The following lists events that happened during 1943 in Australia.

1943 in Australia
Monarch	George VI
Governor-General	Alexander Hore-Ruthven, 1st Earl of Gowrie
Prime minister	John Curtin
Population	7,234,904
Elections	Federal, WA, VIC

←

1943
in
Australia

→

Decades:

Incumbents

Monarch – George VI
Governor-General – Alexander Hore-Ruthven, 1st Baron Gowrie
Prime Minister – John Curtin
Chief Justice – Sir John Latham

State Premiers

Premier of New South Wales – William McKell
Premier of Queensland – Frank Cooper
Premier of South Australia – Thomas Playford IV
Premier of Tasmania – Robert Cosgrove
Premier of Victoria – Albert Dunstan (until 14 September), then John Cain I (until 18 September), then Albert Dunstan
Premier of Western Australia – John Willcock

State Governors

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

Events

3 March – A Soviet embassy is established in Canberra, and an Australian diplomat is posted to Moscow as ambassador.
14 May – The hospital ship AHS Centaur is torpedoed by a Japanese submarine off North Stradbroke Island in Queensland, killing 268 persons.
12 June – A general election is held in Victoria.
21 August – A federal election is held. The incumbent Australian Labor Party government led by John Curtin is returned to power.
23 September – Enid Lyons and Dorothy Tangney become the first women to win seats in the Parliament of Australia. Lyons represents the Tasmanian electorate of Darwin in the House of Representatives, and Tangney is a Senator for Western Australia.
27 December – 7 people are injured in Seaspray, Victoria after a wire on an RAAF plane fails to retract.

Arts and literature

Main article: 1943 in Australian literature

William Dobell wins the Archibald Prize with his portrait of Joshua Smith^[1]

Film

4 March – Damien Parer wins Australia's first Academy Award (Best Documentary Feature) for the film Kokoda Front Line.

Sport

4 September – Newtown win the 1943 NSWRFL season, defeating North Sydney 34–7 in the premiership final. Canterbury-Bankstown finish in last place on points difference, claiming the wooden spoon.
Dark Felt wins the Melbourne Cup

Births

5 January – Mary Gaudron, High Court judge
9 January – Robert Drewe, journalist and writer
29 January – Molly Meldrum, journalist, critic, and producer
8 February – Malcolm Donnelly, opera singer
1 March – Dyson Heydon, High Court judge
12 March – Philip Ruddock, politician
14 March – Aila Keto, environmentalist
19 March – Vern Schuppan, racing driver
22 March – Brian Austin, politician
6 April – Chris Gallus, politician
9 April – Brian James, rugby league player (died 2020)
11 April – Judith Adams, Liberal Senator for South Australia (died 2012)
26 April – David Combe, political lobbyist (died 2019)
29 April – John Tranter, poet (died 2023)
30 April – Paul Jennings, children's author
2 May
- Geoffrey Edelsten, medical entrepreneur (died 2021)
- John Goss, racing driver
7 May
- John Bannon, Premier of South Australia (1982–1992) (died 2015)
- Peter Carey, novelist
17 May – Johnny Warren (died 2004), soccer player and coach
19 May – Bob Graham, NSW politician
1 June – Ian King, cricketer
4 June – John Burgess, TV & radio host (Wheel of Fortune & Burgo's Catch Phrase)
11 June – Ray Warren, rugby league commentator
19 June – Barry Hill, historian and writer
3 July – Judith Durham, singer (The Seekers) (died 2022)
11 July – Richard Carleton, television journalist (died 2006)
25 July – Desmond Mueller, Vice Chief of the Defence Force (2000–2002)
26 July – Robyn Woodhouse, high jumper
18 August – Jean Roberts, Olympic shot putter and discus thrower
5 September – Jack Charles, actor and Aboriginal elder (died 2022)
16 September
- Bob Debus, politician
- Alan Ferguson, Liberal Senator for South Australia
26 September – Ian Chappell, cricketer
4 October – Owen Davidson, tennis player (died 2023)
6 October – Peter Dowding, Premier of Western Australia (1988–1990)
9 October – Dianne Burge, Olympic sprinter
6 November – Ian Turpie (died 2012), TV host & singer (The New Price Is Right)
8 November – Peter Cook (died 2005), politician
23 November – Tony Bonner, actor
25 November – Jan Andrew, Olympic swimmer
29 November – Janet Holmes à Court, businesswoman
19 December – Jimmy Mackay, soccer player (died 1998)

