Australian Events
Posted in 1961
- Huge iron-ore deposits found at Pilbara, WA and oil discovered at Moonie, Qld
- Bankruptcies and unemployment reach 2%, the highest post-war level. This follows a fall in wool prices, drought, inflation and rising prices in 1960 when Treasurer Holt imposed a credit squeeze, raising loan interest rates and heavily increasing sales tax on motor vehicles.
- Thalidomide is recognised as causing severe birth abnormalities in children whose mothers were given the drug in pregnancy.