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:	1958 in Australian literature 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

January

• 14 January – Qantas Airways introduces a round-the-world air service from Australia to London. ^{[1] [2]}
• 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. ^[3]

February

• 14 February to 7 March – Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother visits Australia for the second time. ^{[4] [5]}

March

• 17 March – Victorian minister for education John Bloomfield discloses in state parliament that the name of Victoria's proposed second university will be Monash University in honour of General Sir John Monash. ^[6]
• 24 March – Two 18-year-old men and a 19-year-old man attempt to disrupt the official opening of Sydney's new Circular Quay overhead roadway. ^[7] Two of the men are armed with gardening shears and the other carrying a roll of toilet paper as they jump a railing and rush towards a party of dignitaries as New South Wales premier Joseph Cahill prepares to cut the ribbon. ^[7] Before the men could reach the ribbon, police officers tackled the men who were later taken to the Phillip Street police station where all three are charged with offensive behaviour, while two of the men are charged with carrying a cutting instrument. ^[7] During a speech, Cahill states that the new roadway was indicative of Sydney's growth and said he believed the new road would greatly relieve inner city traffic congestion although there was much more to be done to solve Sydney's traffic issues. ^[7] The road ultimately becomes known as the Cahill Expressway after lord mayor Harry Jensen successfully proposes in August 1958 that the road should be named in Cahill's honour. ^[8]
• 26 March – Leader of the Country Party, Sir Arthur Fadden formally announces his resignation as the party's leader before Minister for Trade John McEwen is unanimously elected as his successor. ^[9]

April

• 1 April – William John O'Meally becomes The last person flogged in Australia in Melbourne's Pentridge Prison. ^{[10] [11] [12]}
• 3 April – A cyclone destroys most of the town of Bowen in Queensland. ^{[13] [14]}
• 10 April –
  • Gary David Matthews, an 18-year-old gunner with the 111th Light Anti-Aircraft Battery appears in North Sydney Court of Petty Sessions charged with raping and assaulting with intent to murdering 39-year-old Victoria Joan Hawkins, wife of a British Army Major at Middle Head Army Barracks the previous day. ^{[15] [16]} The charge of attempted murder is subsequently dismissed the following month when the solder is committed to stand trial. ^[17] Despite pleading not guilty to the charge, Matthews is found guilty in the Central Criminal Court of raping Hawkins and is sentenced to 12 years imprisonment. ^[18]
  • 78-year-old former prime minister Sir Earle Page, a member of federal parliament since 1919 and now sitting on the backbench as the Member for Cowper, denies reports he intends to retire. ^[19]
• 11 April – 14-year-old student Margaret Eleanor Thomas is kidnapped by a man who broke into from Burwood Methodist Ladies College in Sydney. ^{[20] [21]} The girl's body is found a short time later in Queen Elizabeth Park in Concord. ^{[20] [21]} 29-year-old labourer John Charles Smith is charged with her murder. ^[22] He is also charged with having broken into a house in Burwood on 11 February 1958 and raping and inflicted grievous bodily harm on a 13-year-old girl. ^[23] Smith pleads not guilty to Thomas' murder, but after a four-day trial in June 1958, he is found guilty in the Central Criminal Court and is sentenced to penal servitude for life. ^[21]
• 15 April – Monash University is founded in Melbourne, Victoria.

May

• 11 May – Construction of Australia's largest man-made lake, Lake Eucumbene on the Eucumbene River in the Snowy Mountains, is completed.
• 20 May – Victorian premier Henry Bolte announces the appointment of twenty members to the interim council of Victoria's new Monash University with the appointees including Sir George Paton, Sir Leslie H. Martin and Archibald Glenn. ^[24] Alice Hoy is the only woman to be appointed to the council. ^{[24] [25]}
• 31 May – Henry Bolte's Liberal government is re-elected in Victoria. ^[26]

June

• 15 June – Two 14-year-old Blacktown Boys High School students are found alive after becoming lost in the Jamison Valley in the Blue Mountains and then spending a night in freezing conditions. ^[27] They are treated at Katoomba Hospital for frostbite, exposure and shock. ^[27]

July

• 19 July – The last tram service runs in Perth. ^[28]

August

• 25 August – Robert Cosgrove resigns as Premier of Tasmania citing health reasons, and is succeeded by Eric Reece. ^[29]

