Australian Events
Posted in 1931
- Sir Isaac Isaacs becomes the first Australian-born Governor-General.
- Joseph Lyons forms the United Australia Party: "May 5-7: The United Australia Party was formed by the merging of the Nationalists with the Lyons' group, the Country Party declining to be involved. Lyons was elected leader unopposed, with Latham his deputy."
The Macquarie Book of Events, 1983 p 347.
- Economic depression continues: Unemployment in Australia is at its peak of 30%. The desperate poverty of the unemployed brings about public demonstrations over their plight. Itinerant workers sling their swags and tramp the countryside in search of work.
- The Statute of Westminster passed by the British Parliament in December abolishes remnants of the imperial parliament's power to legislate for the Dominions. The next Labor government enacted it in Australia in 1942.
- Lyons Government, December 19: "Depression and the unpopularity of the Premiers' Plan swept Scullin from office."
The Macquarie Book of Events, 1983 p 347.
- Explorer Douglas Mawson returns to Antarctica with an expedition that charts 6430km of polar coastline.
- Opera singer Dame Nellie Melba dies.
Sir Isaac Isaacs becomes the first Australian-born Governor-General.
Economic depression continues: Unemployment in Australia is at its peak of 30%. The desperate poverty of the unemployed brings about public demonstrations over their plight. Itinerant workers sling their swags and tramp the countryside in search of work.
Explorer Douglas Mawson returns to Antarctica with an expedition that charts 6430km of polar coastline.