1958 in Australia

The following lists events that happened during 1958 in Australia.

1958 in Australia
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Governor-General	William Slim
Prime minister	Robert Menzies
Population	9,842,333
Elections	Federal, VIC

← 1957 1956 1955 1958 in Australia → 1959 1960 1961
Decades:	1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s
See also:	Other events of 1958 Federal election Timeline of Australian history

Incumbents

Robert Menzies

• Monarch – Elizabeth II
• Governor-General – Sir William Slim
• Prime Minister – Robert Menzies
• Chief Justice – Sir Owen Dixon

State premiers

• Premier of New South Wales – Joseph Cahill
• Premier of Queensland – Frank Nicklin
• Premier of South Australia – Thomas Playford IV
• Premier of Tasmania – Robert Cosgrove (until 26 August), then Eric Reece
• Premier of Victoria – Henry Bolte
• Premier of Western Australia – Albert Hawke

State governors

• Governor of New South Wales – Sir Eric Woodward
• Governor of Queensland – Sir Henry Abel Smith (from 18 March)
• Governor of South Australia – Sir Robert George
• Governor of Tasmania – Sir Ronald Cross, 1st Baronet (until 4 June)
• Governor of Victoria – Sir Dallas Brooks
• Governor of Western Australia – Sir Charles Gairdner

Events

• 14 January – Qantas Airways introduces a round-the-world air service from Australia to London.
• 20 January – The Royal Australian Naval College is moved back to Jervis Bay Territory from Flinders Naval Depot in Victoria.
• 28 January to 11 February – Harold Macmillan visits Australia, the first Prime Minister of the United Kingdom to do so while in office.
• 14 February to 7 March – Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother visits Australia for the second time.
• 21 March – John McEwen replaces Arthur Fadden as federal leader of the Country Party.
• 24 March – The Cahill Expressway in Sydney opens, the first true freeway in Australia.
• 3 April – A cyclone destroys most of the town of Bowen in Queensland.
• 15 April – Monash University is founded in Melbourne, Victoria.
• 11 May – Construction of Australia's largest man-made lake, Lake Eucumbene on the Eucumbene River in the Snowy Mountains, is completed.
• 31 May – Henry Bolte's Liberal government is re-elected in Victoria.
• 19 July – The last tram service runs in Perth.
• 26 August – Robert Cosgrove retires as Premier of Tasmania, and is replaced by Eric Reece.
• 30 September – The ANZAC Day Act 1958 receives Royal Assent, making ANZAC Day (25 April) a national public holiday in Australia.
• 26 October – The wreckage of the Australian National Airways Avro 10 aircraft, VH-UMF Southern Cloud, is found. The aircraft had been missing since 1931.
• 22 November – A federal election is held. The Liberal-Country coalition led by Robert Menzies defeats H. V. Evatt's Australian Labor Party with 74 seats to 45 in the House of Representatives, a majority unprecedented since Federation, gained from preferences from the Democratic Labor Party.

Unknown dates

• Aquila Shoes, a shoe manufacturing company, founded.
• Johnny O'Keefe has his first hit with Wild One.
• Radio station 2UE publishes the first Australian Top 40.

Science and technology

• 26 January – The HIFAR nuclear reactor at Lucas Heights goes critical for the first time.

Unknown dates

• Australian engineer Dr. David Warren of Melbourne's Aeronautical Research Laboratories constructs the world's first flight recorder ("black box").

Arts and literature

Main article: 1958 in Australian literature

• 11 December – The National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) opens in Sydney.
• William Edwin Pidgeon wins the Archibald Prize with his portrait of journalist Ray Walker
• Eric Smith wins the Blake Prize for Religious Art with his work The Moment Christ Died
• Randolph Stow wins the Miles Franklin Award for To the Islands
• Russel Ward releases The Australian Legend

Film

• 8 March - The film Bridge on the River Kwai was released in Sydney.

