1901 in Australia

List of events

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1901
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Australia

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Decades:

Incumbents

Premier of New South Wales – William Lyne (until 27 March), then John See
- Opposition Leader – Charles Lee (from 23 March)
Premier of Queensland – Robert Philp
- Opposition Leader – Anderson Dawson (until 16 July), then Billy Browne
Premier of South Australia – Frederick Holder (until 15 May), then John Jenkins
- Opposition Leader – Vaiben Louis Solomon, then Robert Homburg
Premier of Tasmania – Elliott Lewis
- Opposition Leader – Sir Edward Braddon (until March), then Sir Thomas Reibey (until October), then William Propsting
Premier of Victoria – Sir George Turner (until 12 February), then Alexander Peacock
Premier of Western Australia – Sir John Forrest (until 15 February), then George Throssell (until 27 May), then George Leake (until 21 November), then Alf Morgans (until 23 December), then George Leake

1 January – The Constitution of Australia comes into force, as the federation of Australia is complete. John Hope, 7th Earl of Hopetoun, is appointed as the first Governor-General, and Edmund Barton as the first Prime Minister.
1 March – Following federation naval and military forces of the States are transferred to Commonwealth control.
29 March – The first federal election is held to elect the first members of the House of Representatives and the first members of the Senate.
31 March – A national census is held, which indicates the population of Australia is 3,773,801 (excluding Indigenous Australians).
9 May – The Parliament of Australia is opened in the Royal Exhibition Building, Melbourne.
22 May – The foundation stone for St John's Cathedral, Brisbane, is laid by The Duke of Cornwall and York (later George V). the church celebrated 100 years of construction in 2006 and is the only gothic-style stone building under construction anywhere in the world.
3 September – The Flag of Australia and Australian Red Ensign are adopted by the Government of Australia as official flags, following a national design competition.
21 December – Construction begins on the rabbit-proof fence.
23 December – The Immigration Restriction Act 1901 comes into force, instituting the White Australia Policy.
31 December – The Roman Catholic Platform (now known as Cemetery Station No. 2) opens in Sydney, Australia's Rookwood Cemetery.

3 January – Victoria wins the Sheffield Shield.^[1]
28 September – Essendon beats Collingwood 6.7 (43) to 2.4 (16) in the 1901 VFL grand final
5 November – Revenue wins the Melbourne Cup.^[2]

27 March – Kenneth Slessor, poet, journalist and war correspondent (d. 1971)
1 June – Tom Gorman, rugby league footballer (d. 1978)
25 September – Gordon Coventry, Australian rules footballer (Collingwood) (d. 1968)

10 January – Sir James Dickson, 13th Premier of Queensland (born in the United Kingdom) (b. 1832)
20 June – Alexander Forrest, Western Australian politician and explorer (b. 1849)
8 August – William Henry Groom, Queensland politician and newspaper proprietor (born in the United Kingdom) (b. 1833)
31 October – Robert Abbott, New South Wales politician (born in Ireland) (b. 1830)
30 November – Edward John Eyre, explorer (born and died in the United Kingdom) (b. 1815)

^ "Old Boy": Interstate Cricket—Victoria Wins the Sheffield Shield, The Argus, 4 January 1901
^ The Melbourne Cup, The Advertiser, 6 November 1901

Years in Australia (1788–present)

18th century

19th century

20th century

21st century

v t e 1901 in Oceania
Sovereign states	Australia Federated States of Micronesia Fiji Kiribati Marshall Islands Nauru New Zealand Palau Papua New Guinea Samoa Solomon Islands Tonga Tuvalu Vanuatu
Associated states of New Zealand	Cook Islands Niue