# 1958 in Australia

The following lists events that happened during 1958 in Australia.

## Incumbents

* Monarch – Elizabeth II
* Governor-General – Sir William Slim
* Prime Minister – Robert Menzies
* Chief Justice – Sir Owen Dixon

### State premiers

* Premier of New South Wales – Joseph Cahill
* Premier of Queensland – Frank Nicklin
* Premier of South Australia – Thomas Playford IV
* Premier of Tasmania – Robert Cosgrove (until 26 August), then Eric Reece
* Premier of Victoria – Henry Bolte
* Premier of Western Australia – Albert Hawke

### State governors

* Governor of New South Wales – Sir Eric Woodward
* Governor of Queensland – Sir Henry Abel Smith (from 18 March)
* Governor of South Australia – Sir Robert George
* Governor of Tasmania – Sir Ronald Cross, 1st Baronet (until 4 June)
* Governor of Victoria – Sir Dallas Brooks
* Governor of Western Australia – Sir Charles Gairdner

## Events

* 14 January – Qantas Airways introduces a round-the-world air service from Australia to London.
* 20 January – The Royal Australian Naval College is moved back to Jervis Bay Territory from Flinders Naval Depot in Victoria.
* 28 January to 11 February – Harold Macmillan visits Australia, the first Prime Minister of the United Kingdom to do so while in office.
* 14 February to 7 March – Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother visits Australia for the second time.
* 21 March – John McEwen replaces Arthur Fadden as federal leader of the Country Party.
* 24 March – The Cahill Expressway in Sydney opens, the first true freeway in Australia.
* 1 April – William John O'Meally becomes The last person flogged in Australia in Melbourne's Pentridge Prison.
* 3 April – A cyclone destroys most of the town of Bowen in Queensland.
* 15 April – Monash University is founded in Melbourne, Victoria.
* 11 May – Construction of Australia's largest man-made lake, Lake Eucumbene on the Eucumbene River in the Snowy Mountains, is completed.
* 31 May – Henry Bolte's Liberal government is re-elected in Victoria.
* 19 July – The last tram service runs in Perth.
* 26 August – Robert Cosgrove retires as Premier of Tasmania, and is replaced by Eric Reece.
* 30 September – The ANZAC Day Act 1958 receives Royal Assent, making ANZAC Day (25 April) a national public holiday in Australia.
* 26 October – The wreckage of the Australian National Airways Avro 10 aircraft, VH-UMF Southern Cloud, is found. The aircraft had been missing since 1931.
* 22 November – A federal election is held. The Liberal-Country coalition led by Robert Menzies defeats H. V. Evatt's Australian Labor Party with 74 seats to 45 in the House of Representatives, a majority unprecedented since Federation, gained from preferences from the Democratic Labor Party.

### Unknown dates

* Aquila Shoes, a shoe manufacturing company, founded.
* Johnny O'Keefe has his first hit with Wild One.
* Radio station 2UE publishes the first Australian Top 40.

## Science and technology

* 26 January – The HIFAR nuclear reactor at Lucas Heights goes critical for the first time.

### Unknown dates

* Australian engineer Dr. David Warren of Melbourne's Aeronautical Research Laboratories constructs the world's first flight recorder ("black box").

## Arts and literature

* 11 December – The National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) opens in Sydney.
* William Edwin Pidgeon wins the Archibald Prize with his portrait of journalist Ray Walker
* Eric Smith wins the Blake Prize for Religious Art with his work The Moment Christ Died
* Randolph Stow wins the Miles Franklin Award for To the Islands
* Russel Ward releases The Australian Legend

## Film

* 8 March - The film Bridge on the River Kwai was released in Sydney.

## Television

* October - Autumn Affair, first television soap opera produced in Australia debuts
* 1 November – The first episode of Bandstand goes to air on TCN-9, hosted by Brian Henderson.
* 22 November – The 1958 Australian federal election is the first to be televised.

## Sport

* Athletics
** 23 March – John Russell wins his second men's national marathon title, clocking 2:40:30 in Sydney
** 6 August – Herb Elliott sets a world record for the one-mile dash (3:54.5) at Morton Stadium in Dublin, Ireland.
* Cricket
** New South Wales wins the Sheffield Shield
* Football
** Brisbane Rugby League premiership: Brothers defeated Valleys 22-7
** New South Wales Rugby League premiership: St. George defeated Western Suburbs 20-9
** WAFL East Perth defeated East Fremantle 65 - 63
** South Australian National Football League premiership: won by Port Adelaide
** Victorian Football League premiership: Collingwood defeated Melbourne 82-64
* Golf
** Australian Open: won by Gary Player
* Horse racing
** Sir Blink wins the Caulfield Cup
** Yeman wins the Cox Plate
** Skyline wins the Golden Slipper
** Baystone wins the Melbourne Cup
* Motor racing
** The Australian Grand Prix was held at Bathurst and won by Lex Davison driving a Ferrari
* Tennis
** Australian Open men's singles: Ashley Cooper defeats Malcolm Anderson 7–5 6–3 6–4
** Australian Open women's singles: Angela Mortimer defeats Lorraine Coghlan 6–3 6–4
** Davis Cup: Australia is defeated by the United States 3–2 in the 1958 Davis Cup final
* Yachting
** Solo takes line honours and Siandra wins on handicap in the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race

## Births

* 3 January – Kerry Armstrong, actress
* 5 January – Penny Whetton, climatologist (died 2019)
* 6 February – Simon Baker, race walker
* 10 February – Phil Weightman, politician
* 12 February – Grant McLennan, singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 2006)
* 14 February – Grant Thomas, Australian rules footballer
* 15 February – Steve Bredhauer, politician
* 22 February – Bill Feldman, politician
* 28 February – Neil Bennett, politician
* 16 March – Phillip Wilcher, pianist and composer
* 20 March – Phil Anderson, cyclist
* 29 March – Geoff Provest, politician
* 11 April – Mark Furner, politician
* 12 April
** Glenn Patching, swimmer
** Jim Madden, politician
* 19 April – Bill Byrne, politician
* 5 May – Robert DiPierdomenico, footballer and media personality
* 7 May – Alan John, composer
* 11 May – Peter Antonie, rower
* 11 May – Phil Smyth, basketball player
* 3 July – Gary Buckenara, Australian Rules footballer
* 6 July – Gary Humphries, politician
* 13 July – Richard Glover, journalist, author and radio personality
* 15 July – Phil Gould, rugby league identity
* 12 August – Grace Grace, politician
* 22 August – Jo-Ann Miller, politician
* 30 September – Rod Welford, politician
* October - Garry Pankhurst, former child actor
* 13 October – Jim Krakouer, Australian Rules footballer
* 22 October – Jan Jarratt, politician
* 3 November – Ted Radke, politician
* 15 November – Lewis Fitz-Gerald, actor and director
* 24 November – Alex Douglas, politician
* 26 November – Terry Rogers, politician
* 27 November – Linda Lavarch, politician
* 12 December – Monica Attard, journalist
* 31 December – Geoff Marsh, cricketer

## Deaths

* 24 January – William Roy Hodgson, public servant (b. 1892)
* 8 March – Brian Swift, Australian cricketer, car accident (b. 1937)
* 8 April – Ethel Turner, writer (b. 1872)
* 15 May – Sir John Northmore, Western Australian Supreme Court Chief Justice (b. 1865)
* 4 August – Ethel Anderson, poet, author, and painter (b. 1883)
* 13 September – Russell Mockridge (b. 1928), cyclist
* 14 October – Douglas Mawson, polar explorer (b. 1882)
* 30 November – Hubert Wilkins, polar explorer (b. 1888)