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Milestones

  • Australia's population exceeds 13 million

    Art
  • Clifton Pugh's portrait of Sir John McEwan wins the Archibald Prize

    Performing Arts
  • David Williamson's The Removalists and Don's Party premiere
  • the "R" certificate film rating is introduced

    Literature
  • David Ireland's The Unknown Industrial Prisoner wins the Miles Franklin Award

    Film & Television
  • The Aunty Jack Show premieres
  • Division 4 star Gerard Kennedy wins the Gold Logie
  • Homesdale wins the AFI award
  • Hans Pomeranz's musical Stockade, the first feature made with funding from the Australian Film Development Corporation
  • Nicholas Roeg's Walkabout
  • Ted Kotcheff's Wake In Fright
  • Nigel Buesst's Bonjour Balwyn
  • Tim Burstall's feature Stork, starring Bruce Spence, and based on David Williamson's play The Coming of Stork

    Society
  • Evonne Goolagong Cawley is named Australian Of The Year
  • the first Sydney City to Surf footrace is held
  • Jimmy Sharman's boxing troupe makes its last appearance at the Shepparton Show
  • large natural gas fields are discovered on the North-West Shelf, off WA

    Environment
  • the BLF imposes the first "Green Bans"
  • the Fraser Island Defence Organisation is formed by John Sinclair to combat sand mining and tourist development on the unique sand island

Evonne Goolagong - Australian of the Year 1971

"Evonne Goolagong Cawley AO MBE (b1951), Evonne Goolagong Wimbledon tennis champion. Goolagong was the daughter of a shearer from Barellan, New South Wales. Famous coach Vic Edwards was impressed with her natural grace and timing and took her into his family to coach her. She won every age championship she entered and, in 1970, the French Open. In July 1971 she won her first Wimbledon title. She finished her career with 92 international titles, every Australian mainland State title and the Australian singles title for 1974, 1975 and 1976.

In 1980 she came back to win her second Wimbledon title. Loved for her bubbly personality and relaxed, non-aggressive style, her two major weaknesses were her occasional lapses in concentration and her lack of a killer instinct. She played not for money or fame, but because she loved the sport. In 1970 she accepted a controversial invitation to play in segregated South Africa as an 'honorary white', believing that sport and politics should not mix.

When she accepted her award she said: 'It's something I've always wanted -- to be known as an Australian. When I was younger I was always known as an Aboriginal tennis player.'

Photo by Rick Stevens 1971
gelatin silver photograph © Fairfax Press

   

1971

2nd  I Think I Love You      
The Partridge Family      

9th   I Think I Love You      
The Partridge Family      
     
16th My Sweet Lord      
George Harrison      

23rd  My Sweet Lord      
George Harrison      
      
30th  My Sweet Lord      
George Harrison

Festival Records launches Infinity, its new progressive label, with a swag of new locally-recorded albums including the Aztecs' The Hoax Is Over, Blackfeather's At The Mountains of Madness and Kahvas Jute's Wide Open.

Three major rock festivals are staged this month -- the Odyssey Festival at Wallacia, just outside Sydney, the Myponga Festival in South Australia and the Fairlight Festival in Sydney's northern suburbs. Odyssey and Myponga draw about 10,000 and 15,000 respectively, and the featured acts include Daddy Cool, Spectrum, Chain, The Aztecs, The La De Das, King Harvest, Fanny Adams, Healing Force, Fraternity and Wendy Saddington & Copperwine. Myponga also boasts some big overseas acts: Black Sabbath give their first Australian performance there, but co-headliner Cat Stevens cancels. Both festivals ultimately lose money, although Myponga is a breakthrough appearance for Daddy Cool, and filmmaker Chris Lofven shoots footage of the band on stage which he later includes in his famous promotional film for Eagle Rock. The smallest of the three festivals, Fairlight, features major acts The Cleves, La De Das, Blackfeather, Pirana, Tully and Kahvas Jute.

Major overseas releases:
Ry Cooder - Ry Cooder
George Harrison - My Sweet Lord
Van Morrison - Van Morrison, His Band and Street Choir
The Temptations - Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me)


1 Wearing of seat belts becomes compulsory in Victoria. [-> 8/71]

4   Nic Roeg's film Performance, starring Mick Jagger, premieres in London

5 The first one-day cricket match is held in Melbourne

17 Tennis star Evonne Goolagong is named Australian of the Year.

Prophet / Maggie Mine
Ronnie Burns

Sweet Girl / I Can't Find A Reason
The La De Das

The Hoax Is Over (LP)
The Aztecs

Wide Open (LP)
Kahvas Jute 

   

 

1971

6th  My Sweet Lord   
George Harrison   
    
13th My Sweet Lord   
George Harrison     

20th My Sweet Lord  
George Harrison   
      
27th  My Sweet Lord   
George Harrison

The Rocks Resident Action Group holds its first public meetings.

