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1962 in Australia

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The following lists events that happened during 1962 in Australia.

1962 in Australia
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Governor-General	William Sidney
Prime minister	Robert Menzies
Population	10,742,291
Australian of the Year	Jock Sturrock
Elections	SA, NSW, WA

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1962
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Australia

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Decades:

Incumbents

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Robert Menzies

Monarch – Elizabeth II
Prime Minister – Robert Menzies
Governor General – William Sidney, 1st Viscount De L'Isle
Chief Justice – Sir Owen Dixon

State Premiers

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Premier of New South Wales – Robert Heffron
Premier of Queensland – Frank Nicklin
Premier of South Australia – Sir Thomas Playford
Premier of Tasmania – Eric Reece
Premier of Western Australia – David Brand
Premier of Victoria – Henry Bolte

State Governors

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Events

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The Australian Ballet is founded.
1 March – The final section of the Cahill Expressway opens in Sydney.

The toilets of St Brigid's; the reason for the 1962 School Strike and the beginning of State Aid to non-Government schools

16 July – The Goulburn School Strike started. This was an education strike in Goulburn, New South Wales, where, in response to a demand for the installation of three extra toilets at a local Catholic Primary School, the local community closed down these schools and sent the children to the Government schools. The Catholic Church declared they had no money to install the extra toilets. Nearly 1,000 children turned up to be enrolled locally and the state schools were unable to accommodate them. In 1963, Menzies made State aid for science blocks part of his party's platform in response to the public debate engendered by the Goulburn strike.
15 August – The Red Sales aerobatic team, flying Vampire jets, crashes in practice, killing six people.^[1]
28 September – Paddington tram depot fire: One fifth of the Brisbane tram fleet is destroyed when the Paddington tram depot is burnt down in suspicious circumstances. 65 trams are destroyed.

Arts and literature

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2 November – The first performance of the Australian Ballet Company in Sydney was of Swan Lake.
The Well Dressed ExplorerbyThea Astley and The Cupboard Under the StairsbyGeorge Turner are jointly awarded the Miles Franklin Literary Award

Television

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4 March – NBN Television opens in Newcastle, New South Wales as NBN-3.
18 March – WIN Television opens in Wollongong, New South Wales as WIN-4.
26 May - Southern Cross Television opens in Launceston, Tasmania as TNT-9

Sport

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General
- Australia wins 38 gold medals at the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games, held in Perth
Athletics
- 11 August – Keith Ollerenshaw wins the men's national marathon title, clocking 2:26:24.2 in Perth.
Cricket
- New South Wales wins the Sheffield Shield
Football
- Bledisloe Cup: retained by the All Blacks
- Brisbane Rugby League premiership: Norths defeated Valleys 22–0
- New South Wales Rugby League premiership: St. George defeated Wests 9–6 ** South Australian National Football League premiership: won by Port Adelaide
- Victorian Football League premiership: Essendon defeated Carlton 90–58
Golf
- Australian Open: won by Gary Player
- Australian PGA Championship: won by Bill Dunk
Horse racing
- Indian Summer wins the AJC Oaks
- Even Stevens wins the Caulfield Cup
- Aquanita wins the Cox Plate
- Birthday Card wins the Golden Slipper
- Even Stevens wins the Melbourne Cup
Motor racing
- The Australian Grand Prix was held at Caversham and won by Bruce McLaren driving a Cooper-Climax
- The Armstrong 500 was held at Phillip Island, and was won by Harry Firth and Bob Jane driving an XL Falcon
Squash
- Heather Blundell wins the Women's Championship at the British Open Squash Championships
Tennis
- Australian Open men's singles: Rod Laver defeats Roy Emerson 8–6 0–6 6–4 6-4
- Australian Open women's singles: Margaret Court defeats Jan Lehane O'Neill 6–0 6-2
- Davis Cup: Australia defeats Mexico 5–0 in the 1962 Davis Cup final
- French Open: Rod Laver wins the Men's Singles
- French Open: Margaret Court wins the Women's Singles
- French Open: Roy Emerson and Neale Fraser win the Men's Doubles
- US Open: Rod Laver wins the Men's Singles
- US Open: Margaret Court wins the Women's Singles
- Wimbledon: Rod Laver wins the Men's Singles
- Wimbledon: Bob Hewitt and Fred Stolle win the Men's Doubles
Yachting
- Gretel makes Australias first challenge for the America's Cup, losing 4–1 to the American opponent Weatherly
- Ondine takes line honours and Solo wins on handicap in the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race

Births

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23 January – Richard Roxburgh, actor, writer, producer and director
28 January – Barbara Stone, politician
14 February – Stephen Robertson, politician
17 February – David McComb, musician (d. 1999)
22 February – Steve Irwin, wildlife expert and media personality (died 2006)
9 March – Jeff Knuth, politician
13 April – Andrew Jachno, race walker
24 April – Steve "Blocker" Roach, rugby league footballer of the 1980s and 1990s
26 April – Trevor Marmalade, comedian and author
6 May – Julieanne Gilbert, politician
13 May – Paul McDermott, comedian and singer
25 May – Ros Bates, politician
28 May – Gary Belcher, rugby league player and commentator
24 June – Steve Dickson, politician
9 July – Paul Lucas, politician
15 July – Michelle Ford, swimmer
18 July – Shaun Micallef, comedian
31 July – Damien Frawley, rugby union player
6 August – Steven Lee, alpine skier
15 September – Scott McNeil, voice actor
17 September – Baz Luhrmann, film director and producer^[2]
26 September – Steve Moneghetti, long-distance runner
13 October – David Dalgleish, politician
26 October – Rob Messenger, politician
30 October – Colin Boyce, politician
10 November – Bob Lindner, rugby league footballer and coach
11 November – James Morrison, jazz musician
5 December – Michael Harvey, racewalker
8 December
- Steve Elkington, golfer
- Tracy Davis, politician
12 December – Chris Cummins, politician
16 December – John English, politician

Deaths

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17 January – Frank Hurley, film maker and photographer (b. 1885)
3 December – Dame Mary Gilmore, socialist poet and journalist (b. 1865)

References

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^ Disaster struck RAAF aerobatic team, Royal Australian Air Force Air Power Development Centre.

^ LastName, FirstName (2019). Chase's calendar of events. the ultimate go-to guide for special days, weeks and months. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield. p. 464. ISBN 9781641433167.

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=1962_in_Australia&oldid=1214295296"

1962 in Australia

Contents

Incumbents

State Premiers

State Governors

Events

Arts and literature

Television

Sport

Births

Deaths

See also

References