1916 in Australia
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| 1916 in Australia | |
| Monarch | George V |
| Governor-General | Ronald Munro-Ferguson |
| Prime Minister | Billy Hughes |
| Population | 4,943,173 |
| Elections | Tasmania |
See also: 1915 in Australia, other events of 1916, 1917 in Australia and the Timeline of Australian history.
Contents |
[edit] Incumbents
- Prime Minister - Billy Hughes
- Governor General - The Right Hon. Sir Ronald Munro-Ferguson
- Premier of New South Wales - William Holman
- Premier of South Australia - Crawford Vaughan
- Premier of Queensland - T.J. Ryan
- Premier of Tasmania - John Earle til 15 April then Walter Lee
- Premier of Western Australia - John Scaddan til 27 July then Frank Wilson
- Premier of Victoria - Sir Alexander Peacock
[edit] Events
- Hotels are forced to close at 6 p.m., leading to the beginning of the "six o'clock swill": 27 March in South Australia; 21 July in Sydney after referendum of 10 June; 11 October in Victoria; during March in Tasmania.
- 14 February - troops mutinied against conditions at the Casula Camp. They raided hotels in Liverpool before travelling by train to Sydney, where one soldier was shot dead in a riot at Central Railway station.
- June 6 - The Returned Sailors’ and Soldiers’ Imperial League of Australia, the forerunner to the Returned and Services League is founded.
- June 26 - William Jackson awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions in a raid near near Armentières, France.
- July 19 - Battle of Fromelles commenced; over the next seven weeks 22 826 Australian casualties occurred.
- July 23 - Arthur Seaforth Blackburn and John Leak awarded the Victoria Cross for their actions (separate) at the Battle of Pozières.
- July 25 - Thomas Cooke died in the Battle of Pozières and was awarded the Victoria Cross for his gallantry in the face of the enemy.
- 29 July - Claude Charles Castleton killed in the Battle of Pozières and for his actions in bringing back wounded men before and at the time of his death, he was awarded the Victoria Cross.
- Between 9 August and 12 August - Martin O'Meara repeatedly went out and brought in wounded officers and men from "No Man's Land" under intense artillery and machine-gun fire during the Battle of Pozières; for his gallantry he was awarded the Victoria Cross.
- August 30 - Rescue of the 22 men Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition who remained on Elephant Island.
- 28 October - The first plebiscite on the issue of military conscription was held; it was defeated.
- 1 November - a general coal strike began in eastern Australia.
- The Labor government under Billy Hughes splits over military conscription.
- November 13 - Prime Minister of Australia Billy Hughes is expelled from the Labor Party over his support for conscription.
- 2 December - Sydney Twelve: 12 members of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW or the Wobblies) convicted in Sydney of conspiring to commit arson and sedition.
- December 23 - World War I: Battle of Magdhaba - In the Sinai desert, Australian and New Zealand mounted troops capture the Turkish garrison.
- 28 December - floods in Clermont, Queensland claimed more than 60 lives.
[edit] Arts and literature
- March 6 - The Sydney conservatorium of music accepts first students.
[edit] Sport
- Sasanof wins the Melbourne Cup
- The Sheffield Shield was not contested due to the war.
[edit] Births
- July 11 - Gough Whitlam, twenty-first Prime Minister of Australia
- September 14 - John Heyer , documentary filmmaker
- September 25 - Jessica Anderson, author
[edit] Deaths
- 12 August - Sir George Turner, 18th Premier of Victoria and a member of the first federal ministry
- 7 November - Henry Brockman, Member of the Western Australian Legislative Council
