1951 in Australia - Events

Events

• 1 January – The 50th anniversary of Australian federation is celebrated.
• 19 February – Jean Lee becomes the last woman to be hanged in Australia, when she, Robert Clayton and Norman Andrews are executed in Melbourne for the murder of a 73-year-old man.
• 1 March – The Bank of Australasia merges with the Union Bank of Australia to form the ANZ Bank.
• 9 March – The High Court of Australia rules in the case Australian Communist Party v Commonwealth that the Communist Party Dissolution Bill 1950, passed by the parliament to ban the Communist Party of Australia, was unconstitutional.
• 19 March – The Governor-General, William McKell, issues a double dissolution of parliament for the second time in its history, citing the Senate's referral of the Commonwealth Bank Bill as a "failure to pass" the bill.
• 12 April – Conscription begins as the first call-up notice is issued under the National Service Act (1951), requiring Australian 18-year-old males to undergo compulsory military training.
• 28 April – A federal election is held. The Liberal government of Robert Menzies retains power.
• 8 June – The first lessons of the School of the Air are broadcast from the Royal Flying Doctor Service in Adelaide.
• 16 August – The Australian Financial Review is first published.
• 1 September – The Anzus Treaty, between Australia, New Zealand and the United States, is signed.
• 9 September – Australia signs the Treaty of San Francisco, formalising peace with Japan.
• 22 September – A federal referendum is held, proposing to alter the Australian Constitution to allow the banning of the Communist Party. The referendum was not carried.
• 4 October – Francis McEncroe sells the first Chiko Rolls at the Wagga Wagga agricultural show.
• 15 October - A De Havilland Dove aircraft crashes near Kalgoorlie killing all 7 on board.
• 13 November – William McKell is gazetted a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George, becoming the only Governor-General of Australia to be knighted during their term.