Major overseas releases:
James Brown - Soul Power
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - 4 Way Street
Aretha Franklin - You're All I Need To Get By
Paul McCartney - Another Day


5 The market boom in mineral stocks takes a drastic plunge following the crash of prestige mining investment house Mineral Securities Ltd

7 The new national weekly newpaper The National Times is launched in Sydney

- Severe flooding claims 10 lives in eastern NSW.

28 The first edition of The Sunday Australian appears

Turn Away/Longest Day
Flying Circus

Sweet Release (LP)   
Tymepiece

   

 

1971

6th  My Sweet Lord    
George Harrison    
                                       
13th  The Pushbike Song    
The Mixtures    
                                      
20th  The Pushbike Song    
The Mixtures    
                                      
27th  Knock Three Times    
Dawn

Don Lebler and Don Mudie leave Axiom, precipitating the breakup of the group.

The Village Glee Club ends on ABC Radio after 29 years on air.

Major overseas releases:
Leonard Cohen - Songs Of Love And Hate
David Crosby - If I Could Only Remember My Name...
Nikc Drake - Bryter Later
The Faces - Long Player
Aretha Franklin - Bridge Over Troubled Water
Jimi Hendrix - The Cry Of Love
Humble Pie - Rock On
Jethro Tull - Aqualung
Carole King - Tapestry
The Kinks - Percy (soundtrack)
John Lennon - Power To The People
Stevie Wonder - We Can Work It Out
Various Artists - Woodstock II
Yes - The Yes Album


6 The Oz Police Ball benefit is held in aid of the Oz Obscenity Trial fund at the Middle Earth club in Covent Garden, London. The line-up includes Arthur Brown's Kingdom Come, Viv Stanshall, The Pink Fairies, Egg, Roy Harper, and John Peel

8 Malcolm Fraser resigns as Defence Minister, accusing PM John Gorton of disloyalty.

10 John Gorton resigns as Liberal Party leader and Prime Minister after a nine-day leadership struggle. The crisis has been sparked by Defence Minister Malcolm Fraser who declares that he can no longer work with Gorton. After a vote of confidence is tied 33-33, Gorton conceded that he had lost the confidence of the party and cast the deciding vote against himself.. Former treasurer William McMahon is elected as the new leader. That night, TDT airs an affectionate farewell tribute to the outgoing PM, featuring scenes from his life shown to a soundtrack of Frank Sinatra's My Way.

22 The last episode of "The Village Glee Club" airs on ABC Radio. The long-running series, featuring old-time music, was first broadcast in 1942 and was hosted throughout by Philip Derbyshire.

30 South Australian Premier Steele Hall temporarily bans all ABC staff from government buildings. The ban is a reaction to alleged "editorialising" by Adelaide TDT host Clive Hale, who had raised an eyebrow when he announced that a government minister has declined to appear on the show.

Black & Blue / Lightning Ground 
Chain  

Seasons Of Change   
Fraternity

Sweet Girl / I Can't Find A Reason
The La De Das

 

 

1971

3rd  Rose Garden    
Lynn Anderson    
    
10th  Rose Garden    
Lynn Anderson    

17th  Rose Garden    
Lynn Anderson    

24th  Rose Garden    
Lynn Anderson

Singer Jeff Philips replaces Ross D. Wylie as host of the 0-10 Network's HAPPENING '71 pop music show.

Relics from the wreck of the 17th century Dutch ship Batavia are recovered from Houtman Abrolhos in Western Australia.

The much-loved children's program "The Argonauts Club" ends on ABC Radio after 30 years on air.

ARPA-Net, the world's first computer network, now includes 18 computers in the USA. Established by the US government's Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) in September 1969, ARPA -Net began with four computers and over the next twenty years it will expand to include thousands more computers around the world, forming the basis for the development of the Internet in the early 1990s.

Major overseas releases:
David Bowie - The Man Who Sold The World
The Doors - L.A. Woman
Elton John - Friends
Elton John - 11-17-70
Carole King - It's Too Late
Paul McCartney - Ram
Ringo Starr - It Don't Come Easy
The Rolling Stones - Brown Sugar, Sticky Fingers


14 Sydney's famous Trocadero dance hall closes. The event is later immortalised in Richard Clapton's classic song Deep Water.

27 Justice Blackburn of the Northern Territory Supreme Court rejects a legal challenge by the Yirrikala people of the Gove Peninsula. The landmark two-year case was an attempt to block a massive bauxite mining project on land appropriated from tribal reserves by the Commonwealth government on behalf of the giant Nabalco company.

