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Alexander Hore-Ruthven, 1st Earl of Gowrie |
Monarch – King George VI
Governor-General – Alexander Hore-Ruthven, 1st Baron Gowrie
Prime Minister – Robert Menzies
Governor of New South Wales – John Loder, 2nd Baron Wakehurst
Governor of Queensland – Sir Leslie Orme Wilson
Governor of South Australia – Sir Malcolm Barclay-Harvey
Governor of Tasmania – Sir Ernest Clark
Governor of Victoria – Sir Winston Dugan
Governor of Western Australia – none appointed
28 February – The Australian 7th Division is formed.
16 March – A state election is held in Victoria. The Country Party led by Albert Dunstan is returned to government.
14 June – The Volunteer Defence Corps is formed, a militia force based on the British Home Guard.
6 July – The Story Bridge is opened in Brisbane.
19 July – The Australian cruiser HMAS Sydney takes part in the sinking of the Italian cruiser Bartolomeo Colleoni
1 August – The first of sixty Bathurst class corvettes, HMAS Bathurst, is launched in Sydney.
13 August – An RAAF Lockheed Hudson crashes near Canberra, killing three members of Cabinet and the Chief of the General Staff.
3 September – The heavy cruiser HMAS Australia takes part in Operation Menace off Dakar.
6 September – The British prison ship HMT Dunera docks in Sydney, carrying refugees and prisoners of war considered a danger to British security, for internment in Hay and Tatura.
26 October – Double-decker buses replace the last cable trams in Melbourne.
Arts and literature
Max Meldrum wins the Archibald Prize with his portrait of Dr J Forbes McKenzie
The Man Who Loved Children by Christina Stead is published.
Forty Thousand Horsemen, directed by Charles Chauvel and starring Chips Rafferty, is released
Old Rowley wins the Melbourne Cup
Beaulivre wins the Caulfield Cup
Beau Vite wins the Cox Plate
New South Wales wins the Sheffield Shield
5 January – Athol Guy, musician
19 January – Paul Calvert, Liberal Senator for Tasmania
17 February – Marilyn Jones, ballet dancer
22 February – Neil Brown, politician
27 February – Bill Hunter, actor (died 2011)
1 March – Robin Gray, Premier of Tasmania (1982–1989)
8 March – Don Barker, actor
19 March – Andrew Taylor, poet
20 March – Paul Neville, politician
12 April – Jack Hibberd, playwright
16 April – Marion Halligan, writer
26 April – Ian Geoghegan, race car driver (died 2003)
15 June – Ken Fletcher, tennis player (died 2006)
23 June – Diana Trask, country music singer
25 June – Judy Amoore, athlete
29 June – Ken Done, artist
3 August – Judith Troeth, Liberal Senator for Victoria
16 August – Bruce Beresford, film director
18 August – Jan Owen, poet
31 August – Jack Thompson, actor
9 September – Hugh Morgan, businessman
13 September – Kerry Stokes, chairman of the Seven Network
15 September – Allan Andrews, NSW politician
21 September – John Pochee, jazz musician
3 October – Diana Warnock, radio broadcaster and politician
4 October – Ian Kiernan, environmentalist, 1994 Australian of the Year
5 October – Bob Cowper, cricketer
15 October – Peter C. Doherty, medical researcher, Nobel Prize recipient
19 October – Ian Causley, politician
21 October – Peter Arnison, Governor of Queensland (1997–2003)
1 November – John Bell, actor and theatre director
4 November – John Sanderson, Governor of Western Australia (2000–2005)
12 November – John Dowd, NSW politician
7 December – Robin Miller, aviator and nurse (died 1975)
3 February – John Henry Michell, mathematician
8 March – Michael Kelly (born 1850), Catholic Archbishop of Sydney (1911–1940)
16 April – Herbert James Carter (born 1858), entomologist
22 June – Monty Noble (born 1873), cricketer
23 June – Hugh Denis Macrossan (born 1881), Queensland politician and judge
6 July – Michael O'Connor (born 1865), WA politician
22 July – Sir George Fuller (born 1861), Premier of New South Wales (1921)
30 July – Arthur Merric Boyd (born 1862), painter
30 July – Archibald Watson (born 1849), surgeon and professor of anatomy
13 August – Geoffrey Street (born 1894), politician
13 August – Henry Gullett (born 1878), politician
13 August – James Fairbairn (born 1897), politician
13 August – Sir Brudenell White (born 1876), Chief of the General Staff
9 September – Percy Abbott (born 1869), politician
11 September – Issy Smith (born 1890), soldier and Victoria Cross recipient
22 September – Robert Blackwood
2 October – Albert Green, politician
14 October – Helen de Guerry Simpson (born 1897), novelist
25 October – Thomas Waddell (born 1854), Premier of New South Wales (1904)
31 October – Frank Anstey (born 1865), politician
2 November – Colin Rankin (born 1869), soldier, politician, cane farmer and company director
3 November – James Fowler, politician
23 November – Stanley Argyle (born 1867), Premier of Victoria (1932–1935)
1940 in Australia Wikipedia (Text) CC BY-SA