The following lists events that happened during 1965 in Australia.

1965 in Australia
MonarchElizabeth II
Governor-GeneralViscount De L'Isle, then Lord Casey
Prime ministerSir Robert Menzies
Population11,387,665
Australian of the YearRobert Helpmann
ElectionsWA, SA, NSW

1965
in
Australia

Decades:
See also:

Incumbents

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Sir Robert Menzies

State and territory leaders

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Governors and administrators

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Events

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January

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February

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March

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  • 1 March – The Amateur Swimming Union of Australia stuns the nation with its decision that Olympic champion and 1964 Australian of the Year Dawn Fraser will be banned from all amateur competition for ten years. The decision follows an inquiry into Fraser's alleged misbehaviour during the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.
  • 1 March – Echuca, Victoria is gazetted as a city.
  • 6 March – The Australian Labor Party wins the South Australian election, taking government for the first time in 32 years. Labor leader Frank Walsh becomes Premier, replacing LCL leader Sir Thomas Playford, Australia's longest-serving premier, who had held office for 26 years, 4 months.
  • 10 March – The first drawing of the national service conscription lottery.
  • 12 March – Swan Hill, Victoria is gazetted as a city.
  • 17 March – The Queensland government legislates to ban picketing and restricting pamphlets and banners at the Mount Isa mine. The strikers workers return to work later in the month.
  • 20 March to 26 April – The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester visit Australia.
  • 24 March – Prime Minister Menzies announces a new concept in tertiary education as recommended by the Martin Committee on the Future of Tertiary Education in Australia.
  • 31 March – Merle Thorton and Rosalie Bogner chained their ankles to the front bar of the Regatta Hotel in Brisbane in protest against the Queensland liquor laws that banned women from pubs.[1]
  • George Johnston wins the Miles Franklin Award for his novel My Brother Jack

April

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June

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  • TV variety show In Melbourne Tonight celebrates its 2000th performance. Since its premiere in 1957 the show had earned the Nine Network over £AU4 million in advertising revenue and it attracted more viewers per capita than any other television show in the world, with the network rumoured to be paying host Graham Kennedy more than £AU20,000 per year (14 June)
  • 21 June – The Premier of Tasmania, Eric Reece, announces the Gordon Power scheme will "result in some modification to the Lake Pedder National Park", but it was still in development and no further details were revealed.[2]
  • 30 June – At a speech to the Australian Club in London, PM Sir Robert Menzies declares that Australia is in a state of war in Vietnam.

July

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  • 2 July – Secondary school teachers in Victoria stage a strike, the first teachers' strike in Australia since 1920.
  • 18 to 20 July - Snow is recorded as far north as the Clark Range in Queensland, killing drought-weakened livestock. At the same time, extremely heavy rainfall in the North Coast turns drought into flood, with Brisbane having its wettest-ever July day with 193.2 millimetres (7.6 in).

August

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  • 13 August – A limited free-trade agreement is negotiated between Australia and New Zealand.
  • 21 August – A report of the Vernon Committee of Economic Inquiry is tabled in federal parliament; the principal recommendations are rejected by government.

September

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  • 23 September – Roma Mitchell is appointed a judge of the Supreme Court of South Australia, the first woman to become a judge in Australia.

October

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November

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  • Churchill Fellowships are awarded for the first time.
  • 5 November – The 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, is deployed in Operation Hump in Vietnam.
  • 7 November – An underground fire occurs at the Bulli Colliery in New South Wales; four miners are killed.
  • 13 November – Kevin Arthur Wheatley dies in Vietnam while defending a wounded comrade. He was awarded the Victoria Cross for his gallantry.
  • 16 November – Australia imposed economic sanctions on Rhodesia following that country's unilateral declaration of independence.

December

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  • The first section of the Sydney-Newcastle Freeway is opened.
  • 15 December – Harry Chan becomes the first elected president of the NT Legislative Council.

Date unknown

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Science and technology

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Arts and literature

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Film

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  • Faces in the Sun wins the AFI Award for Best Film

Television

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Sport

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Light Fingers won the Melbourne Cup.

Cricket: Australia lose a five test series away to the West Indies 2–1. The West Indies side includes greats such as Garry Sobers and Rohan Kanhai, while Australia featured opening batsmen Bill Lawry and Bobby Simpson.

Cricinfo series page

Rugby league: 1965 NSWRFL season St. George win the tenth of a record eleven consecutive premierships in the NSWRL, defeating South Sydney 12–8 in the Grand Final. Eastern Suburbs finish in last position, claiming the wooden spoon.

Golf: The Australian Veteran Golfers Association. (A.V.G.A.) was formed on 7 July 1965 by four businessmen, Messrs. A Hall, W.Foulsham J.Barkel and H.Hattersley.

Births

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Deaths

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ Natalie Bochenski (22 April 2014). "Merle's Bar toasts Brisbane suffragette". brisbane times. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 24 April 2014.
  2. ^ Interim Report – The Future of Lake Pedder Archived 30 August 2007 at the Wayback Machine, Lake Pedder Committee of Enquiry, 29 September 1997.
  3. ^ Tasmanian Sporting Hall of Fame Honour Roll Archived 19 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine, Department of Economic Development, Tourism and the Arts (Tasmanian Government), 2008.
  4. ^ "BASSETT". worldrowing.com. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  5. ^ "Abbott, Joseph Palmer (Joe) (1891–1965)". Archived from the original on 1 September 2023. Retrieved 1 September 2023.
  6. ^ Henry, Margaret. "Sulman, Florence (1876–1965)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. Retrieved 9 September 2022.