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1880s
1890s
1900s
1910s
1920s Other events of 1903
Federal election
Timeline of Australian history |
Monarch – Edward VII
Governor General – John Hope, 7th Earl of Hopetoun (until 29 January), then Hallam Tennyson, 2nd Baron Tennyson
Prime Minister – Edmund Barton (until 24 September), then Alfred Deakin
Premier of New South Wales – John See
Premier of Queensland – Robert Philp (until 17 September), then Arthur Morgan
Premier of South Australia – John Jenkins
Premier of Tasmania – Elliott Lewis (until 9 April), then William Propsting
Premier of Western Australia – Walter James
Premier of Victoria – William Irvine
Governor of New South Wales – Admiral Sir Harry Rawson
Governor of Queensland – Major General Sir Herbert Chermside
Governor of South Australia – Hallam Tennyson, 2nd Baron Tennyson (until 17 July)
Governor of Tasmania – Captain Sir Arthur Havelock
Governor of Western Australia – Admiral Sir Frederick Bedford (from 24 March)
Governor of Victoria – Sir George Clarke (until 24 November)
20 February – The Flag of Australia, altered so that the stars of the Southern Cross (except the smallest one) have seven points each, is approved by Edward VII.
6 October – The High Court of Australia convenes for the first time.
24 November – Sir George Clarke retires as Governor of Victoria. Sir John Madden, the lieutenant governor, acts in his place until the appointment of a new governor.
16 December – Australia's second federal election is held, the first in the world in which women were permitted to vote and stand for parliament. The incumbent Protectionist Party led by Alfred Deakin defeated the opposition Free Trade Party led by George Reid. Vida Goldstein becomes the first woman in the British Empire to stand for a national parliament. She was unsuccessful in her bid for a seat in the Senate.
18 December – The first train runs from Rockhampton to Brisbane.
Arts and literature
Edward Officer wins the Wynne Prize with Glenora
The Austral Society was founded due to the influence of The Toowoomba poet George Essex Evans
Lord Cardigan wins the Melbourne Cup
New South Wales wins the Sheffield Shield
21 January – John Carew Eccles (died 1997), neurophysiologist and Nobel Prize winner
22 April – Daphne Akhurst (died 1933), tennis player
22 June – Garfield Barwick (died 1997), Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia
9 February – Charles Duffy (born 1816), 8th Premier of Victoria
12 September – Duncan Gillies (born 1834), 14th Premier of Victoria
1903 in Australia Wikipedia (Text) CC BY-SA