September

• 30 September – The ANZAC Day Act 1958 receives Royal Assent, making ANZAC Day (25 April) a national public holiday in Australia. ^[30]

October

• 26 October – 30-year-old Thomas Reginald Sonter, a New Zealand carpenter employed on the Snowy Mountains Scheme discovers the wreckage of the Australian National Airways Avro 10 aircraft, VH-UMF Southern Cloud near Cabramurra on the western side of the Snowy Mountains, 60 miles from Cooma, New South Wales. ^{[31] [32]} The aircraft had been missing since it crashed in 1931. ^[31]

November

• 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. ^{[33] [34]}

December

• 21 December – A 16-year-old boy is rescued after falling into the sea from a 150 ft cliff at Torquay and washed into a small cave at the base of the cliff. ^[35] During the rescue, the boy falls from the stretcher and is washed out to see when two of the lifesavers fall into a hole, with one of the men swimming out to again retrieve the boy. ^[35] The boy was taken to Geelong Hospital and was discharged the following day suffering only abrasions and bruises. ^[35]

Unknown dates

• Aquila Shoes, a shoe manufacturing company, founded.
• Johnny O'Keefe has his first hit with Wild One.

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, music and literature

Main article: 1958 in Australian literature

• 25 February – Eric Smith wins the Blake Prize for Religious Art with his work The Moment Christ Died. ^[36]
• 2 March – Sydney radio station 2UE publishes Australia's first ever Top 40 music chart. ^[37]
• 2 April – Patrick White is announced as the inaugural Miles Franklin Award winner, awarded the prize for his novel Voss . ^[38] The award is presented to White by prime minister Robert Menzies who described the novel as a "quite remarkable work". ^[38]
• December –
  • Randolph Stow releases To the Islands , which earns him the 1958 Miles Franklin Award, as announced in April 1959. ^{[39] [40]}
  • Russel Ward releases The Australian Legend. ^[41]
• 12 December – Sydney cartoonist William Edwin Pidgeon wins the Archibald Prize with his portrait of journalist Ray Walker. ^[42]

Film

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

Television

• 21 May – Postmaster-General Charles Davidson officially opens ABV-2's new television studios in the Melbourne suburb of Ripponlea with the Australian Broadcasting Commission pledging that their new facilities in Melbourne will provide new opportunities for Australian artists, writers and composers. ^[43]
• 20 October - Autumn Affair starring Muriel Steinbeck, the first television soap opera produced in Australia debuts on ATN-7 as part of the station's first breakfast television line-up. ^[44]
• 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 with both ATN-7 and ABN-2 staging their first live election broadcasts. ^{[45] [46] [47]} ABN-2's election night panel included ABC announcer Michael Charlton, the Liberal Party's Billy McMahon and the Labor Party's Eddie Ward. ^[47] Commentators on the ATN-7 broadcast included Charles Cousens, newspaper journalists George Baker and Max Newton. former Liberal MP Jo Gullett and union secretary Lloyd Ross. ^[46]

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) ^[48]
• 14 February – Grant Thomas, Australian rules footballer
• 19 February – Bradley John Murdoch, convicted murder (died 2025) ^[49]
• 15 February – Steve Bredhauer, politician
• 22 February – Bill Feldman, politician
• 28 February – Neil Bennett, politician
• 1 March – Wayne B. Phillips, cricketer
• 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) ^[50]
• 8 March – Brian Swift, Australian cricketer, died in car accident in the United Kingdom (b. 1937) ^[51]
• 8 April – Ethel Turner, writer (b. 1872) ^[52]
• 15 May – Sir John Northmore, Western Australian Supreme Court Chief Justice (b. 1865) ^[53]
• 4 August – Ethel Anderson, poet, author, and painter (b. 1883) ^[54]
• 13 September – Russell Mockridge (b. 1928), cyclist ^[55]
• 14 October – Douglas Mawson, polar explorer (b. 1882) ^[56]
• 30 November – Hubert Wilkins, polar explorer (b. 1888) (died in the United States) ^[57]

