1908 in Australia

Infobox Australian year
year = 1908
monarch = Edward VII
governor-general = Henry Northcote, 1st Baron Northcote, then William Ward, 2nd Earl of Dudley
pm =Alfred Deakin, then Andrew Fisher
population = 4,190,692
australian =
elections =Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia"See also:" 1907 in Australia, Other events of 1908, 1909 in Australia, Timeline of Australian history.

Incumbents

*Monarch – King Edward VII
*Governor General – The Right Hon. Henry Northcote, 1st Baron Northcote (until 9 September), then The Right Hon. William Ward, 2nd Earl of Dudley
*Prime Minister – Alfred Deakin (until 13 November), then Andrew Fisher

tate premiers

*Premier of New South Wales – Charles Wade
*Premier of South Australia – Thomas Price
*Premier of Queensland – Robert Philp (until 18 February), then William Kidston
*Premier of Tasmania – John Evans
*Premier of Western Australia – Newton Moore
*Premier of Victoria – (Sir) Thomas Bent

tate governors

*Governor of New South Wales – Admiral Sir Harry Rawson
*Governor of South Australia – Sir George Ruvthen Le Hunte
*Governor of Queensland – Frederic Thesiger, 3rd Baron Chelmsford
*Governor of Tasmania – Sir Gerald Strickland
*Governor of Western Australia – Admiral Sir Frederick Bedford
*Governor of Victoria – Major General Sir Reginald Talbot (until 6 July), then Sir Thomas Gibson-Carmichael (from July 27)

Events

*March 10 – Australians Douglas Mawson and Edgeworth David accompanied by Ernest Shackleton and others are the first people to scale Mount Erebus in Antarctica.
* March 30 - Commonwealth Quarantine service came into operation and took over quarantine stations in every state.
*April 20 – 44 are killed and 400 injured in the Sunshine train disaster.
*May 7 – The Coat of Arms of Australia are granted Royal Assent.
*August - Boys in Australia first participated in the scouting movement, within a year of scouting starting in England [ [http://www.scoutsqld.com.au/index.cfm?MenuID=20 History of Scouting in Queensland] ]
*August 20 – The Great White Fleet, the first visit by the U.S. Navy to Australia, arrives in Sydney. [http://primeministers.naa.gov.au/timeline.asp?Submit2=Go&action=show&byDecade=1 Australia's Prime Ministers - Timeline 1901-1910] , National Archives of Australia.]
*October 8 – The capital of Australia is chosen, settling a feud between rivals Melbourne and Sydney.
*November 13 – The Australian Labor Party withdraws its support for the minority government of Prime Minister Alfred Deakin, forcing his replacement with Andrew Fisher.
*November 18 – The Victorian government passes the Adult Suffrage Bill 1908, granting female suffrage for the first time. [http://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/onthisday/decade.cfm?d=1900 On These Days - 1901-1910] , Parliament of Victoria.]
*December 15 – The Invalid and Old Age Pensions Act is passed, which sets up a national aged pension scheme.
*December 29 – A general election is held in Victoria. The government of Sir Thomas Bent is returned to power.

cience and Technology

*January 1 – The Commonwealth Bureau of Meteorology formally commences operation.
*February 3 - first trans-Tasman radio transmission (via HMS "Powerful" in Tasman Sea)

Arts and Literature

*May 16 – The Commonwealth Literary Fund is established.
* Henry Handel Richardson's first novel "Maurice Guest" is published
*"We of the Never Never" by Mrs Aeneas Gunn is published
* The poem "My Country" by Dorothea Mackellar first published

Film

*February 2 – The Limelight Department of the Salvation Army films "Grand Memorial Service", a film of the funeral of Major Kenneth McLeod, the Director of the Bayswater Boys' Home. The funeral was held at the Kew cemetery in Melbourne. [ [http://www.abc.net.au/limelight/docs/films/5_1_3_13.htm Grand Memorial Service, 1908] , Australian Broadcasting Corporation.]

port

*January 31 – Victoria wins the 1907-08 Sheffield Shield.
*February 11 – Australia regains The Ashes with a 308 run victory over England.
*April 20 – The first New South Wales Rugby League premiership begins in Sydney.
*November 3 – "Lord Nolan" wins the Melbourne Cup.
*At the 1908 Summer Olympics held in London, Australia formed a team with New Zealand and competed as Australasia. They won a gold medal for rugby football, a silver medal for middleweight boxing, and in swimming : a silver medal for men's 400 metre freestyle , bronze medal for men's 1500 metre freestyle - both won by Frank Beaurepaire

Births

*February 23 – William McMahon, 20th Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1988)
*May 15 – Kevin Ellis, NSW politician (d. 1975)
*May 20 – Henry Bolte, Premier of Victoria (d. 1990)
*July 10 – John Armstrong, ALP senator (d. 1977)
*August 5 – Harold Holt, Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1967)
*August 26 – Alexandra Hasluck, author and social historian
*August 27 – Donald Bradman, Australian cricketer (d. 2001)
*November 3 – Eddie Scarf, Australian boxer and wrestler (d. 1980)

Deaths

*January 22 - Clara Seekamp, actress and newspaper editor (b. c. 1819)
*February 14 - David Syme, newspaper proprietor (b. 1827)
*February 29 – John Hope, 1st Marquess of Linlithgow, first Governor-General of Australia
*March 7 – Alfred William Howitt, anthropologist (b. 1830)
*May 11 – Charles Kingston, Premier of South Australia (b. 1850)
*October 2 - John Gowing, retailer (cofounder of Gowings) (b. 1835)
*October 20 – Vaiben Solomon, Premier of South Australia (b. 1853)
*November 14 – Ernest Favenc, explorer (b. 1845)
*November 18 – Pierce Galliard Smith, priest (b. 1826)

References