Deaths

3 January – Sir Walter James, 5th Premier of Western Australia (b. 1863)
8 January – Richard Hillary, fighter pilot and author (died in the United Kingdom) (b. 1919)
14 February – Alice Henry, suffragist, journalist and trade unionist (b. 1857)
7 March – Alma Moodie, violinist and educator (died in Germany) (b. 1898)
28 March – Keith Truscott, Australian rules footballer (Melbourne) and fighter pilot (b. 1916)
29 March – William Ellis Newton, soldier and Victoria Cross recipient (died in New Guinea) (b. 1919)
25 April – Sir Arthur Cocks, New South Wales politician (b. 1862)
19 May – Billy Sing, soldier (b. 1886)
25 May – Albert Robinson, South Australian politician (b. 1877)
14 June – John McNeill, Victorian politician (b. 1868)
28 June – Pietro Porcelli, sculptor (born in Italy) (b. 1872)
21 July
- Edward Riley, New South Wales politician (born in the United Kingdom) (b. 1859)
- David O'Keefe, Tasmanian politician (b. 1864)
6 August – Tom Garrett, cricketer (b. 1858)
20 August – Sir William Irvine, 21st Premier of Victoria and 5th Chief Justice of Victoria (born in Ireland) (b. 1858)
1 September – Sir Arthur Streeton, artist (b. 1867)
23 September – John Bradfield, engineer (b. 1867)
2 October – Sir John Evans, 21st Premier of Tasmania (born in the United Kingdom) (b. 1855)
14 October – Jimmy Matthews, cricketer (b. 1884)
15 October – Thomas Henry Dodds, soldier (born in the United Kingdom) (b. 1873)
23 October – Sir George Fairbairn, Victorian politician (b. 1855)
6 November – William Lister Lister, artist (b. 1859)
9 November – Reginald Spencer Browne, soldier, journalist and newspaper editor (b. 1856)
22 November – Thomas Ryan, trade unionist and politician (born in Ireland) (b. 1870)
23 November – Ernie Jones, cricketer and Australian rules footballer (Port Adelaide) (b. 1869)
27 November – Louis Esson, poet and playwright (born in the United Kingdom) (b. 1878)
10 December – Frederick Chapman, palaeontologist (born in the United Kingdom) (b. 1864)

References

^ "Winner: Archibald Prize 1943 - William Dobell". artgallery.nsw.gov.au. Art Gallery of NSW. Retrieved 9 August 2017.

v t e Years in Australia (1788–present)
18th century	1788 1789 1790 1791 1792 1793 1794 1795 1796 1797 1798 1799 1800
19th century	1801 1802 1803 1804 1805 1806 1807 1808 1809 1810 1811 1812 1813 1814 1815 1816 1817 1818 1819 1820 1821 1822 1823 1824 1825 1826 1827 1828 1829 1830 1831 1832 1833 1834 1835 1836 1837 1838 1839 1840 1841 1842 1843 1844 1845 1846 1847 1848 1849 1850 1851 1852 1853 1854 1855 1856 1857 1858 1859 1860 1861 1862 1863 1864 1865 1866 1867 1868 1869 1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900
20th century	1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000
21st century	2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Timeline of Australian history

v t e 1943 in Oceania
Sovereign states	Australia Federated States of Micronesia Fiji Kiribati Marshall Islands Nauru New Zealand Palau Papua New Guinea Samoa Solomon Islands Tonga Tuvalu Vanuatu
Associated states of New Zealand	Cook Islands Niue

Incumbents

State Premiers

State Governors

Events

Arts and literature

Film

Sport

Births

Deaths

See also

References