1952 in Australia

The following lists events that happened during 1952 in Australia.

Population8,636,458

1952 in Australia
Monarch	George VI, then Elizabeth II
Governor-General	William McKell
Prime minister	Robert Menzies
Population	8,636,458
Elections	VIC

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1952
in
Australia

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Decades:

State Premiers

Monarch – George VI (until 6 February), then Elizabeth II
Governor-General – Sir William McKell
Prime Minister – Robert Menzies
Chief Justice – Sir John Latham (until 7 April) then Sir Owen Dixon

Premier of New South Wales – James McGirr (until 2 April), then Joseph Cahill
Premier of Queensland – Ned Hanlon (until 17 January), then Vince Gair
Premier of South Australia – Thomas Playford IV
Premier of Tasmania – Robert Cosgrove
Premier of Victoria – John McDonald (until 28 October), then Thomas Hollway (until 31 October), then John McDonald (until 17 December), then John Cain I
Premier of Western Australia – Ross McLarty

State Governors

Governor of New South Wales – Sir John Northcott
Governor of Queensland – Sir John Lavarack
Governor of South Australia – Sir Charles Norrie (until 19 June)
Governor of Tasmania – Sir Ronald Cross, 1st Baronet
Governor of Victoria – Sir Dallas Brooks
Governor of Western Australia – Sir Charles Gairdner

Events

20 January – The first express trains run between Melbourne and Adelaide, following the completion of a railway between the two cities.
6 February – King George VI dies, and is succeeded as Queen of Australia by his daughter, Elizabeth II.
18 April – Owen Dixon becomes Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia.
29 April – The ANZUS Treaty between Australia, New Zealand and the United States comes into force.
14–18 June – Disastrous floods in the southeast corner leave 600 homeless and render a major rail line near Moss Vale unusable throughout the winter^[1]
- The winter season is especially wet in the southeast of the continent, being the wettest on record in Melbourne and the fifth wettest on record in Sydney
1 September – Qantas Empire Airways commences the first air service between Australia and South Africa.
19 September – Betty Shanks is murdered in Brisbane.^[2]^[3] The case ultimately becomes Queensland's oldest unsolved murder.^[4]
28 October – Premier of Victoria John McDonald resigns after the Victorian Legislative Council refuses supply. Thomas Hollway forms a short-lived ministry which lasts four days.
30 November – Lang Hancock discovers the world's largest deposit of iron ore in the Hamersley Range of Western Australia's Pilbara region.
6 December – A state election is held in Victoria.

Science and technology

3 October – The first British nuclear test in Australia, Operation Hurricane, commences on the Monte Bello Islands with the detonation of an atomic bomb of 25 kilotons yield.

Arts and literature

28 April – Joan Sutherland makes her debut at Covent Garden
William Dargie wins the Archibald Prize with his portrait of Essington Lewis
Frank Hinder wins the Blake Prize for Religious Art with his work Flight into Egypt

Sport

Athletics
- 16 February – Robert Prentice wins his second men's national marathon title, clocking 3:19:26 in Melbourne.
- Olympics: Marjorie Jackson wins gold medals in the Women's 100m and 200m
- Olympics: Shirley Strickland wins the gold medal in the 80m Hurdles
Cricket
- New South Wales wins the Sheffield Shield
Cycling
- Olympics: Russell Mockridge wins the gold medal in the Men's 1000m Time Trial
- Olympics: Lionel Cox and Russell Mockridge win the gold medal in the Men's 2000m tandem
Football
- 14 and 16 June – for the only time in its history, the VFL plays matches for premiership points in country centres. Three other games are the first played interstate for premiership points since 1904 but flooding rains affect attendances and cause one game to be postponed and played under lights.
- Victorian Football League premiership: Geelong defeated Collingwood 86-40
- South Australian National Football League premiership: won by North Adelaide
Rugby
- Bledisloe Cup: retained by the All Blacks
- Brisbane Rugby League premiership: Wests defeated Brothers 15-14
- New South Wales Rugby League premiership: Wests defeated South Sydney 22-12
Golf
- Australian Open: won by Norman Von Nida
- Australian PGA Championship: won by William C Holder
Horse racing
- Peshawar wins the Caulfield Cup
- Hydrogen wins the Cox Plate
- Dalray wins the Melbourne Cup
Motor racing
- The Australian Grand Prix was held at Bathurst and won by Doug Whiteford driving a Talbot-Lago
Swimming
- Olympics: John Davies wins the gold medal in the Men's 200m breaststroke
Tennis
- Australian Open men's singles: Ken McGregor defeats Frank Sedgman 7-5 12-10 2–6 6-2
- Australian Open women's singles: Thelma Coyne Long defeats Helen Angwin 6-2 6-3
- Davis Cup: Australia defeats the United States 4–1 in the 1952 Davis Cup final
- Wimbledon: Ken McGregor and Frank Sedgman win the Men's Doubles
- Wimbledon: Frank Sedgman wins the Men's Singles
Yachting
- Nocturne takes line honours and Ingrid wins on handicap in the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race

Births

2 January – Graeme Strachan (died 2001), singer
20 January – Patrick Smith (died 2023), sports journalist^[5]
6 February – Ric Charlesworth, sportsman
1 March – Leigh Matthews, Australian Rules football player and coach
6 March – Ian Cooke, field hockey player
2 May
- Chris Anderson, rugby league footballer and coach
- Campbell McComas (died 2005), impersonator and broadcaster
6 June – Ross Stretton (died 2005), ballet dancer
11 June – Tony Barnett, basketball player
15 June – Clare Martin, Chief Minister of the Northern Territory
25 June – Peter Farmer, hammer thrower
28 June – Ken Gillespie, Vice Chief of the Defence Force (2005–2008), Chief of Army (2008–2011)
28 July – Glenn A. Baker, music historian
5 August – John Jarratt, actor
7 October – Graham Yallop, cricketer
2 September – Pru Goward, politician
4 September – Tom Maher, basketball coach
12 October – Trevor Chappell, cricketer
22 October – John Howard (Australian actor), stage and screen actor
18 November – Peter Beattie, Premier of Queensland
18 December – Frank Holden, entertainer
19 December – Andrew Fraser, politician
(Unknown Date) – Bethany Lee, actress

v t e Years in Australia (1788–present)
18th century	1788 1789 1790 1791 1792 1793 1794 1795 1796 1797 1798 1799 1800
19th century	1801 1802 1803 1804 1805 1806 1807 1808 1809 1810 1811 1812 1813 1814 1815 1816 1817 1818 1819 1820 1821 1822 1823 1824 1825 1826 1827 1828 1829 1830 1831 1832 1833 1834 1835 1836 1837 1838 1839 1840 1841 1842 1843 1844 1845 1846 1847 1848 1849 1850 1851 1852 1853 1854 1855 1856 1857 1858 1859 1860 1861 1862 1863 1864 1865 1866 1867 1868 1869 1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900
20th century	1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000
21st century	2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
Timeline of Australian history

v t e 1952 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 Tuvalu Vanuatu
Associated states of New Zealand	Cook Islands Niue

1952 in Australia

State Premiers

State Governors

Events

Science and technology

Arts and literature

Sport

Births

Deaths

See also

References

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