In the aftermath of Cyclone Tracy, Northern Territory administrator Jock Nelson criticises Major General Alan Stretton's plan to recommend that emergency directors be given absolute authority in areas affected by disasters.[1] Nelsen is supported by NT police commissioner William McLaren and Darwin mayor Harold Brennan.[1]
2 January – As Darwin begins to be rebuilt following Cyclone Tracy, Anglican bishop Ian Shevill writes an opinion piece for The Sydney Morning Herald in which he questions the viability of rebuilding the city in an area which is likely to experience future natural disasters.[3]
3 January – New South Wales premier Sir Robert Askin retires from politics and is succeeded by Tom Lewis.[4][5]
5 January – The Tasman Bridge disaster occurs in Hobart when the Tasman Bridge is struck by the ore carrier MV Lake Illawarra.[6] The bridge partially collapses onto the vessel, which sinks.[7] Seven crew and five motorists are killed.[8]
7 January – An Executive Council Minute authorising the raising of a "temporary loan" of US$4,000 million for 20 years is reversed before it becomes public knowledge. The move to bypass the Loans Council – to become known as the "Loans Affair" – had been initiated a month earlier by several Labor Ministers without consulting Cabinet.
19 January – Sydney's 2JJ, the ABC's new youth station and the predecessor of Triple J, commences broadcasting.[9][10]
26 January – The Workers Party is launched at a banquet at the Sydney Opera House where Lang Hancock is the guest of honour.[11] The party is libertarian in principle, demanding less government intervention, as well as being virulently anti-Socialist.[11] The name is subsequently changed to the Progress Party in 1977.
February
1 February – Having commenced broadcasting in December 1974, Australia's first FM radio station 2MBS is officially launched in Sydney by prime minister Gough Whitlam and premier Tom Lewis.[12]
9 February – Lionel Murphy resigns to become a High Court judge (a move for which Garfield Barwick's appointment had set a precedent).[13]
11 February – New South Wales Premier Tom Lewis decides to replace Lionel Murphy in the Senate with a non-Labor nominee.[14] Cabinet unanimously endorses his decision with Albury's 77-year-old mayor, Cleaver Bunton selected, thus reducing Labor to 28 in the Senate.[15] The move is seen as breaking constitutional convention and was against the advice of senior Liberals and most Premiers.[15]
27 February – Prime Minister Gough Whitlam's failure to support Speaker Jim Cope in a ruling involving Clyde Cameron led to the Speaker's resignation and his replacement by Gordon Scholes.[16] Cope had been having difficulty with the Opposition's increasing larrikinism.
March
18 March – The Victorian Government appoints the Beach Board of Inquiry to report on allegations of misconduct against the police force.[17]
8 April – After 21 hours of bitter debate in the Victorian Legislative Assembly, a Bill to abolish the death penalty is passed 36:30, with 5 abstentions.[19] To this end, Labor Council leader John Galbally had brought in 21 private members Bills in some 15 years. The abolition Bill must now pass the Legislative Council where lengthy debate and an even closer vote is expected.
23 April – The Victorian Legislative Council votes to abolish the Death penalty in a 20-13 vote.[20] All 9 labor members in the legislative council, 11 liberal members voted in favor. 7 liberals and all 6 Country voted against.[21]
25 April – The Australian Embassy in South Vietnam is closed and staff evacuated prior to the Fall of Saigon.[22]
May
20 May – The Executive Council revokes approval it had given on 28 January for a US$2,000 million overseas loan. Henceforth, all negotiations are to be conducted through the Treasury.
June
5 June – Lance Barnard's resignation to become Ambassador to Sweden leads to a reorganisation of the Federal Ministry. Social Security Minister Bill Hayden (Ipswich) replaces Jim Cairns as Treasurer, and Cameron is demoted from the Labour and Immigration Ministry to Science and Consumer Affairs (amid his own and union protests).