Television

• October - Autumn Affair, first television soap opera produced in Australia debuts
• 1 November – The first episode of Bandstand goes to air on TCN-9, hosted by Brian Henderson.
• 22 November – The 1958 Australian federal election is the first to be televised.

Sport

• Athletics
  • 23 March – John Russell wins his second men's national marathon title, clocking 2:40:30 in Sydney
  • 6 August – Herb Elliott sets a world record for the one-mile dash (3:54.5) at Morton Stadium in Dublin, Ireland.
• Cricket
  • New South Wales wins the Sheffield Shield
• Football
  • Brisbane Rugby League premiership: Brothers defeated Valleys 22-7
  • New South Wales Rugby League premiership: St. George defeated Western Suburbs 20-9
  • WAFL East Perth defeated East Fremantle 65 - 63
  • South Australian National Football League premiership: won by Port Adelaide
  • Victorian Football League premiership: Collingwood defeated Melbourne 82-64
• Golf
  • Australian Open: won by Gary Player
• Horse Racing
  • Sir Blink wins the Caulfield Cup
  • Yeman wins the Cox Plate
  • Skyline wins the Golden Slipper
  • Baystone wins the Melbourne Cup
• Motor Racing
  • The Australian Grand Prix was held at Bathurst and won by Lex Davison driving a Ferrari
• Tennis
  • Australian Open men's singles: Ashley Cooper defeats Malcolm Anderson 7–5 6–3 6–4
  • Australian Open women's singles: Angela Mortimer defeats Lorraine Coghlan 6–3 6–4
  • Davis Cup: Australia is defeated by the United States 3–2 in the 1958 Davis Cup final
• Yachting
  • Solo takes line honours and Siandra wins on handicap in the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race

Births

• 3 January – Kerry Armstrong, actress
• 5 January – Penny Whetton, climatologist (died 2019)
• 6 February – Simon Baker, race walker
• 10 February – Phil Weightman, politician
• 12 February – Grant McLennan, singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 2006)
• 14 February – Grant Thomas, Australian rules footballer
• 15 February – Steve Bredhauer, politician
• 22 February – Bill Feldman, politician
• 28 February – Neil Bennett, politician
• 16 March – Phillip Wilcher, pianist and composer
• 20 March – Phil Anderson, cyclist
• 29 March – Geoff Provest, politician
• 11 April – Mark Furner, politician
• 12 April
  • Glenn Patching, swimmer
  • Jim Madden, politician
• 19 April – Bill Byrne, politician
• 5 May – Robert DiPierdomenico, footballer and media personality
• 7 May – Alan John, composer
• 11 May – Peter Antonie, rower
• 11 May – Phil Smyth, basketball player
• 3 July – Gary Buckenara, Australian Rules footballer
• 6 July – Gary Humphries, politician
• 13 July – Richard Glover, journalist, author and radio personality
• 15 July – Phil Gould, rugby league identity
• 12 August – Grace Grace, politician
• 22 August – Jo-Ann Miller, politician
• 30 September – Rod Welford, politician
• October - Garry Pankhurst, former child actor
• 13 October – Jim Krakouer, Australian Rules footballer
• 22 October – Jan Jarratt, politician
• 3 November – Ted Radke, politician
• 15 November – Lewis Fitz-Gerald, actor and director
• 24 November – Alex Douglas, politician
• 26 November – Terry Rogers, politician
• 27 November – Linda Lavarch, politician
• 12 December – Monica Attard, journalist
• 31 December – Geoff Marsh, cricketer

Deaths

• 24 January – William Roy Hodgson, public servant (b. 1892)
• 8 April – Ethel Turner, writer (b. 1872)
• 15 May – Sir John Northmore, Western Australian Supreme Court Chief Justice (b. 1865)
• 4 August – Ethel Anderson, poet, author, and painter (b. 1883)
• 13 September – Russell Mockridge (b. 1928), cyclist
• 14 October – Douglas Mawson, polar explorer (b. 1882)
• 30 November – Hubert Wilkins, polar explorer (b. 1888)

See also

• List of Australian films of the 1950s