1974 in Australia

See also: 1973 in Australia, other events of 1974, 1975 in Australia and the Timeline of Australian history.

Incumbents

• Prime Minister - Gough Whitlam
• Governor General - Paul Hasluck (til July 11), then John Kerr
• Premier of New South Wales - Sir Robert Askin
• Premier of South Australia - Don Dunstan
• Premier of Queensland - Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen
• Premier of Tasmania - Eric Reece
• Premier of Western Australia - John Tonkin (til April 8), then Charles Court
• Premier of Victoria - Rupert Hamer

Events

• January - Cyclone Wanda makes landfall near Double Island Point. Large parts of south east Queensland, including Brisbane, and northern New South Wales are flooded.
• February 26 - Mungo Man, a human skeleton estimated to be 40,000 years old, uncovered at Lake Mungo
• May 18 - John Howard enters Parliament as an Opposition backbencher for the electorate of Bennelong
• October - The first Australian credit card, Bankcard, is introduced
• December 24 - Cyclone Tracy devastates the city of Darwin. The official death toll was 71

Arts and Literature

• Conductor Bernard Heinze is announced as Australian of the Year

Film

• The Cars That Ate Paris, directed by Peter Weir, is released

Television

• The long running popular music program Countdown first screens

Sport

• Think Big wins the Melbourne Cup
• Victoria wins the Sheffield Shield
• Apollo takes line honours in the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race. Love and War is the handicap winner
• Australia defeats the USA 2-1 in the Federation Cup
• Australia makes its first appearance in soccer World Cup

Births

• July 2 - Matthew Reilly, writer

Deaths

• April 6 - Hudson Fysh (b.1895), co founder of Qantas
• May 1 - Frank Packer (b.1906), publisher
• June 10 - Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester (b.1900), former Governor General of Australia