1953 in Australia

The following lists events that happened during 1953 in Australia.

1953 in Australia
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Governor-General	William McKell, then William Slim
Prime minister	Robert Menzies
Population	8,815,362
Elections	Senate, WA, NSW, SA, QLD

List of events

←

1952
1951
1950

1953
in
Australia

→

1954
1955
1956

Decades:

1930s
1940s
1950s
1960s
1970s

Incumbents

Monarch – Elizabeth II
Governor-General – William McKell (until 8 May), then Sir William Slim
Prime Minister – Robert Menzies
Chief Justice – Sir Owen Dixon

State Premiers

Premier of New South Wales – Joseph Cahill
Premier of Queensland – Vince Gair
Premier of South Australia – Thomas Playford IV
Premier of Tasmania – Robert Cosgrove
Premier of Victoria – John Cain I
Premier of Western Australia – Ross McLarty (until 23 February), then Albert Hawke

State Governors

Governor of New South Wales – Sir John Northcott
Governor of Queensland – Sir John Lavarack
Governor of South Australia – Sir Robert George (from 23 February)
Governor of Tasmania – Sir Ronald Cross, 1st Baronet
Governor of Victoria – Sir Dallas Brooks
Governor of Western Australia – Sir Charles Gairdner

Events

20 March – The Television Act is passed by parliament, setting regulations for the broadcast of television in Australia, although television transmission did not commence until 1956.
2 June – Elizabeth II's coronation as Queen of Australia takes place at Westminster Abbey
29 October – British Commonwealth Pacific Airlines Douglas DC-6, registration VH-BPE, en route from Sydney, crashes on approach to San Francisco, killing 19 people.
4 December – Oil is discovered in the Exmouth Gulf off the coast of Western Australia.

Science and technology

The first town to fluoridate the water supply in Australia was Beaconsfield, Tasmania.^[1]

Arts and literature

John Brack paints Men's Wear and The New House in Oakleigh, Victoria
Ivor Hele wins the Archibald Prize with his portrait of Sir Henry Simpson Newland
Michael Kmit wins the Blake Prize for Religious Art with his work The Evangelist John Mark

Sport

Athletics
- 26 September – Roland Guy wins the men's national marathon title, clocking 2:24:48 in Sydney.
Cricket
- South Australia wins the Sheffield Shield
Football
- 23 May: Fitzroy go within ten minutes of a team score of 0.0 (0), which would have been a VFL first, against Footscray in appalling conditions. Allan Ruthven kicks a late goal to save them from this ignominy.
- 1 August: Collingwood end Geelong's record 26-game unbeaten streak, which still stand, when they win 10.15 (75) to 7.13 (55).
- South Australian National Football League premiership: won by West Torrens
- Victorian Football League premiership: Collingwood defeated Geelong 77–65
Rugby league
- Brisbane Rugby League premiership: Souths defeated Easts 21–4
- 1953 NSWRFL season ends with South Sydney defeating St. George 31–12 in the Grand Final
- 1953 American All Stars tour of Australia and New Zealand takes place with the Americans playing matches hosted by various Australian teams including the New South Wales Blues and Queensland Maroons.
Golf
- Australian Open: won by Norman Von Nida
- Australian PGA Championship: won by Ossie Pickworth
Horse racing
- My Hero wins the Caulfield Cup
- Hydrogen wins the Cox Plate
- Wodalla wins the Melbourne Cup
Motor racing
- The Australian Grand Prix was held at Albert Park and won by Doug Whiteford driving a Talbot-Lago
Tennis
- Australian Open men's singles: Ken Rosewall defeats Mervyn Rose 6–0 6–3 6–4
- Australian Open women's singles: Maureen Connolly defeats Julie Sampson Haywood 6–3 6–2
- Davis Cup: Australia defeats the United States 3–2 in the 1953 Davis Cup final
- Wimbledon: Lew Hoad and Ken Rosewall win the Men's Doubles
Yachting
- Solveig IV takes line honours and Ripple wins on handicap in the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race

Births

16 January – Vic Aanensen, Australian rules football player
4 February – Pam Allan, politician
5 February – Rod Jones, Australian novelist
14 February – Greg Browning, field hockey player
4 March
- Scott Hicks, film director
- Ray Price, rugby league footballer
7 March – Peter Webb, politician
15 March – Randall Goff, water polo player
17 March
- Margaret Jackson, businesswoman
- Mary-Louise McLaws, epidemiologist (died 2023)
12 April – Mike Munro, journalist
16 April – Peter Garrett, singer and politician
21 April
- John Brumby, politician
- Ron Hoenig, politician and barrister
30 April – Craig Baumann, politician
2 May – Chris Anderson, rugby league footballer and coach
8 May
- Linda Dessau, 29th Governor of Victoria (2015–present)
- Tony Doyle, politician (died 1994)
20 May – Robert Doyle, politician
16 June – Sandra Nori, politician
24 June – Michael Tuck, Australian Rules football player
1 July
- David Gulpilil, actor (died 2021)
- Allan Shearan, politician
13 July – Andrew Tink, politician
21 July – Jeff Fatt, musician (The Cockroaches and The Wiggles)
23 July – Geoff Corrigan, politician
17 August – Noni Hazlehurst, actress
26 August – General David Hurley, AC, DSC, Chief of the Defence Force (2011–2014)
9 September – Janet Fielding, actress
11 September – Renée Geyer, singer (died 2023)
27 September – Greg Ham, musician (Men at Work) (died 2012)
13 November – Bob Brett, tennis coach (died 2021)
25 November – Graham Eadie, rugby league footballer
12 December – Martin Ferguson, politician

Deaths

28 January – James Scullin, 9th Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1876)
12 February – Sir Hal Colebatch, 12th Premier of Western Australia (born in the United Kingdom) (b. 1872)
18 February – Denis Lutge, rugby league and union footballer (b. 1879)
6 March – Stephen Moreno, composer (born in Spain and died in France) (b. 1889)
2 May – Trevor Oldham, 13th Deputy Premier of Victoria (died in India) (b. 1900)
22 May – Louis Lavater, composer (b. 1867)
25 August – Jessie Aspinall, doctor, first female junior medical resident at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital (b. 1880)^[2]
1 September – Bernard O'Dowd, journalist, author, and poet (b. 1866)^[3]
2 December – Reginald Baker, athlete, sports promoter and film actor (died in the United States) (b. 1884)
20 December – King O'Malley, Tasmanian politician (born in the United States) (b. 1858)

References

^ Graham Aplin; S.G. Foster; Michael McKernan, eds. (1987). "Tasmania". Australians:Events and Places. Sydney, NSW, Australia: Fairfax, Syme & Weldon Associates. p. 366. ISBN 0-521-34073-X.
^ Aspinall, Jessie Strahorn (1880–1953)
^ Wallace-Crabbe, C. (1988). "O'Dowd, Bernard Patrick (1866–1953)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. ISSN 1833-7538. Retrieved 25 February 2008.

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