1944 in Australia - Events

Events

• 17 January – Meat rationing begins in Australia.
• 20 January – Seventeen people are killed at Brooklyn, New South Wales when a mail train and a bus collide at a level crossing. There is only one survivor, Gloria Iren Silvia.
• 15 February – Bushfires in the Western District, Gippsland and Yallourn regions of Victoria kill 51 people.
• 15 April – Fred Paterson is elected to the Parliament of Queensland, representing the seat of Bowen. He remains the only member of the Communist Party of Australia to ever be elected to an Australian Parliament.
• 30 June – Sydney waiter Antonio Agostini is sentenced to six years prison for the manslaughter of his wife, Linda Agostini, in what was known as the "Pyjama Girl" murder.
• 5 August – The Cowra breakout occurs, with 545 Japanese prisoners of war escaping from the camp.
• 19 August – A referendum is held, concerning Post-War Reconstruction and Democratic Rights. It proposes to grant the government power to legislate over 14 points of law for a five-year period. The referendum, asked in a single question, is not carried.
• 21 October – The heavy cruiser HMAS Australia, operating in the Philippines, is hit by a kamikaze aircraft, killing 20 and wounding 54, in what is believed to be the first attack of its kind.
• 25 November – Reg Saunders becomes the first Aboriginal commissioned officer in the Australian Army.
• 14 December – The Liberal Party of Australia is formed, replacing the United Australia Party.