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Australian Events

Posted in 1947

  • Crowd rush the Bank of NSWChifley plans to nationalise the banks.

"Bank Nationalisation Fails
In response to the High Court's invalidation of part of the 1945 banking legislation, Prime Minister Chifley declared on Aug 16, 1947 his intention of nationalising the private banks. This legislation was in its turn challenged and invalidated by the High Court in 1948 and by the Privy Council in 1949. Unpopular for continuing wartime austerities and offending powerful banking and medical interests, Labor lost office at the elections on Dec 10, 1949."
The Macquarie Book of Events, 1983 p 349.

  • Workers win the right to a 40-hour week.
  • First arrival of displaced persons from Europe. Because the low birth rate in the 1930s had led to a shortage of labour, Australia launched a programme aimed at increasing the population by 1% a year through net migration.
    The Macquarie Book of Events, 1983 p 71.
  • Painter Sidney Nolan exhibits his Ned Kelly series.
  • Qantas announces plans for regular flights to Britain.