1958 in Australia explained
The following lists events that happened during 1958 in Australia.
Incumbents
State premiers
State governors
Events
- 14 January – Qantas Airways introduces a round-the-world air service from Australia to London.
- 20 January – The Royal Australian Naval College is moved back to Jervis Bay Territory from Flinders Naval Depot in Victoria.
- 28 January to 11 February – Harold Macmillan visits Australia, the first Prime Minister of the United Kingdom to do so while in office.
- 14 February to 7 March – Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother visits Australia for the second time.
- 21 March – John McEwen replaces Arthur Fadden as federal leader of the Country Party.
- 24 March – The Cahill Expressway in Sydney opens, the first true freeway in Australia.
- 1 April – William John O'Meally becomes The last person flogged in Australia in Melbourne's Pentridge Prison.
- 3 April – A cyclone destroys most of the town of Bowen in Queensland.
- 15 April – Monash University is founded in Melbourne, Victoria.
- 11 May – Construction of Australia's largest man-made lake, Lake Eucumbene on the Eucumbene River in the Snowy Mountains, is completed.
- 31 May – Henry Bolte's Liberal government is re-elected in Victoria.
- 19 July – The last tram service runs in Perth.
- 26 August – Robert Cosgrove retires as Premier of Tasmania, and is replaced by Eric Reece.
- 30 September – The ANZAC Day Act 1958 receives Royal Assent, making ANZAC Day (25 April) a national public holiday in Australia.
- 26 October – The wreckage of the Australian National Airways Avro 10 aircraft, VH-UMF Southern Cloud, is found. The aircraft had been missing since 1931.
- 22 November – A federal election is held. The Liberal-Country coalition led by Robert Menzies defeats H. V. Evatt's Australian Labor Party with 74 seats to 45 in the House of Representatives, a majority unprecedented since Federation, gained from preferences from the Democratic Labor Party.
Unknown dates
- Aquila Shoes, a shoe manufacturing company, founded.
- Johnny O'Keefe has his first hit with Wild One.
- Radio station 2UE publishes the first Australian Top 40.
Science and technology
Unknown dates
- Australian engineer Dr. David Warren of Melbourne's Aeronautical Research Laboratories constructs the world's first flight recorder ("black box").
Arts and literature
See main article: 1958 in Australian literature.
Film
Television
Sport
- Athletics
- Cricket
- Football
Brothers defeated Valleys 22-7
won by Port Adelaide
Collingwood defeated Melbourne 82-64
- Golf
- Horse racing
- Motor racing
- Tennis
- Yachting
Births
- 3 January – Kerry Armstrong, actress
- 5 January – Penny Whetton, climatologist (died 2019)
- 6 February – Simon Baker, race walker
- 10 February – Phil Weightman, politician
- 12 February – Grant McLennan, singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 2006)[1]
- 14 February – Grant Thomas, Australian rules footballer
- 15 February – Steve Bredhauer, politician
- 22 February – Bill Feldman, politician
- 28 February – Neil Bennett, politician
- 16 March – Phillip Wilcher, pianist and composer
- 20 March – Phil Anderson, cyclist
- 29 March – Geoff Provest, politician
- 11 April – Mark Furner, politician
- 12 April
- 19 April – Bill Byrne, politician
- 5 May – Robert DiPierdomenico, footballer and media personality
- 7 May – Alan John, composer
- 11 May – Peter Antonie, rower
- 11 May – Phil Smyth, basketball player
- 3 July – Gary Buckenara, Australian Rules footballer
- 6 July – Gary Humphries, politician
- 13 July – Richard Glover, journalist, author and radio personality
- 15 July – Phil Gould, rugby league identity
- 12 August – Grace Grace, politician
- 22 August – Jo-Ann Miller, politician
- 30 September – Rod Welford, politician
- October - Garry Pankhurst, former child actor
- 13 October – Jim Krakouer, Australian Rules footballer
- 22 October – Jan Jarratt, politician
- 3 November – Ted Radke, politician
- 15 November – Lewis Fitz-Gerald, actor and director
- 24 November – Alex Douglas, politician
- 26 November – Terry Rogers, politician
- 27 November – Linda Lavarch, politician
- 12 December – Monica Attard, journalist
- 31 December – Geoff Marsh, cricketer
Deaths
- 24 January – William Roy Hodgson, public servant (b. 1892)
- 8 March – Brian Swift, Australian cricketer, car accident (b. 1937)
- 8 April – Ethel Turner, writer (b. 1872)
- 15 May – Sir John Northmore, Western Australian Supreme Court Chief Justice (b. 1865)
- 4 August – Ethel Anderson, poet, author, and painter (b. 1883)
- 13 September – Russell Mockridge (b. 1928), cyclist
- 14 October – Douglas Mawson, polar explorer (b. 1882)
- 30 November – Hubert Wilkins, polar explorer (b. 1888)
See also
Notes and References
- Web site: Grant McLennan. 10 May 2006. Garth Cartwright. The Guardian. 22 August 2022. 16 July 2024. https://web.archive.org/web/20240716065147/https://www.theguardian.com/news/2006/may/10/guardianobituaries.artsobituaries. live.
