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Gough Whitlam, then Malcolm Fraser |
Queen of Australia – Elizabeth II
Governor General – Sir John Kerr
Prime Minister – Gough Whitlam (until 11 November), then Malcolm Fraser
Premier of New South Wales – Sir Robert Askin (until 3 January), then Tom Lewis
Premier of South Australia – Don Dunstan
Premier of Queensland – Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen
Premier of Tasmania – Eric Reece (until 31 March), then Bill Neilson
Premier of Western Australia – Charles Court
Premier of Victoria – Rupert Hamer
5 January – Tasman Bridge disaster: The Tasman Bridge in Hobart is struck by the ore carrier MV Lake Illawarra. The bridge partially collapses onto the vessel, which sinks. Seven crew and five motorists are killed
19 January – 2JJ, the predecessor of youth radio Triple J, commences broadcasting in Sydney.
21 March – Malcolm Fraser replaces Billy Snedden as leader of the Liberal Party of Australia.
25 April – The Australian Embassy in South Vietnam is closed and staff evacuated prior to the Fall of Saigon.
1 July – Medibank is introduced, Australia Post and Telecom are formed from the Postmaster-General's Department (PMG).
16 September – Papua New Guinea gains its independence from Australia.
20 September – Thirteen miners are killed in an underground coal mine explosion at the Kianga Mine at Moura, Queensland.
16 October – The Balibo Five are killed by Indonesian troops in Portuguese Timor.
11 November – 1975 Australian constitutional crisis: The Governor-General, Sir John Kerr, dismisses the government of Gough Whitlam. Malcolm Fraser is installed as caretaker Prime Minister.
25 December – Fifteen persons are killed in an arson attack at the Savoy Hotel in Kings Cross, New South Wales.
Scientist John Cornforth is announced as Australian of the Year.
Science and technology
John Cornforth shares the Nobel Prize for Chemistry
Arts and literature
Kevin Connor wins the Archibald Prize with his portrait of The Hon Sir Frank Kitto, KBE
Xavier Herbert's novel Poor Fellow My Country wins the Miles Franklin Award
Picnic at Hanging Rock, directed by Peter Weir, is released
1 March – "C-Day." Full-time colour broadcasting is launched.
April – Graham Kennedy said the crow call "Fuuuuuuuuuuuuck!" during a live ad on The Graham Kennedy Show. The studio operators complied, and the show immediately pulled the plug and went to a black screen saying the network had "technical difficulties". In Sydney, the show went to a commercial break and Kennedy never came back, with Bert Newton remaining during the air time. The same happened in Adelaide, with the exception that it was succeeded by Don Lane starting the host his variety show with Newton. Kennedy was immediately fired and banned for life from GTV-9.
16 March – Australia is represented by twelve long-distance runners (eight men, four women) at the third IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Rabat, Morocco. Bill Scott is Australia's best finisher, claiming the 22nd spot (36:28.0) in the race over 12 kilometres.
9 August – John Farrington wins his fourth men’s national marathon title, clocking 2:17:20 in Point Cook.
23 August:
Glenelg kick the all-time record score for a major Australian football competition, kicking 49.23 (317) to Central District’s 11.13 (79). Fred Phillis kicked eighteen goals and Peter Carey eight.
Eastern Suburbs set a record NSWRL/ARL/NRL winning streak of their last nineteen home-and-away games before losing the major semi final.
20 September – Eastern Suburbs set a record NSWRL Grand Final winning margin, beating St. George 38 points to nil.
27 September – North Melbourne become the last of the then-extant VFL clubs to win a premiership, beating Hawthorn 19.8 (122) to 9.13 (67) in the 1975 VFL Grand Final.
Think Big wins the Melbourne Cup Jockey Harry White.
Western Australia wins the Sheffield Shield
Kialoa takes line honours in the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race. Rampage is the handicap winner
Czechoslovakia defeats Australia 3-0 in the Federation Cup
19 January – Natalie Cook, beach volleyball player
4 February – Natalie Imbruglia, singer and actor
19 April – Jason Gillespie, cricketer
21 May – Anthony Mundine, rugby league footballer and boxer
27 May – Michael Hussey, cricketer
7 June – Leigh Colbert, footballer
9 June – Andrew Symonds, cricketer
23 June – Jane Jamieson, track and field athlete
2 July – Daniel Kowalski, swimmer
7 July – Michael Voss, Australian footballer and coach
17 July – Loretta Harrop, triathlete
28 July - Ian Moorhead, Australian contortionist (world record holding)
7 August
David Matthew Hicks, prisoner at Guantánamo Bay, convicted of "providing material support for terrorism"
Megan Gale, model
12 August – Taryn Woods, water polo player
21 August – Simon Katich, cricketer
25 August – Petria Thomas, swimmer
1 September – Natalie Bassingthwaighte, singer and actor
18 September – Don Hany, actor
25 September – Scott Westcott, long-distance runner
28 September – Stuart Clark, cricketer
9 October – Mark Viduka, football (soccer) player
18 October - Jacqui Walker, singer
31 October
Carla Boyd, basketball player
Jagan Hames, track and field athlete
27 September – Jack Lang (born 1876), Premier of New South Wales
5 November – Annette Kellerman (born 1887), swimmer and film star
1975 in Australia Wikipedia (Text) CC BY-SA
