1917 in Australia

See also: 1916 in Australia, other events of 1917, 1918 in Australia and the Timeline of Australian history.

"As of 1917 Australia's population was still only 5 million, with most people living in scattered rural areas. The sea voyage to Britain took two months, and land transport within Australia itself was slow."^[1]

Incumbents

• Monarch – King George V
• Governor-General – The Right Hon. Sir Ronald Munro-Ferguson
• Prime Minister – Billy Hughes

State premiers

• 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

State governors

• 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

Events

• 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]
• 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 "Warwick 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 to arrest him leads to the forming of the Commonwealth Police Force.^[3]
• 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.

Film

• 19 March – Our friends the Hayseeds released in Sydney. The film made by Beaumont Smith was Australia's first substantial film comedy.

Sport

• 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

Births

• 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 (died 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)

Deaths

• 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

References