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Federal, New South Wales, Western Australia, Victoria |
See also: 1916 in Australia, other events of 1917, 1918 in Australia and the Timeline of Australian history.
Monarch – King George V
Governor-General – The Right Hon. Sir Ronald Munro-Ferguson
Prime Minister – Billy Hughes
Premier of New South Wales – William Holman
Premier of South Australia – Crawford Vaughan (until 14 July), then Archibald Peake
Premier of Queensland – T. J. Ryan
Premier of Tasmania – Walter Lee
Premier of Western Australia – Frank Wilson (until 28 June), then Henry Lefroy
Premier of Victoria – Sir Alexander Peacock (until 29 November), then John Bowser
Governor of New South Wales – Sir Gerald Strickland (until 28 October)
Governor of South Australia – Lieutenant Colonel Sir Henry Galway
Governor of Queensland – Major Sir Hamilton Goold-Adams
Governor of Tasmania – Sir William Ellison-Macartney (until 31 March), then Sir Francis Newdegate (from 6 July)
Governor of Western Australia – Major General Sir Harry Barron (until 27 February), then Sir William Ellison-Macartney (from 9 April)
Governor of Victoria – Sir Arthur Stanley
20 March – Lieutenant Frank Hubert McNamara becomes the first Australian airman to receive the Victoria Cross.
5 May – A federal election is held. The incumbent Nationalist government led by Billy Hughes is returned to power.
5 May – Queenslanders reject a referendum to abolish the state's Legislative Council.
2 August – The General Strike of 1917 begins, a massive industrial action involving over 100,000 workers in support of railway workers in Sydney.
17 October – The two halves of the Trans-Australian Railway meet.
15 November – A general election is held in Victoria. The Commonwealth Liberal Party led by John Bowser defeats the incumbent Labour government led by Sir Alexander Peacock.
29 November – The "Egg Throwing Incident" takes place in the town of Warwick, Queensland. A man throws an egg at Prime Minister Billy Hughes, and the refusal of Queensland Police Service to arrest him leads to the forming of the Commonwealth Police Force.
12 December – The Royal Australian Navy battlecruiser HMAS Australia is damaged in a collision with the British cruiser HMS Repulse.
20 December – The second plebiscite on the issue of military conscription was held; it was defeated.
Daniel Mannix becomes a Catholic archbishop of Melbourne. He publicly supports Sinn Féin.
Arts and literature
Foundation of Australian Entertainment Industry Association (AEIA), the peak body for Australia’s live entertainment and performing arts industry.
19 March – Our Friends, the Hayseeds released in Sydney. The film made by Beaumont Smith was Australia's first substantial film comedy.
The Melbourne Cup is won by Westcourt
The 1917 NSWRFL Premiership is won by Balmain
The Sheffield Shield is not contested due to the war
17 February – Harry Gibbs, Chief Justice of the High Court (died 2005)
11 March – Nancy Cato, writer (died 2000)
14 March – John McCallum, actor
21 March – Frank Hardy, novelist (Power Without Glory) (died 1994)
25 March – Barbara Jefferis, author (died 2004)
22 April – Sidney Nolan, artist (died 1992)
30 April – Mervyn Wood, Olympic rower (died 2006)
3 May – James Penberthy, composer (died 1999)
15 May – Ron Saggers, cricketer (died 1987)
25 May – James Plimsoll, Governor of Tasmania from 1982–1987 (died 1987)
2 June – Peggy Antonio, female Test cricketer (died 2002)
14 July – Pat Moran, statistician (died 1988)
17 July – Jack Beale, politician and first Environment Minister (died 2006)
19 August – Laurie Aarons, leader of the Australian Communist Party (died 2005)
20 August – Dudley Erwin, politician (died 1984)
7 September – John Cornforth, Australian chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
12 September – Charles Jones, politician (died 2003)
19 September – Paterson Clarence Hughes, RAF pilot (killed in action 1940)
30 September – Kim Edward Beazley, Federal politician (died 2007)
2 October – Phil Ridings, cricketer (died 1998)
5 October – Kenneth Jacobs, Chief Justice of the High Court
17 October – Sumner Locke Elliott, novelist (died 1991)
20 October – D'Arcy Niland, novelist
22 November – Jon Cleary, novelist
8 December – Ian Johnson, cricketer (died 1998)
12 December – Xavier Connor, jurist (died 2005)
25 December – Noel Walker, NSW politician (died 1986)
31 December – Pat Hills, NSW politician (died 1992)
31 March – Joseph Cullen (born 1849), NSW and WA politician
5 April – E. H. Coombe (born 1858), South Australian politician
6 May – Thomas Joseph Carr (born 1839), Catholic Archbishop of Melbourne
24 May – Les Darcy (born 1895), boxer
15 August – John Haynes (born 1850), NSW politician
26 August – William Lane (born 1861), journalist and labour movement pioneer
17 September – Edward Petherick (born 1847), book collector
31 October – Tibby Cotter (born 1884), cricketer
10 November – Harry Trott (born 1866), cricketer
20 December – Frederick McCubbin (born 1855), painter
1917 in Australia Wikipedia (Text) CC BY-SA