15 June – The South Australian Australian Labor Party conference gives Prime Minister Gough Whitlam a mixed reception. The Australian Workers' Union, in particular, is offended by his recent demotion of Clyde Cameron, for decades a leading figure in South Australia's Labor and Industrial Affairs.
28 June – The 1975 Bass by-election is held. Malcolm Fraser and Gough Whitlam campaign against each other for the first time as leaders. A swing of about 16% against the Australian Labor Party gives the seat to the Liberal candidate Kevin Newman, and the Opposition sees this as the green light for its strategy of forcing a second premature election.
30 June – Queensland Senator Bert Milliner dies, leaving a Senate vacancy. The filling of this vacancy and the controversy surrounding it becomes one of the key events of the 1975 Australian constitutional crisis.
2 July – Prime Minister Gough Whitlam has Jim Cairns' commission as Environment Minister terminated for misleading Parliament. Mr Cairns had denied having written a secret letter to a loans broker in March, but a signed letter was produced in June.
4 July – Sydney newspaper publisher Juanita Nielsen disappears from her Kings Cross home where she published attacks on inner-city development. Edward Trigg and Shayne Martin-Simmonds are later found guilty of conspiring to murder her.
September
3 September – Convention is breached when the Queensland Parliament rejects Australian Labor Party nominee Mal Colston to replace the deceased Senator Bert Milliner, choosing instead Pat Field (automatically expelled for having nominated against the endorsed candidate.
16 September – Papua New Guinea gains its independence from Australia.
20 September – Thirteen miners are killed in an underground coal mine explosion at the Kianga Mine at Moura, Queensland.
October
1 October – Senator Albert Field (now an Independent) is granted a month's leave of absence while his eligibility to take his seat is tested in the High Court of Australia, sitting as a Court of Disputed Returns. There has been doubting as to whether he resigned in the correct way from the Public Service at the time he was appointed.
8 October – Prime Minister Gough Whitlam denied in Parliament that any of his senior ministers were still involved in trying to raise overseas loans in defiance of the 20 May revocation. Press reports based on information from the loan intermediary, Tirath Khemlani, suggest that Rex Connor is still involved.
10 October – The High Court of Australia upholds the validity of the territorial Senators legislation. In any half-Senate election, four senators, plus replacements for Bunton and Field, would take their places in the Senate at once, thus giving Labor the chance to win back control there.
15 October – At a Brisbane Chamber of Commerce annual luncheon, Queensland Governor Sir Colin Hannah associated himself with the criticism of the Federal Government. In the ensuing row, Prime Minister Gough Whitlam persuades Queen Elizabeth II to revoke his dormant commission to act as Governor-General.
1 to 31 October – Averaged over Victoria, this stands as the wettest month since at least 1900 with a statewide average rainfall of 154.53 millimetres or 6.08 inches.[23]
November
11 November – 1975 Australian constitutional crisis: The Governor-General, Sir John Kerr, dismisses the government of Gough Whitlam. Malcolm Fraser is installed as caretaker Prime Minister.
19 November – Two staff members of the Queensland Premier's Department are injured when they open a letter-bomb addressed to the Premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen.
December
8 December – 4ZZZ independent community radio station launches in Brisbane.
9 December – New South Wales Country Party Leader Sir Charles Cutler retires and Deputy Leader Leon Punch replaces him with J.C. Bruxner as his deputy.
13 December –
The 1975 Australian federal election is held. After a bitter campaign in which Labor tried to keep constitutional matters to the fore and the Coalition concentrated on inflation, unemployment and Labor's errors in office, the Fraser Government is confirmed in power, securing 54% of the vote, 91 of the 127 House seats, and 35 Senate seats.
The Victorian Government forms a committee to examine some of the recommendations from the Beach Board of Inquiry.
