1968 in Australia

The following lists events that happened during 1968 in Australia.

1968 in Australia

Monarch| Elizabeth II
Governor-General| Lord Casey
Prime minister| John McEwen, then John Gorton
Population| 11,799,078
Australian of the Year| Lionel Rose
Elections| NSW, SA, WA

* 1967
* 1966
* 1965
*   *

|  | 1968

Australia |

* 1969
* 1970
* 1971
*   *

|
|
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Decades:|

* 1940s
* 1950s
* 1960s
* 1970s
* 1980s

See also:|

* 1968 in Australian literature
* Other events of 1968
*   * Timeline of Australian history

## Incumbents

[edit]

Lord Casey

John McEwen

John Gorton

* Monarch – Elizabeth II
* Governor-General – Lord Casey
* Prime Minister – John McEwen (until 10 January), then John Gorton
* Deputy Prime Minister – John McEwen (from 10 January)
* Opposition Leader – Gough Whitlam
* Chief Justice – Sir Garfield Barwick

### State and territory leaders

[edit]

* Premier of New South Wales – Robert Askin
* Opposition Leader – Jack Renshaw (until 2 December), then Pat Hills
* Premier of Queensland – Frank Nicklin (until 17 January), then Jack Pizzey (until 31 July), then Gordon Chalk (from 1 August until 8 August), then Joh Bjelke-Petersen
* Opposition Leader – Jack Houston
* Premier of South Australia – Don Dunstan (until 17 April), then Steele Hall
* Opposition Leader – Steele Hall (until 17 April), then Don Dunstan
* Premier of Tasmania – Eric Reece
* Opposition Leader – Angus Bethune
* Premier of Victoria – Sir Henry Bolte
* Opposition Leader – Clyde Holding
* Premier of Western Australia – David Brand
* Opposition Leader – John Tonkin

### Governors and administrators

[edit]

* Governor of New South Wales – Sir Roden Cutler
* Governor of Queensland – Sir Alan Mansfield
* Governor of South Australia – Lieutenant General Sir Edric Bastyan (until 1 June), then Major General Sir James Harrison (from 4 December)
* Governor of Tasmania – General Sir Charles Gairdner (until 11 July), then Lieutenant General Sir Edric Bastyan (from 2 December)
* Governor of Victoria – Major General Sir Rohan Delacombe
* Governor of Western Australia – Major General Sir Douglas Kendrew
* Administrator of Nauru – Leslie King (until 30 January)
* Administrator of Norfolk Island – Reginald Marsh (until June), then Robert Dalkin (from July)
* Administrator of the Northern Territory – Roger Dean
* Administrator of Papua and New Guinea – David Hay

## Events

[edit]

* 4 January – The search for the body of Prime Minister Harold Holt, who disappeared whilst swimming near Portsea, Victoria, is called off.
* 10 January – John Gorton is sworn in as Prime Minister of Australia after the disappearance of Harold Holt.
* 28 January – Members of English rock groups The Who and Small Faces are escorted by police from a plane at Melbourne's Essendon Airport, after the pilot diverts the flight citing the bands' behaviour.
* 31 January – The Australian-administered United Nations trust territory of Nauru became independent, in accordance with the provisions of the Nauru Independence Act 1967.
* 1 April – American evangelist Billy Graham begins a tour of Australia.
* 17 April – A state election is held in South Australia. Steele Hall (Liberal and Country League) defeats Don Dunstan (ALP), and becomes Premier of South Australia.
* 8 April – Fluoridation of Sydney's water supply begins.
* 30 April – Jim Cairns unsuccessfully challenges Gough Whitlam for leadership of the Australian Labor Party.
* 1 May – The Duke of Edinburgh arrives in Australia for a ten-day visit.
* 5 May – Three Australian journalists are killed by the Viet Cong in Saigon.
* 19 May – The body of 3-year-old boy Simon Brook is found after he is murdered near his home in the Sydney suburb of Glebe.[1] As of 2025, no person has ever been charged with Brook's murder but his parents allege convicted child killer Derek Percy, who died in 2013, was responsible.[2]
* 21 May – Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi visits Australia.
* 14 June – Journalist Simon Townsend, future host of Simon Townsend's Wonder World, is granted exemption from military service after lodging a fifth appeal against his imprisonment and court martial for conscientious objection.
* 18 June – The first stage of the Warringah Freeway opens in Sydney.
* 24 June – British comedian Tony Hancock commits suicide in his Sydney hotel room.
* 2 July – Fifty students are arrested during an anti-Vietnam War protest in Martin Place, Sydney.
* 4 July – Forty five people are arrested during an anti-war protest outside the U.S. consulate in St Kilda Road, Melbourne.
* 31 July – The Premier of Queensland, Jack Pizzey, dies in office.
* 1 August – Jack Pizzey's deputy, Gordon Chalk, is sworn in as his successor until the appointment of Joh Bjelke-Petersen as Premier a week later.
* 3 August – The standard gauge rail line between Perth and Kalgoorlie is completed.
* 20 August – The National Gallery of Victoria is opened in Melbourne.
* 14 October – The town of Meckering, Western Australia, is badly damaged by an earthquake.
* 28 October – The Postmaster-General's Department decreases the number of mail deliveries per day from two to one.
* 31 October – Minister for the Army Phillip Lynch admits that Australian Army troops may have breached the Geneva Convention by using water torture during the interrogation of a female Viet Cong suspect.
* 1 November – The airline Ansett-ANA is renamed Ansett.
* 14 December – A referendum is held in Tasmania to allow the granting of Australia's first casino license to the Wrest Point Hotel. The referendum is passed.
* 31 December – MacRobertson Miller Airlines Flight 1750 crashes south of Port Hedland, Western Australia, killing all 26 people on board.

