1969 in Australia

The following lists events that happened during 1969 in Australia.

Incumbents

Monarch – Elizabeth II
Governor-General – Lord Casey, then Sir Paul Hasluck
Prime Minister – John Gorton
*[Deputy Prime Minister of Australia|Prime Minister of Australia|Deputy Prime Minister] – John McEwen
*Opposition Leader – Gough Whitlam
Chief Justice – Sir Garfield Barwick

State and territory leaders

Premier of New South Wales – Robert Askin
*Opposition Leader – Pat Hills
Premier of Queensland – Joh Bjelke-Petersen
*Opposition Leader – Jack Houston
Premier of South Australia – Steele Hall
*Opposition Leader – Don Dunstan
Premier of Tasmania – Eric Reece, then Angus Bethune
*Opposition Leader – Angus Bethune, then Eric Reece
Premier of Victoria – Sir Henry Bolte
*Opposition Leader – Clyde Holding
Premier of Western Australia – (Sir) David Brand
*Opposition Leader – John Tonkin

Governors and administrators

Events

8 January - Bushfires across Victoria claim the lives of 23 people including 17 who died when a grass fire overran a group of cars on the Princes Highway at Lara, near Geelong in Victoria. About 280 fires in total burned 250,000 hectares, destroyed 230 homes and dozens of other buildings, killing 12,000 head of stock.
7 February – The Violet Town railway disaster: the Southern Aurora passenger train collides head-on with a freight train. Nine people are killed.
13 April – Trams in Brisbane end service after 84 years of operation.
30 April – Sir Paul Hasluck becomes Governor-General of Australia after the retirement of Lord Casey.
10 May – The 1969 Tasmanian election is held, resulting in a hung parliament with the Australian Labor Party and Liberals winning 17 seats each. The deadlock is broken when Kevin Lyons of the Centre Party forms a coalition government with the Liberals and becomes Deputy Premier under Angus Bethune.
12 May – The Age newspaper in Melbourne begins the process of moving from Collins Street to Spencer Street. The move is completed on 6 October.
3 June – Melbourne-Evans collision – The Royal Australian Navy aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne collides with the United States Navy destroyer USS Frank E. Evans in the South China Sea. Frank E. Evans is cut in half and sinks, killing 74 crew.
19 June – The Commonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration Commission rules that equal pay for women doing the same work as men must be phased in by 1972.
25 August – The MV Noongah sinks off the Mid North Coast near South West Rocks while enroute from Newcastle to Townsville killing 21 people.
26 September – The Poseidon bubble begins when the small mining company Poseidon NL discovers a large nickel deposit in Laverton, Western Australia.
25 October – 1969 Australian federal election: The Coalition Gorton government is narrowly re-elected with a sharply reduced majority, defeating a resurgent Labor Party led by Gough Whitlam.
7 November – A Liberal Party leadership spill is held, with Prime Minister Gorton re-elected as party leader over challengers William McMahon and David Fairbairn.
11 November – Prime Minister Gorton makes the most sweeping changes to the Federal Ministry since the Liberal-Country Party Coalition took office in 1949. Seven back-benchers are promoted to the junior ministry, four junior ministers promoted to cabinet, and three ministers dropped altogether. Treasurer McMahon was moved to External Affairs, and replaced by Les Bury. Future prime minister Malcolm Fraser was promoted to Minister for Defence.
13 November - Former Minister for Air, Dudley Erwin, expresses to journalists his belief that Prime Minister Gorton's young secretary, Ainsley Gotto, was responsible for him being dropped from his ministerial position. Erwin also asserted Gotto severely restricted access to Gorton which he and other ministers had previously enjoyed. When asked what political manoeuvre had been used to get him out of office, he replied "it's shapely, it wiggles, it's cold-blooded and its name is Ainsley Gotto".
*Victorian SEC workers strike for 24 hours from midnight for the fourth time this year, causing widespread disruption to power supplies.
29 November – The rebuilding of the Sydney-Perth rail corridor to standard gauge is completed.
16 December – Prime Minister John Gorton announces that a withdrawal of Australian Army troops from the Vietnam War would begin in 1970.