Picnic at Hanging Rock, directed by Peter Weir, is released
Television
1 March – "C-Day." Full-time colour broadcasting is launched.
April – Graham Kennedy said the crow call "Fuuuuuuuuuuuuck!" during a live ad on The Graham Kennedy Show. The studio operators complied, and the show immediately pulled the plug and went to a black screen saying the network had "technical difficulties". In Sydney, the show went to a commercial break and Kennedy never came back, with Bert Newton remaining during the airtime. The same happened in Adelaide, with the exception that it was succeeded by Don Lane starting the host his variety show with Newton. Kennedy was immediately fired and banned for life from GTV-9.
Eastern Suburbs set a record NSWRL/ARL/NRL winning streak of their last nineteen home-and-away games before losing the major semi-final.
20 September – Minor premiers Eastern Suburbs set a record NSWRL Grand Final winning margin, beating St. George 38 points to nil. South Sydney finish in last position, claiming the wooden spoon.
^ ab"Absolute powers urged in disasters". The Sydney Morning Herald. 2 January 1975. p. 1. Retrieved 18 August 2024.
^"Australia has 11 new knights". Papua New Guinea Post-Courier. 2 January 1975. p. 8. Retrieved 18 August 2024.
^Shevill, Ian (2 January 1975). "Do we need a Darwin? Pondering the neat and nice solution". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 6. Retrieved 18 August 2024.
^"Askin's reign ends today". The Sydney Morning Herald. 3 January 1975. p. 1. Retrieved 18 August 2024.
^O'Hara, John (4 January 1975). "Lewis launches new style of government". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 1. Retrieved 18 August 2024.
^"Ship smashes bridge - Cars plunge into river, 10,000-ton carrier sinks in minutes". The Age. 6 January 1975. pp. 1–2. Retrieved 18 August 2024.
^Smith, Michael; Clarke, Kevin (7 January 1975). "Tombstone pylons guard the mystery of the Illawarra". The Age. p. 1. Retrieved 18 August 2024.
^"Bridge disaster toll rises to 12". The Age. 8 January 1975. p. 1. Retrieved 18 August 2024.
^Plummer, Dale (19 January 1975). "Banned record debut". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 77. Retrieved 26 August 2024.
^"FM goes into stereo as 2JJ rocks along". The Sydney Morning Herald. 20 January 1975. p. 10. Retrieved 26 August 2024.
^ ab"Govt 'villain' in eyes of new party". The Sydney Morning Herald. 27 January 1975. p. 2. Retrieved 25 August 2024.
^"FM radio expands". The Sydney Morning Herald. 2 February 1975. p. 21. Retrieved 25 August 2024.
^Frykberg, Ian (10 February 1975). "Murphy for High Court: Sudden resignation from Senate; minor Cabinet reshuffle likely". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 1. Retrieved 25 August 2024.
^O'Hara, John (27 February 2024). "Labor may test poll for Senate". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 1. Retrieved 25 August 2024.
^ ab"NSW gets senator in 1½ hours of turmoil". The Sydney Morning Herald. 28 February 1975. pp. 1–2. Retrieved 25 August 2024.
^Bowers, Peter (28 February 1975). "Cope: debacle for Labor". The Sydney Morning Herald. pp. 1–2. Retrieved 25 August 2024.
^"Inquiry into police to begin next Wednesday". The Age. 19 March 1975. p. 1. Retrieved 25 August 2024.
^ abBowers, Peter (22 March 1975). "Fraser ends election talk". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 1. Retrieved 25 August 2024.
^English, David (9 April 1975). "Assembly abolishes hanging". The Age. p. 1. Retrieved 25 August 2024.
^"Hanging is finished in Victoria". The Age. 24 April 1975. pp. 1, 3. Retrieved 25 August 2024.
^Writers, Staff (22 April 2020). "From the Archives, 1975: Victoria abolishes hanging". The Age. Retrieved 21 August 2024.
^"Australia out, airlift stops". The Sydney Morning Herald. 26 April 1975. p. 1. Retrieved 25 August 2024.