1929 in Australia

← 1928 1927 1926 1929 in Australia → 1930 1931 1932
Decades:	1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s
See also:	Other events of 1929 Federal election Timeline of Australian history

The following lists events that happened during 1929 in Australia.

1929 in Australia
Monarch	George V
Governor-General	John Baird
Prime minister	Stanley Bruce, then James Scullin
Population	6,393,883
Elections	Federal, VIC, QLD

Incumbents

Stanley Bruce

James Scullin

• Monarch – George V
• Governor-General – John Baird, Baronet of Stonehaven
• Prime Minister – Stanley Bruce (until 12 October), then James Scullin
• Chief Justice – Adrian Knox

State premiers

• Premier of New South Wales – Thomas Bavin
• Premier of Queensland – William McCormack (until 21 May), then Arthur Edward Moore
• Premier of South Australia – Richard Layton Butler
• Premier of Tasmania – John McPhee
• Premier of Victoria – William Murray McPherson (until 12 December), then Edmond Hogan
• Premier of Western Australia – Philip Collier

State governors

• Governor of New South Wales – Sir Dudley de Chair
• Governor of Queensland – Sir John Goodwin
• Governor of South Australia – Sir Alexander Hore-Ruthven
• Governor of Tasmania – Sir James O'Grady
• Governor of Victoria – Arthur Somers-Cocks, 6th Baron Somers
• Governor of Western Australia – Sir William Campion

Events

• Centenary of Western Australia
• 4 April – 1929 Tasmanian floods: A dam on the Cascade River in Tasmania collapses. The subsequent torrent floods the town of Derby, killing fourteen people.
• 3 June – Fremantle, Western Australia is proclaimed a city.
• 12 October – A federal election is held. James Scullin leads the Australian Labor Party to victory over the incumbent government of Stanley Bruce. Bruce becomes the first Prime Minister to lose his seat in an election.
• 30 November – A state election is held in Victoria.
• 12 December – Premier of Victoria William Murray McPherson refuses to resign after the election, but is defeated by a no confidence motion in the first meeting of parliament. He retires, with Edmond Hogan assuming the premiership.
• 16 December – Rothbury Riot in which police shoot at locked out miners, killing Norman Brown.

Arts and literature

Japanese vaudeville performer, singer and comedian Kono San (or Konosan) on board SS Sierra, Sydney 1929.

Main article: 1929 in Australian literature

• 18 January – Sir John Longstaff wins the 1928 Archibald Prize for his portrait of Alexander Leeper.

Sport

• 3 January – Don Bradman makes 112 for Australia v England in the third Test match at Melbourne, his first Test Century.
• 5 November – Nightmarch wins the Melbourne Cup.
• The Australia national rugby league team embarked on the 1929–30 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain.
• New South Wales wins the Sheffield Shield
• England defeats Australia 4–1 in The Ashes series
• South Sydney win the 1929 New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership, defeating Newtown 30–10.
• Collingwood football club win their third consecutive AFL Priemiership flag, after an undefeated home and away season. (They go on to win the flag again in 1930 and remain to date [2012] the only team to win 4 flags in a row).

Births

• 5 January – Veronica Brady, religious sister and academic (died 2015)
• 7 January – Robert Juniper, artist (died 2012)
• 2 February – Desmond Ford, theologian (died 2019)
• 27 February – Jack Gibson, rugby league footballer and coach (died 2008)
• 31 January – John Stone, politician
• 1 February – R. A. Simpson, poet (died 2002)
• 7 February – John Sullivan, politician
• 16 February – Peter Porter, poet (died 2010)
• 29 April – Peter Sculthorpe, composer (died 2014)
• 7 May – Len Fitzgerald, Australian rules footballer (died 2007)
• 15 May – Kevin Cairns, politician (died 1984)
• 24 May – Brian Wenzel, actor
• 26 May – Ernie Carroll, television personality
• 10 June – Ian Sinclair, politician and former leader of the National Party
• 12 June – Roy Bull, rugby league footballer and coach (died 2004)
• 23 June – Herb Barker, athlete (died 2006)
• 26 June – June Bronhill, opera singer (died 2005)
• 1 July – Jack Storey, Australian rules footballer
• 5 July –
  • Jimmy Carruthers, boxer (died 1990)
  • Ron Casey, sports journalist and radio personality (died 2018)
• 6 July – Russell Middlemiss, Australian rules footballer (died 2019)
• 8 July – Bruce Gyngell, television executive (died 2000)
• 12 July
  • Barry Griffiths, Australian rules footballer
  • Bill Nolan, Australian rules footballer (died 2019)
• 14 July – Adam Inglis, Australian rules footballer
• 20 July – David Tonkin, Premier of South Australia (1979–1982) (died 2000)
• 5 August – Reg Lindsay, country music singer (died 2008)
• 9 August – John Wheeldon, politician (died 2006)
• 14 August – Derek Fielding, librarian and author (died 2014)
• 16 August – William Copeland, Test cricket umpire (died 2011)
• 21 August – Jack Gaffney, footballer and lawyer (died 2018)
• 23 August – Peter Thomson, golfer (died 2018)
• 25 August – Ron Lord, soccer player
• 2 September – Tom Allsop, Australian rules football player (died 2019)
• 5 September – Margaret Loutit, microbiologist (died 2020)
• 25 September – Jack Rutherford, cricketer
• 1 October – Ken Arthurson, rugby league footballer, coach and administrator
• 2 October – Wal Fife, politician and businessman (died 2017)
• 17 October – Jack Mundey, trade union leader and environmental activist (died 2020)
• 21 October – Glen Sheil, tennis player and politician (died 2008)
• 31 October – Eddie Charlton, snooker and billiards player (died 2004)
• 15 November – Eric Robinson, politician (died 1981)
• 4 December 4 – Noel Power, Hong Kong judge (died 2009)
• 9 December – Bob Hawke, trade union leader and Prime Minister of Australia (1983–1991) (died 2019)
• 18 December – Bob Jane, racing driver and businessman (died 2018)
• 31 December – Doug Anthony, politician (died 2020)

Deaths

• 26 June – Samuel Cooke (b. 1847), politician
• 14 July – Walter Baldwin Spencer (b. 1860), anthropologist
• 26 November – John Cockburn (b. 1850), Premier of South Australia

See also

• List of Australian films of the 1920s