See also

• List of Australian films of the 1950s

References

1. Hastings Deering, Harold (15 January 1958). "Faith in the future". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 4. Retrieved 10 April 2025.
2. "Qantas plans outlay of £7million at Mascot by 1960". The Sydney Morning Herald. 15 January 1958. p. 5. Retrieved 10 April 2025. He was speaking at the official departure from Mascot of Qantas' first commercial 'round-the-world' service.
3. "Macmillan returns for 2-week visit to Australia". The Sydney Morning Herald. 29 January 1958. p. 1. Retrieved 10 April 2025.
4. "Crowd mobs the Queen Mother: Royal tour off to happy start". The Sydney Morning Herald. 15 February 1958. p. 1. Retrieved 10 April 2025.
5. "Queen Mother leaves Australia: Farewell in Perth". The Sydney Morning Herald. 8 March 1958. p. 1. Retrieved 10 April 2025.
6. "New university to bear name of Monash". The Age. 19 March 2025. p. 1. Retrieved 10 April 2025.
7. "Students rush Quay road opening ribbon". The Sydney Morning Herald. 25 March 1958. p. 1. Retrieved 10 April 2025.
8. "Cahill roadway name proposed". The Sydney Morning Herald. 23 August 1958. p. 1. Retrieved 10 April 2025.
9. "Both sides praise Sir Arthur; New Country Party elected". 27 March 1958. Retrieved 10 April 2025.
10. "Floggings carried out at Pentridge". The Age. 2 April 1958. p. 10. Retrieved 10 April 2025.
11. "Convicts flogged: Labor protest in Victorian parliament". The Sydney Morning Herald. 2 April 1958. p. 6. Retrieved 10 April 2025.
12. Kelsey-Sugg, Anna (12 October 2021). "Pentridge prison raises the difficult question of how to treat a violent history". ABC News. Retrieved 10 April 2025. In 1958, William John O'Meally became the last to endure a cat-o-nine tails flogging. He suffered 12 lashes as punishment for trying to escape.
13. "112 mph tempest hit Bowen: First full report". The Sydney Morning Herald. 4 April 1958. p. 1. Retrieved 10 April 2025.
14. "Bread rationed at Bowen, other food running out; 70 houses "disappear"; first pictures of damage caused by Bowen cyclone". The Sydney Morning Herald. 5 April 1958. p. 1. Retrieved 10 April 2025.
15. "Camp attack: youth charged". The Sydney Morning Herald. 11 April 1958. p. 1. Retrieved 10 April 2025.
16. "Major's wife battered at barracks". The Sydney Morning Herald. 10 April 1958. p. 1. Retrieved 10 April 2025.
17. "Soldier for trial on rape count". The Sydney Morning Herald. 30 May 1958. p. 6. Retrieved 10 April 2025.
18. "Soldier guilty of rape charge: Gaoled for 12 years". The Sydney Morning Herald. 27 June 1958. p. 6. Retrieved 10 April 2025.
19. "Page says he is not retiring". The Sydney Morning Herald. 11 April 1958. p. 1. Retrieved 10 April 2025.
20. "Girl murdered after being kidnapped from Burwood College". The Sydney Morning Herald. 10 April 1958. p. 1. Retrieved 10 April 2025.
21. "Guilty of murder - men sentenced to life for killing girl". The Sydney Morning Herald. 21 June 1958. p. 4. Retrieved 10 April 2025.
22. "Charged with murder of girl". The Sydney Morning Herald. 12 April 1958. p. 1. Retrieved 10 April 2025.
23. "Two new charges". The Sun-Herald. 13 April 1958. p. 1. Retrieved 10 April 2025.
24. "Twenty named for interim council of new university". The Age. 21 May 1958. p. 1. Retrieved 10 April 2025.
25. "These men will help guide destiny of Monash University". The Age. 21 May 1958. p. 1. Retrieved 10 April 2025.
26. "Bolte Government returned: majority increased". The Age. 2 June 1958. p. 1. Retrieved 10 April 2025.
27. "Lost boys' freezing night in Valley". The Sydney Morning Herald. 16 June 1958. p. 1. Retrieved 10 April 2025.
28. "Light rail could return to Perth under new plans by McGowan Government". The West Australian. 29 June 2019. Retrieved 10 April 2025. The last tram in Perth ran on July 19, 1958
