1963 in Australia

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1 Incumbents
2 Events
3 Science & Technology
4 Arts and literature
5 Film
6 Television
7 Sport
8 Births
9 Deaths
10 See also
11 References

[edit] Incumbents

[edit] Events

John Carew Eccles is announced as the Australian of the Year
The first stage of the Ord River Scheme is completed
British nuclear tests at Maralinga ceased
March - a special federal conference of the Australian Labor Party was called on the building of a North-west Cape communications facility which would support the US nuclear submarine capability. Despite the opposition of the Left faction, the Australian Labor Party National Executive voted narrowly to support the base.
March 21 - At the conference, Arthur Calwell and Gough Whitlam were photographed outside the venue at Kingston in Canberra. Although Calwell was the Leader of the Opposition, neither man was a member of the federal executive. Menzies jibed that the ALP was ruled by "36 faceless men". ^[1]
14 August - Yolngu people petitioned the Australian House of Representatives with a bark petition after the government sold part of the Arnhem Land reserve on 13 March to a bauxite mining company. The government did not consult the traditional owners. When bauxite mining at Nhulunbuy near Yirrkala went ahead, the Yolngu took their case against the mining company to the Northern Territory Supreme Court. Despite their claim not being upheld in the 1971 court decision, non-indigenous Australians were alerted to the need for indigenous representation in such decisions, and a permanent parliamentary standing committee was created to scrutinise developments at Yirrkala, among other initiatives related to the indigenous people's moral right to their lands.
1 November - Indigenous Australians could vote in federal elections on the same basis as other electors when an amendment to the Commonwealth Electoral Act became law. The November 1963 election was the first federal election for Indigenous people in Western Australia, Queensland and the Northern Territory. Indigenous voting rights in other states had been in place since 1949.
30 November - Federal election: The Coalition government was returned with an increased majority of 10 seats over the Australian Labor Party. The election was for the House of Representatives only.

[edit] Science & Technology

John Carew Eccles shares the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work on the synapse
3 December - Australians could connect more easily by telephone with the rest of the world by International Direct Dialling with the opening of COMPAC, the Commonwealth Pacific cable. This was part of a scheme to connect the British Commonwealth by telephone.

[edit] Arts and literature

[edit] Film

Short films produced in Australia included the following screened at the Venice Film Festival [1]

Adam and Eve - Dusan Marek
Along the Sepik - Ian Dunlop
Russell Drysdale - Dahl Collings
Sidney Nolan - Dahl Collings
They Found a Cave - Andrew Steane - XV Int. Festival Films for Young People
William Dobell - Dahl Collings

Others:

The Queen Returns - The 1963 Australian visit of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth and His Royal Highness Prince Philip was filmed by the Commonwealth Film Unit. Much of the 30 minute film is devoted to Canberra and its history as the Queen's visit coincided with Canberra's Jubilee Celebrations - 50 years since the founding of the city.