1943 in Australia

The following lists events that happened during 1943 in Australia.

Incumbents

Monarch – George VI
Governor-General – Alexander Hore-Ruthven, 1st Baron Gowrie
Prime Minister – John Curtin
Chief Justice – Sir John Latham

State Premiers

Premier of New South Wales – William McKell
Premier of Queensland – Frank Cooper
Premier of South Australia – Thomas Playford IV
Premier of Tasmania – Robert Cosgrove
Premier of Victoria – Albert Dunstan, then John Cain I, then Albert Dunstan
Premier of Western Australia – John Willcock

State Governors

Governor of New South Wales – John Loder, 2nd Baron Wakehurst
Governor of Queensland – Sir Leslie Orme Wilson
Governor of South Australia – Sir Malcolm Barclay-Harvey
Governor of Tasmania – Sir Ernest Clark
Governor of Victoria – Sir Winston Dugan
Governor of Western Australia – ''none appointed''

Events

3 March – A Soviet embassy is established in Canberra, and an Australian diplomat is posted to Moscow as ambassador.
14 May – The hospital ship AHS Centaur is torpedoed by a Japanese submarine off North Stradbroke Island in Queensland, killing 268 people.
12 June – A general election is held in Victoria.
21 August – A federal election is held. The incumbent Australian Labor Party government led by John Curtin is returned to power.
23 September – Enid Lyons and Dorothy Tangney become the first women to win seats in the Parliament of Australia. Lyons represents the Tasmanian electorate of Darwin in the House of Representatives, and Tangney is a Senator for Western Australia.
27 December – 7 people are injured in Seaspray, Victoria after a wire on an RAAF plane fails to retract.

Arts and literature

William Dobell wins the Archibald Prize with his portrait of Joshua Smith

Film

4 March – Damien Parer wins Australia's first Academy Award for the film Kokoda Front Line.

Sport

4 September – Newtown win the 1943 NSWRFL season, defeating North Sydney 34–7 in the premiership final. Canterbury-Bankstown finish in last place on points difference, claiming the wooden spoon.Dark Felt wins the Melbourne Cup

Births

5 January – Mary Gaudron, High Court judge
9 January – Robert Drewe, journalist and writer
29 January – Molly Meldrum, journalist, critic, and producer
8 February – Malcolm Donnelly, opera singer
1 March – Dyson Heydon, High Court judge
12 March – Philip Ruddock, politician
14 March – Aila Keto, environmentalist
19 March – Vern Schuppan, racing driver
22 March – Brian Austin, politician
6 April – Chris Gallus, politician
9 April – Brian James, rugby league player
11 April – Judith Adams, Liberal Senator for South Australia
26 April – David Combe, political lobbyist
29 April – John Tranter, poet
30 April – Paul Jennings, children's author
2 May
* Geoffrey Edelsten, medical entrepreneur
* John Goss, racing driver
7 May
* John Bannon, Premier of South Australia
* Peter Carey, novelist
17 May – Johnny Warren, soccer player and coach
19 May – Bob Graham, NSW politician
1 June – Ian King, cricketer
4 June – John Burgess, TV & radio host
11 June – Ray Warren, rugby league commentator
19 June – Barry Hill, historian and writer
3 July – Judith Durham, singer
11 July – Richard Carleton, television journalist
25 July – Desmond Mueller, Vice Chief of the Defence Force
26 July – Robyn Woodhouse, high jumper
18 August – Jean Roberts, Olympic shot putter and discus thrower
5 September – Jack Charles, actor and Aboriginal elder
16 September
*Bob Debus, politician
*Alan Ferguson, Liberal Senator for South Australia
22 September – Dale Spender, feminist scholar, teacher, writer and consultant
26 September – Ian Chappell, cricketer
4 October – Owen Davidson, tennis player
6 October – Peter Dowding, Premier of Western Australia
9 October – Dianne Burge, Olympic sprinter
6 November – Ian Turpie, TV host & singer
8 November – Peter Cook, politician
23 November – Tony Bonner, actor
25 November – Jan Andrew, Olympic swimmer
29 November – Janet Holmes à Court, businesswoman
19 December – Jimmy Mackay, soccer player

Deaths

3 January – Sir Walter James, 5th Premier of Western Australia
8 January – Richard Hillary, fighter pilot and author
14 February – Alice Henry, suffragist, journalist and trade unionist
7 March – Alma Moodie, violinist and educator
28 March – Keith Truscott, Australian rules footballer and fighter pilot
29 March – William Ellis Newton, soldier and Victoria Cross recipient
25 April – Sir Arthur Cocks, New South Wales politician
19 May – Billy Sing, soldier
25 May – Albert Robinson, South Australian politician
14 June – John McNeill, Victorian politician
28 June – Pietro Porcelli, sculptor
21 July
* Edward Riley, New South Wales politician
* David O'Keefe, Tasmanian politician
6 August – Tom Garrett, cricketer
20 August – Sir William Irvine, 21st Premier of Victoria and 5th Chief Justice of Victoria
1 September – Sir Arthur Streeton, artist
23 September – John Bradfield, engineer
2 October – Sir John Evans, 21st Premier of Tasmania
14 October – Jimmy Matthews, cricketer
15 October – Thomas Henry Dodds, soldier
23 October – Sir George Fairbairn, Victorian politician
6 November – William Lister Lister, artist
9 November – Reginald Spencer Browne, soldier, journalist and newspaper editor
22 November – Thomas Ryan, trade unionist and politician
23 November – Ernie Jones, cricketer and Australian rules footballer
27 November – Louis Esson, poet and playwright
10 December – Frederick Chapman, palaeontologist