### Non-specific dates

[edit]

* Australia's population is estimated to have reached 12 million in 1968.

## Arts and literature

[edit]

Main article: 1968 in Australian literature

* 17 January – The Seekers are named Australians of the Year for 1967.
* 19 January – William Pidgeon wins the Archibald Prize with his portrait of Lloyd Rees.[3]
* 1 July – The Copyright Act 1968 replaces the existing 1911 copyright legislation.
* Thomas Keneally's novel Three Cheers for the Paraclete wins the Miles Franklin Award

## Film

[edit]

* 2 December – At the Australian Film Institute Awards ceremony, Prime Minister John Gorton announces the creation of the Australian Film Development Corporation.

## Television

[edit]

* 25 May – An episode of the ABC series Bellbird stops the nation when the character of Charlie Cousins (played by Robin Ramsay) dies in a fall from a silo.

## Sport

[edit]

* 26 February – Boxer Lionel Rose beats Japan's Fighting Harada in Tokyo to become world bantamweight champion.
* 25 May – Derek Clayton wins his second men's national marathon title, clocking 2:14:47.8 in Hobart.
* 26 May – Australia wins the 1968 Federation Cup in women's tennis, defeating the Netherlands (3–0).
* 10 June – Australia wins the 1968 Rugby League World Cup when it beats France (20–2) in the final at the SCG.
* 21 September – South Sydney defeated Manly-Warringah 13–9 in the NSWRL Grand Final at the Sydney Cricket Ground. Newtown finish in last position, claiming the wooden spoon.
* 28 September – The Carlton Blues narrowly beat Essendon Bombers by 3 points (56–53) in the grand final of the 1968 VFL season, winning their first flag in 21 years.
* 12 – 27 October – Australia participates in the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, coming ninth in the medal tally with 5 gold, 7 silver and 5 bronze medals (17 in total).
* 15 October – Ralph Doubell equals Peter Snell's world record (2:04.3) in the men's 800 metres, clocking 1:44.3 at the Summer Olympics in Mexico City.
* 5 November – Rain Lover wins the Melbourne Cup.
* 26 December – Ondine II takes line honours in the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race. Koomooloo is the handicap winner

### Unknown dates

[edit]

* Western Australia wins the Sheffield Shield.

## Births

[edit]

* 9 January – Mardi Lunn, golfer
* 7 February – Phillip Tahmindjis, ice speed skater
* 12 February – Nathan Rees, 41st Premier of New South Wales (2008–2009)
* 1 April – Mike Baird, 44th Premier of New South Wales (2014–2017)
* 7 April – Duncan Armstrong, swimmer
* 20 April – Julia Morris, actress, comedian, television presenter and producer
* 13 May – Scott Morrison, 30th Prime Minister of Australia
* 26 May – Rachael Sporn, basketball player
* 28 May – Kylie Minogue, entertainer
* 1 June – Jason Donovan, entertainer
* 4 June – Rachel Griffiths, actress
* 15 June – Hugh McDermott, politician
* 27 July – Julian McMahon, actor
* 3 August – Tom Long, actor (died 2020)
* 8 August – Craig Ruddy, artist (died 2022)
* 9 August – Eric Bana, actor
* 10 August – Cate Shortland, film and television writer and director
* 20 August – Sandy Brondello, basketball player and coach
* 13 September – Andrew Gee, politician
* 18 September – Brad Beven, triathlete
* 30 September – Sharon Jaklofsky, track and field athlete
* 8 October – Garry Hocking, footballer
* 12 October – Hugh Jackman, actor
* 15 October – Trent Zimmerman, politician
* 5 November – Penny Wong, politician, Minister for Foreign Affairs
* 13 November – Cherie Burton, politician
* 10 December – Barry Urban, politician (died 2025)
* 19 December – Kristina Keneally, 42nd Premier of New South Wales (2009–2011)

## Deaths

[edit]

* 14 January – Dorothea Mackellar (born 1885), poet
* 21 February – Howard Florey (born 1898), Nobel Prize-winning pharmacologist
* 22 May – Arthur Bridges (born 1901), New South Wales Minister for Child and Social Welfare
* 24 June – Tony Hancock (born 1924), British comedian
* 31 July – Jack Pizzey (born 1911), Premier of Queensland
* 19 August – William McCall (born 1908), politician
* 25 August – Stan McCabe (born 1910), cricketer
* 28 September – Sir Norman Brookes (born 1877), tennis player
* 10 October – Gavin Long (born 1901), journalist and military historian
* 13 October – Dame Jean Macnamara (born 1899), medical scientist
* 27 October – James Hunter (born 1882), politician
* 14 December – Margaret Theadora Allan (born 1889), community worker
* 20 December – John Jennings (born 1878), politician

## See also

[edit]

* List of Australian films of the 1960s

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Boy, 3½, brutally murdered". The Sydney Morning Herald. 20 May 1968. p. 1. Retrieved 12 January 2025.
2. ^ Olding, Rachel (24 July 2013). "Child killer stays silent on death bed". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 12 January 2025.
3. ^ "Winner: Archibald Prize 1968 – William Pidgeon". artgallery.nsw.gov.au. Art Gallery of NSW. Archived from the original on 20 October 2020. Retrieved 19 August 2017.

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Timeline of Australian history

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1968 in Oceania

Sovereign states|

* Australia
* Federated States of Micronesia
* Fiji
* Indonesia
* Kiribati
* Marshall Islands
* Nauru
* New Zealand
* Palau
* Papua New Guinea
* Samoa
* Solomon Islands
* Timor-Leste
* Tonga
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Associated states
of New Zealand|

* Cook Islands
* Niue

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