Science and technology

20 July – NASA switches the main transmission feed of the Apollo 11 Moon landing to Honeysuckle Creek Tracking Station in Canberra, then Parkes Observatory in New South Wales, which then broadcasts the mission to the world.

Arts and literature

4 May – An Australian production of the rock musical Hair opens in Sydney. Produced by Harry M. Miller, it features the debut of young American singer Marcia Hines.
George Johnston's novel Clean Straw for Nothing wins the Miles Franklin Award

Film

27 March – 2000 Weeks is released. The film was one of the first features of the modern era in Australian cinema, although it was received poorly both critically and commercially.

Television

5 March – The last episode of spy series Hunter is aired.
11 March – Police procedural drama series Division 4 makes its debut on the Nine Network.
21 March – Graham Kennedy wins the Gold Logie for In Melbourne Tonight.

Sport

21 January – Boxer Johnny Famechon becomes world featherweight champion, when he defeats Cuban Jose Legra in a bout at the Albert Hall in London.
12 April – Carlton achieve the first double-century VFL score when they kick 30.30 against Hawthorn, beating a previous record from [1931 Australian Football League|VFL season|1931].
6 September – Richmond sets a new record VFL finals winning margin when it beats Geelong by 118 points. it is the first century winning margin in a finals match and beats the previous record margin of 88 points by Melbourne against Collingwood in the 1964 Second Semi.
20 September – Balmain defeated South Sydney 11–2 in the NSWRL Rugby League Grand Final at the Sydney Cricket Ground. It is Balmain's first premiership win since 1947, and would become their final win as the Balmain Tigers; they would later win in 2005 after their merger with the Western Suburbs Magpies to form the Wests Tigers. Cronulla-Sutherland finish in last position, claiming the wooden spoon.
27 September – Richmond 12.13 beats Carlton 8.12 for its seventh premiership.
2 October – Tennis player Rod Laver beats fellow Australian Tony Roche in the men's singles final of the U.S. Open, achieving his second Grand Slam.
11 October – John Farrington wins his first men's national marathon title, clocking 2:21:02.8 in Sydney.
4 November – Rain Lover wins the Melbourne Cup.

Births

19 January – Luc Longley, basketball player
22 January – Shelley Sandie, basketball player
23 January – Danielle Woodhouse, water polo player
7 February – Fiona Robinson, basketball and handball player
1 March – Tony Modra, Australian Rules football player
15 March – Matthew Morris, politician
17 March – Alison Forman, football midfielder
28 March – John Brogden, politician
1 April – Andrew Vlahov, basketball player
3 April – Ben Mendelsohn, actor
7 May – Rachael Robertson (writer), speaker, author and mentor
14 May – Cate Blanchett, actress
17 May – Liesl Tesch, wheelchair basketball player, sailor and politician
31 May – Juliet Haslam, field hockey defender
3 June – Dean Pay, Australian rugby league player
30 June – Mark Garner, track and field sprinter
7 July – Rina Bradshaw-Hill, triathlete
17 July – Jason Clarke, Australian actor
30 July – Simon Baker, actor
9 August – Ricky Cooke, racewalker
15 August – Bernard Fanning, singer
16 August – Jodi McKay, politician
29 August – Bill Granger, restaurateur
6 September – Michellie Jones, triathlete
7 September – David Borger, politician
9 September – Natasha Stott Despoja, politician
13 September – Shane Warne, cricketer
19 September – Kostya Tszyu, boxer
15 October – Jamie Cox, cricketer
20 October – Laurie Daley, rugby league football commentator and former player
31 October – Kylie Kwong, chef and television presenter
14 December – Dave Nilsson, baseball player
14 December – Rob Oakeshott, politician
29 December – Andrew Cornwell, politician

Deaths

29 January – Alfred McClelland, politician
31 March – Ernest Wetherell, politician
14 May – Frederick Lane, swimmer
3 August – Alexander Mair, 26th Premier of New South Wales
25 August – Robert Cosgrove, 30th Premier of Tasmania
17 November – Sir Malcolm Barclay-Harvey, 22nd Governor of South Australia
21 November – Norman Lindsay, artist
27 November – May Gibbs, children's author.
20 December – Sir Giles Chippindall,, public servant