Fools Gold/ Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow
Axiom

At The Mountains of Madness (LP)
Blackfeather

It Couldn't Happen Here/Somerville
Flying Circus

Choice Cuts (LP)
The Masters Apprentices   
 

Evil Child / The Freak
Zoot

 

 

1971

1st  Me And Bobby McGee     
Janis Joplin     

8th  Me And Bobby McGee     
Janis Joplin     

15th   She's A Lady     
Tom Jones     

22nd  She's A Lady     
Tom Jones     
     
29th  Another Day     
Paul McCartney

Deep Purple, Free and Manfred Mann's Chapter Three tour Australia, supported by Pirana.

Australia signs a seabed agreement with Indonesia

Major overseas releases:
Aretha Franklin - Live At Fillmore West
Graham Nash - Songs For Beginners
Rod Stewart - Every Picture Tells A Story


1 I'll Be Gone, the debut single by Spectrum reaches #1 on Go-Set's national chart.

5 An OZ Obscenity Fund Benefit concert featuring The Soft Machine and Traffic is held at the Polytechnic of Central London.

7 Daddy Cool play Melbourne Town Hall (supported by Tully). Also attending the gig is producer Robie Porter, who signs them to his Sparmac label. By the end of the the month, they have recorded their debut album (cut in two days) and released their classic single Eagle Rock, which is the national #1 for 10 weeks in June/July/August. A cover version of the song Daddy Cool, (also on their debut album) is released by a studio group called Drummond (actually the members of Mississippi) and it replaces Eagle Rock as the #1 single for 7 weeks in September/October.

17 "Monday Conference", a new public affairs discussion forum hosted by ex-Four Corners reporter Robert Moore, premieres on ABC-TV. Early guests include Paul Erlich, Germaine Greer, Bob Hawke, Gustav Nossel and Gough Whitlam. Later in the year Moore changes the format to include a live audience in the discussion. Tragically, most of the tapes of the first two years of the series were later erased, according to writer Bob Ellis.

23 Queenslander Neville Bonner is chosen by the Liberal Party to fill a casual Senate vacancy, becoming the first Aboriginal member of any Australian parliament.

27 An anonymous caller calling himself "Mr Brown" claims that a Qantas 707 bound for Hong Kong is carrying a bomb which will explode if the place descends to 20,000 feet. He demands a ransom of $500,000; the general manager of Qantas pays the money to a man sitting in a hired van outside the Sydney Opera House, as the jet circles over outback NSW, unable to land for fear of triggering the device. The bomb threat is soon proved to be a hoax.

- Aussie screen icon Chips Rafferty dies in Sydney of a heart attack, aged 62. In his 34-year career Chips (born William Goffage in Broken Hill) had become one of Australia's best-known and best-loved actors.

Seasons Of Change / On This Day That I Die    
Blackfeather    

Eagle Rock / Bom Bom 
Daddy Cool

 

 

1971

5th   Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep     
Lally Stott     
     
12th  Too Young To Be Married     
The Hollies     

19th  Too Young To Be Married     
The Hollies     
     
26th  Eagle Rock     
Daddy Cool

Daddy Cool's Eagle Rock is the national No.1 single    

Work begins on Melbourne's underground railway system

Major overseas releases:
The Bee Gees - How Can You Mend A Broken Heart
The Byrds - Byrdmaniax
Joni Mitchell - Blue
The Move - Tonight
The Rolling Stones - Wild Horses


7 Australia becomes a full member of the OECD

13 The Aztecs headline at Melbourne Town Hall, supported by Daddy Cool, Chain, the La De Das, Wild Cherries, Healing Force and Lotus. The stage set includes a 70' high inflatable structure dubbed 'The Starfish', created by Rodney Currie.

14 Jack Lang is re-admitted to the ALP. The controversial former NSW Premier had been expelled from the party in 1943.

18 The first "Green Ban" is imposed by the Builders' Labourers Federation to prevent development at Kelly's Bush in suburban Sydney.

28 Veteran TV and radio quizmaster Bob Dyer retires, ending the 23-year run of BP Pick-A-Box

30 Sir Kenneth Slessor dies aged 70

 

Nickelodeon (LP)    
The Masters Apprentices

   

 

1971

3rd  Eagle Rock  
Daddy Cool     
     
10th  Eagle Rock     
Daddy Cool     
     
17th Eagle Rock     
Daddy Cool     
     
24th  Eagle Rock 
Daddy Cool  
     
31st  Eagle Rock  
Daddy Cool

Company Caine record their classic LP A Product Of A Broken Reality

Phil Manning
leaves
Chain.    

