hutt River Province Principality is established.
  • 3 May – A new international terminal is opened at Sydney Airport
  • 1 July – Melbourne Airport is officially opened.
  • 15 October – A portion of the West Gate Bridge in Melbourne collapses, killing 35
  • 21 November – 1970 Australian Senate election: The Liberal/Country Coalition Government led by Prime Minister John Gorton and the Labor Party led by Gough Whitlam each ended up with 26 seats; both suffering a swing against them. The Democratic Labor Party won an additional seat and held the balance of power in the Senate. To date, this was the last occasion where a Senate election was held without an accompanying House of Representatives election.
  • Establishment of the Aboriginal Legal Service (NSW/ACT).
  • Pope Paul VI visits Australia.[2]
  • Elizabeth II and other members of the royal family tour Australia.

Arts and literature
Main article: 1970 in Australian literature

Film

Sport

Births

Deaths

References
  1. "P.M., Premier clash over reef proposal". Sydney Morning Herald. 15 January 1970.
  2. "Pilgrimage to West Asia, Oceania and Australia, 25 November – 5 December 1970". Retrieved 18 January 2019.
  3. "Winner: Archibald Prize 1970 – Eric John Smith". artgallery.nsw.gov.au. Art Gallery of NSW. Retrieved 20 August 2017.
  4. "Jodie ROGERS – Olympic Diving | Australia". International Olympic Committee. 17 June 2016. Retrieved 24 June 2019.
  5. Radi, Heather. "Street, Lady Jessie Mary (1889–1970)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. Retrieved 9 February 2020.
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