Australian Events

Posted in 1965

  • Anti-Vietnam war protestsApril 29: Announcing the decision to send a battalion to South Vietnam, Prime Minister Menzies told parliament:

"The takeover of South Vietnam would be a direct military threat to Australia and all the countries of South-East Asia. It must be seen as part of a thrust by communist China between the Indian and Pacific oceans."
A week later Labor's Arthur Calwell replied: "We do not think it is a wise decision ... We do not think it is a right decision ... Humiliation for America could come ... by her becoming interminably bogged down in the awful morass of this war."

  • VietnamAnti-Vietnam war demonstrations are held. Hundreds of Australians lose their lives and many more are injured in the jungles and paddy fields of Vietnam before the conflict ends in 1975.
  • Charles Perkins leads the Freedom Ride to end segregation in places such as cinemas and swimming pools. The protest symbolises the changing tide of political sentiment towards the rights and living conditions of Australia's indigenous people.
  • Aborigines gain the right to vote in Queensland state elections.
  • Melbourne band "The Seekers" has a number one record everywhere with their song  I'll Never Find Another You.
  • Racegoers are scandalised when English model Jean Shrimpton introduces the mini-skirt to Australia on Derby Day during the Melbourne Cup Carnival.