29. "Premier of Tasmania vacates post because of ill health". The Age. 26 August 1958. p. 3. Retrieved 10 April 2025.
30. "Flashback to 1958 in the Great Lakes". Great Lakes Advocate. 27 April 2018. Retrieved 10 April 2025. On September 30, 1958 the ANZAC Day Act 1958 received royal assent, making Anzac Day a national public holiday in Australia
31. "Dawn search may solve mystery of Southern Cloud". The Sydney Morning Herald. 28 October 1958. p. 1. Retrieved 10 April 2025.
32. "Southern Cloud: Dramatic finding of wreckage". The Sydney Morning Herald. 29 October 1958. p. 1. Retrieved 10 April 2025.
33. "Menzies Government back in power: May increase majority in the House of Representatives". The Sun-Herald. 23 November 1958. p. 1-3. Retrieved 10 April 2025.
34. "Labour reaction to defeat: Evatt offer to resign likely to be rejected; Drive to smash DLP". The Sydney Morning Herald. 24 November 1958. p. 1. Retrieved 10 April 2025.
35. "Boy saved after fall from cliff". The Sydney Morning Herald. 22 December 1958. p. 1. Retrieved 10 April 2025.
36. "Blake prize winners: Prize money allocated by artists". The Sydney Morning Herald. 26 February 1958. p. 12. Retrieved 13 April 2025.
37. Arneil, Chris (2018). "The Top 40 transformed Australian radio". National Sound and Film Archive. Retrieved 13 April 2025. Top 40 radio began on Sunday 2 March 1958 when 2UE began playing and promoting the format as a daily feature, accompanied by the issuing of a weekly chart
38. "Patrick White wins £500 novel award". The Sydney Morning Herald. 3 April 1958. p. 6. Retrieved 13 April 2025.
39. "Christmas Books of the Year... To the Islands". Evening Standard. 9 December 1958. p. 12. Retrieved 13 April 2025.
40. "Author wins £500 award". The Sydney Morning Herald. 23 April 1959. p. 5. Retrieved 13 April 2025.
41. "Origins and evolution of Australian tradition". The Age. 20 December 1958. p. 18. Retrieved 13 April 2025.
42. "Archibald Prize to Sydney". The Sydney Morning Herald. 13 December 1958. p. 6. Retrieved 12 April 2025.
43. "Australian talent for ABV's new studios". The Age. 22 May 1958. Retrieved 10 April 2025.
44. "This morning at 7, Channel 7 presents the first breakfast television session". The Sydney Morning Herald. 20 October 1958. p. 21. Retrieved 13 April 2025. 8:45am: "Autumn Affair", Australia's first TV dramatic serial.
45. "Big results cover on election night". The Sydney Morning Herald. 17 November 1958. p. 17. Retrieved 13 April 2025.
46. "Australia's first TV election: ATN makes history". The Sun-Herald. 23 November 1958. p. 31. Retrieved 13 April 2025.
47. Johnson, Natasha (18 May 2019). "ABC federal election coverage over the years - from the tally board to the touchscreen". ABC News. Retrieved 13 April 2025.
48. Garth Cartwright (10 May 2006). "Grant McLennan". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 16 July 2024. Retrieved 22 August 2022.
49. "Peter Falconio's parents speak out after death of Bradley John Murdoch". The Sydney Morning Herald . 16 July 2025. Retrieved 16 July 2025.
50. "Colonel W R Hodgson dead, aged 65". The Sydney Morning Herald. 25 January 1958. p. 7. Retrieved 10 April 2025.
51. "Australian killed in UK". The Age. 10 March 1958. p. 4. Retrieved 10 April 2025.
52. "Ethel Turner dies aged 86". The Sydney Morning Herald. 9 April 1958. p. 1. Retrieved 10 April 2025.
53. "WA judge". The Age. 16 May 1958. p. 10. Retrieved 10 April 2025.
54. "Death of Mrs Ethel Anderson". The Sydney Morning Herald. 5 August 1958. p. 6. Retrieved 10 April 2025.
55. "Russell Mockridge killed in road race". The Age. 15 September 1958. p. 3. Retrieved 10 April 2025.
56. "Death of Antarctic explorer in Adelaide". The Age. 15 October 1958. p. 1. Retrieved 10 April 2025.
57. "Death of Sir Hubert Wilkins". The Sydney Morning Herald. 2 December 1958. p. 1. Retrieved 10 April 2025.