1955 in Australia

The following lists events that happened during 1955 in Australia.

1955 in Australia
MonarchElizabeth II
Governor-GeneralWilliam Slim
Prime ministerRobert Menzies
Population9,199,729
ElectionsFederal, TAS, VIC

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1955
in
Australia

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Decades:
  • 1930s
  • 1940s
  • 1950s
  • 1960s
  • 1970s
See also:

Incumbents

State Premiers

State Governors

Events

January

  • 1 January – A cyclone hits Roebourne, Western Australia causing extensive damage.[1]
  • 2 January –
  • 3 January –
    • A tidal wave reportedly occurs at Nubeena, Tasmania flooding roads, causing dinghies to be torn from their moorings and vessels to be swept into the bay.[7][8]
    • As New South Wales experiences a severe heatwave, water consumption in Sydney reaches a record high with some residents unable to access water as service reservoirs struggle to keep up with demand.[9]
  • 4 January –
  • 7 January – Women's Royal Australian Naval Service director Blair Bowden arrives in Sydney on her last official visit ahead of her final day of service on 14 January 1955.[13]
  • 14 January – A 19-year-old National Service trainee is killed when his Tiger Moth aircraft crashes after colliding with another 3000 feet above Werribee.[14]
  • 31 January – Six people are killed and 16 others injured when a truck carrying two families consisting of 22 people plunged into a ravine after it lost control down the Toowoomba Range.[15] A 40-year-old man and three of his children aged 11, 3 and 18 months were all killed in the accident along with another man, aged 45, and one of his children - a 15-year-old daughter.[15]

February

March

  • 14 March – A 40-year-old woman and a 2-year-old son are killed, and a rail motor derailed when the woman's car collided with the train at a level crossing at Molong on the Great Western Highway near Dubbo.[19]

April

May

June

  • 19 June – Minister for Trade and Customs, Senator O'Sullivan confirms the federal government has abandoned with control of tea with merchants now free to resume private trading of tea making their own arrangements with tea producing countries.[20]

July

  • A 5,500-ton freighter carrying 7,800 tons of coal is run onto a reef in Port Phillip Bay to prevent it from sinking after it struck rocks while traversing The Rip.[21]

August

September

October

November

December

Science and technology

Arts and literature

Main article: 1955 in Australian literature

Film and television

  • 3 January – Jedda, a film by Charles Chauvel premieres in Darwin.[31][32]
  • 5 January – A list of applicants vying for commercial television licences for Sydney and Melbourne is released by postmaster-general Hubert Lawrence Anthony.[33] There are eight applicants competing for the two Sydney licences, while there are four applicants for the Melbourne licences.[33] Among the applicants are federal opposition leader Doc Evatt and AWU general-secretary, Tom Dougherty who are applying for licences in both cities as "joint and provisional trustees of the Australian Workers Union and the Australian Labor Party".[33]
  • 7 January – Australian actor John McCallum returns to Australia for the first time in 8 years, bringing his wife Googie Withers with him.[34] After their arrival in Australia, McCallum confirms he plans to make a film in Australian within a few months.[34]
  • 1 February – As the Australian Broadcasting Control Board commences the hearing of applicants for the two available Sydney television licences, managing director of Amalgamated Television Services Clive Ogilvy tells the board that he could have television programs on the air within 18 months if their bid was successful.[35]

