1953 in Australia
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Governor-General	William McKell, then William Slim
Prime Minister	Robert Menzies
Population	8,815,362
Elections	Senate, WA, NSW, SA, QLD

See also: 1952 in Australia, other events of 1953, 1954 in Australia and the Timeline of Australian history.

Incumbents

• Prime Minister - Robert Menzies
• Governor General - William McKell (until May 8), then William Slim
• Premier of New South Wales - Joseph Cahill
• Premier of South Australia - Thomas Playford IV
• Premier of Queensland - Vince Gair
• Premier of Tasmania - Robert Cosgrove
• Premier of Western Australia - Ross McLarty (until February 23), then Albert Hawke
• Premier of Victoria - John Cain I

Events

• March 20 - The Television Act is passed by parliament, setting regulations for the broadcast of television in Australia
• October 15 - Operation Totem, a pair British atomic tests, commences at Emu Field, South Australia. Totem 1 is detonated with a yield of 10 kilotons
• October 27 - Totem 2 is detonated at Emu Field, with a yield of 8 kilotons
• October 29 - British Commonwealth Pacific Airlines (BCPA) Douglas DC-6, registration VH-BPE, en route from Sydney, crashes on approach to San Francisco, killing 19 [1]

Science & Technology

The first town to fluoridate the water supply in Australia was Beaconsfield, Tasmania.^[1]

Arts and literature

• Ivor Hele wins the Archibald Prize with his portrait of Sir Henry Simpson Newland
• Michael Kmit wins the Blake Prize for Religious Art with his work The Evangelist John Mark

Film

Sport

• Athletics
  • September 26 - Roland Guy wins the men's national marathon title, clocking 2:24:48 in Sydney.

• Cricket
  • South Australia wins the Sheffield Shield

• Football
  • Brisbane Rugby League premiership: Souths defeated Easts 21-4
  • New South Wales Rugby League premiership: South Sydney defeated St. George 31-12
  • South Australian National Football League premiership: won by West Torrens
  • Victorian Football League premiership: Collingwood defeated Geelong 77-65

• Golf
  • Australian Open: won by Norman Von Nida
  • Australian PGA Championship: won by Ossie Pickworth

• Horse Racing
  • My Hero wins the Caulfield Cup
  • Hydrogen wins the Cox Plate
  • Wodalla wins the Melbourne Cup

• Motor Racing
  • The Australian Grand Prix was held at Albert Park and won by Doug Whiteford driving a Talbot-Lago

• Tennis
  • Australian Open men's singles: Ken Rosewall defeats Mervyn Rose 6-0 6-3 6-4
  • Australian Open women's singles: Maureen Connolly defeats Julie Sampson Haywood 6-3 6-2
  • Davis Cup: Australia defeats the United States 3-2 in the 1953 Davis Cup final
  • Wimbledon: Lew Hoad and Ken Rosewall win the Men's Doubles

• Yachting
  • Solveig IV takes line honours and Ripple wins on handicap in the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race

Births

• January 6 — Ian Frazer, immunologist
• February 14 — Greg Browning, field hockey player
• March 4 — Ray Price, rugby league football player
• March 15 — Randall Goff, water polo player
• March 17 — Margaret Jackson, businesswoman
• April 16 — Peter Garrett, singer and politician
• April 21 — John Brumby, politician
• May 20 — Robert Doyle, politician
• June 24 — Michael Tuck, Australian Rules football player
• July 1 — David Gulpilil, actor
• July 23 — Marcia Hines, singer
• August 17 — Noni Hazelhurst, actress
• September 11 — Renée Geyer, singer
• November 25 — Graham Eadie, rugby league footballer
• December 12 — Martin Ferguson, politician

Deaths

• January 28 – James Scullin, Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1876)
• February 12 – Hal Colebatch, Premier of Western Australia (b. 1872)
• December 2 – Reginald Baker (69), athlete, sports promoter and film actor (b. 1884)

See also

• 1953
• 1950s

References

1. ^ (1987) "Tasmania", in Editors: Graham Aplin, S.G. Foster and Michael McKernan: Australians:Events and Places. Sydney, NSW, Australia: Fairfax, Syme & Weldon Associates, page 366. ISBN 0-521-34073-X.