Sport and recreation

Births

Deaths

See also

References

  1. ^ "Cyclone hits WA coast, grounds ship, unroofs town". The Sun-Herald. 2 January 1955. p. 3. Retrieved 5 May 2025.
  2. ^ a b "Vast fires in two states: Man feared burnt to death; homes razed; stock losses". The Sydney Morning Herald. 3 January 1955. p. 1. Retrieved 5 May 2025.
  3. ^ "Vice-regal party's peril as fire razes residence". The Sydney Morning Herald. 3 January 1955. p. 1. Retrieved 5 May 2025.
  4. ^ "20,000 men fight widespread bushfires: Battle to save townships". The Age. 3 January 1955. p. 1. Retrieved 5 May 2025.
  5. ^ "Police control demonstrators". The Age. 3 January 1955. p. 1. Retrieved 5 May 2025.
  6. ^ "Man and two boys drown , youth saved". The Sydney Morning Herald. 3 January 1955. p. 1. Retrieved 5 May 2025.
  7. ^ "Tidal wave made havoc near Hobart". The Age. 4 January 1955. p. 13. Retrieved 6 May 2025.
  8. ^ "Tidal wave in Tasmania". The Sydney Morning Herald. 4 January 1955. p. 1. Retrieved 6 May 2025.
  9. ^ "Taps run dry, 100 people collapse as temperature reaches 104". The Sydney Morning Herald. 4 January 1955. p. 1. Retrieved 5 May 2025.
  10. ^ "Woman, 2 men die as plane crashes in bush". The Sydney Morning Herald. 5 January 1955. p. 1. Retrieved 5 May 2025.
  11. ^ "Family of four dies in crash". The Sydney Morning Herald. 5 January 1955. p. 1. Retrieved 6 May 2025.
  12. ^ "SIr Iven Mackay injured". The Sydney Morning Herald. 5 January 1955. p. 1. Retrieved 6 May 2025.
  13. ^ "WRANS director takes last salute". The Sydney Morning Herald. 8 January 1955. pp. 1, 8. Retrieved 7 May 2025.
  14. ^ "Youth killed in Tiger Moth". The Sydney Morning Herald. 15 January 1955. p. 1. Retrieved 10 May 2025.
  15. ^ a b "Six killed, 16 hurt as truck dives into ravine". The Sydney Morning Herald. 1 February 1955. p. 1. Retrieved 9 May 2025.
  16. ^ "Suburbs crowded for "10pm" but quiet in city hotels". The Sydney Morning Herald. 2 February 1955. p. 1. Retrieved 17 May 2025.
  17. ^ "Milk in bottles only from next week". The Sydney Morning Herald. 2 February 1955. p. 1. Retrieved 17 May 2025.
  18. ^ "Casey Signs SEATO Pact". The Sydney Morning Herald. National Library of Australia. 10 September 1954. p. 5. Retrieved 11 April 2012.
  19. ^ "Woman and baby killed in smash". The Sydney Morning Herald. 15 March 1955. p. 1. Retrieved 5 May 2025.
  20. ^ "Government abandons tea control from today; price drop of 1/2 ½". The Sydney Morning Herald. 20 June 1955. p. 1. Retrieved 5 May 2025.
  21. ^ "Badly damaged freighter run on reef". The Sydney Morning Herald. 18 July 1955. p. 1. Retrieved 5 May 2025.
  22. ^ "Woman appointed registrar of Sydney university". The Sydney Morning Herald. 10 August 1955. p. 6. Retrieved 5 May 2025.
  23. ^ a b "Our new carrier 'Most modern afloat'". The Argus. Melbourne: National Library of Australia. 6 April 1955. p. 5. Retrieved 11 April 2012.
  24. ^ "Great Promise in Bauxite Deposits". The Central Queensland Herald. Rockhampton: National Library of Australia. 23 August 1956. p. 19. Retrieved 11 April 2012.
  25. ^ "Daylesford mayor dies at meeting". The Age. 23 August 1955. p. 1. Retrieved 5 May 2025.
  26. ^ "Senator Spicer sworn in: colleague dies". The Sydney Morning Herald. 15 September 1955. p. 1. Retrieved 5 May 2025.
  27. ^ Alf Cummings, Grand Prix win at 22, Modern Motor (magazine), January 1956, pages 22, 23 & 84
  28. ^ "Humorist's "One World, One Time"". The Sydney Morning Herald. 5 January 1955. p. 4. Retrieved 6 May 2025.
  29. ^ "Nat King Cole arrives". The Sydney Morning Herald. 7 January 1955. p. 3. Retrieved 6 May 2025.
  30. ^ Fitzpatrick, Peter (1979). After The Doll: Australian Drama Since 1955. Studies in Australian culture. Melbourne: Edward Arnold Australia. p. vii. ISBN 0726720402.
  31. ^ "Native girl's film ambition". The Sydney Morning Herald. 2 January 1955. p. 5. Retrieved 6 May 2025.
  32. ^ "No trumpets for Tudawali - Aboriginal film star had to sit downstairs". The Age. 4 January 1955. p. 3. Retrieved 6 May 2025.
  33. ^ a b c "Evatt and Dougherty seek TV licences in Sydney, Melbourne". The Sydney Morning Herald. 6 January 1955. p. 4. Retrieved 6 May 2025.
  34. ^ a b "McCallum to make film here". The Sydney Morning Herald. 8 January 1955. p. 4. Retrieved 8 May 2025.
  35. ^ "Company's plan: TV within 18 months of licence". The Sydney Morning Herald. 2 February 1955. p. 4. Retrieved 17 May 2025.
  36. ^ "Award by ABC to Landy". The Sydney Morning Herald. 1 January 1955. p. 14. Retrieved 7 May 2025.
  37. ^ "Gift to Sportsman of the Year". The Sydney Morning Herald. 8 January 1955. p. 4. Retrieved 7 May 2024.
  38. ^ "Shield to NSW". The Sydney Morning Herald. 17 February 1955. p. 14. Retrieved 6 May 2025.
  39. ^ "Our cricket is worst in 43 years: Vital need for new selectors". The Sydney Morning Herald. 4 March 1955. p. 10. Retrieved 6 May 2025.
  40. ^ a b "UK farmer wins Orange motor race". The Farmer and Settler. 4 February 1955. p. 29. Retrieved 9 May 2025.
  41. ^ "Two killed in racing car crash at Orange". The Sydney Morning Herald. 1 February 1955. p. 3. Retrieved 9 May 2025.
  42. ^ "Cabinet minister dies in Adelaide". The Sun-Herald. 2 January 1955. p. 3. Retrieved 5 May 2025.
  43. ^ "Dr. Katie Brice dies at 68". The Sydney Morning Herald. 5 January 1955. p. 5. Retrieved 6 May 2025.
  44. ^ "FOTHERINGHAME, Pattie". The Sydney Morning Herald. 23 July 1955. p. 60. Retrieved 8 May 2025. July 19, 1955 at Deewhy...
  45. ^ "Australian actress Madge Elliot dies in New York". The Sydney Morning Herald. 10 August 1955. p. 1. Retrieved 5 May 2025.
  46. ^ "Senator McLeay dies in Adelaide of heart attack". The Sydney Morning Herald. 15 September 1955. p. 8. Retrieved 5 May 2025.
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