Fraternity wins the Hoadley Battle of the Sounds.     

After a six-week trial in London, the editors of OZ are found not guilty of the major charge of corrupting public morals, but guilty of the lesser charge of publishing an indecent magazine and are remanded in custody for sentencing. Editors Richard Neville, Felix Dennis and Jim Anderson are later sentenced to fifteen, twelve and nine months gaol respectively. The severity of the sentences causes a international outcry, and John Lennon rush-releases a benefit single later in the month to raise money for their appeal..

Major overseas releases:
The Allman Brothers - At Fillmore East
Blood, Sweat & Tears - B, S & T 4
John Lennon - God Save Us / Do The Oz
The Move - Message From the Country
Rod Stewart - "Maggie May"
The Who - Who's Next
Aretha Franklin - "Spanish Harlem"


2 Opposition leader Gough Whitlam leads a political delegation to China, becoming the first Western leader to visit there since the 1949 revolution.

- 19-year-old Aboriginal athlete Evonne Goolagong makes tennis history, scoring a surprise win over top seeds Billie Jean King in the semi-final and Margaret Court in the women's singles finals at Wimbledon.

3 Police attack demonstrators at Melbourne's Olympic Park when 3000 people protest against the Springbok Rugby tour.

- Singer and poet Jim Morrison dies in Paris. Although no autopsy is performed, the official cause of death is given as heart attack, and he is quickly buried at the famous Pere Lachaise Cemetery. Morrison shot to worldwide fame in 1967 as the lead singer and lyricist with legendary American rock group The Doors. For many years after his death, an urban myth persisted that Morrison had staged his own demise to escape rock stardom. Far more probable was the claim by Danny Sugerman, Morrison's friend and the author of two definitive Doors books. Sugerman asserts that Morrison in fact died from a heroin overdose. In his 1989 book Wonderland Avenue,, Sugerman told of his1973 meeting with Morrison's widow, Pamela Courson. In it he recounts that Courson admitted to using heroin herself, that she introduced Morrison to it and that in fact the very first shot she gave Morrison killed him. Though the claim remains unproven, Courson herself died soon after from a heroin OD.

- An OZ Obscenity Fund Benefit concert, featuring Traffic and Alexis Korner is held at the Polytechnic of Central London

6 Demonstrators interrupt play during a Springbok game in Sydney

10 1,000 police clash with anti-apartheid demonstrators protesting against the tour by the South African Springbok Rugby team 

14 Queensland premier Joh Bjelke Petersen declares a state of emergency, to ensure that the Springbok tour in Brisbane is not disrupted by demonstrators.

20 While speaking at a social function, former Liberal defence minister Malcolm Fraser makes his infamous statement "Life wasn't meant to be easy". The utterance becomes inextricably linked with Fraser, who draws considerable flak from critics who point to his patrician style and his background from a wealthy Victorian grazing family.

1000 Years / One Bad Thing    
Ronnie Burns 

Judgement / Blow In D 
Chain  

Daddy Who? Daddy Cool! (LP)   
Daddy Cool 

   

 

August 1971

7th  Eagle Rock     
Daddy Cool     
     
14th Eagle Rock     
Daddy Cool     

21st  Eagle Rock     
Daddy Cool     

28th  Eagle Rock     
Daddy Cool 

Room To Move premieres on ABC's radio station 2FC. Hosted by Chris Winter and produced by Ron Moss, this influential late night album show provides an much-needed alternative to commercial radio and is one of the developments which leads to to the eventual the creation of 2JJ (now Triple J).     

Daddy Cool tour the US.

Singer Neil Johns is sacked from Blackfeather, leading to the split of the first "heavy" version of the band.

Major overseas releases:
James Brown - Hot Pants
James Brown - Make It Funky
The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Experience
The Moody Blues - Every Good Boy Deserves Favor
Paul McCartney - Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey


1 Political journalist Alan Reid writes an article critical of former PM John Gorton, claiming that he paid less attention to his ministers and departmental heads than he did to his private secretary Ainsley Gotto (whom the media dubs "the girl with the wiggle").

- Wearing of car seat belts becomes compulsory in NSW.

3 The West Gate Bridge royal commission finds that project designers Freeman Fox and Partners are primarily responsible for the disaster, which killed 35 workers.

5 Bondi taxi driver Peter Macari is charged with extortion over the Qantas "Mr Brown" bomb hoax case.

7 Music program "Sentimental Journey" begins on ABC Radio

12 Prime Minister William McMahon dismisses former PM John Gorton as Minister of Defence, on the grounds that he had breached Cabinet solidarity. In a Sunday newspaper article, Gorton had responded to criticism of his leadership by journalist Alan Reid, complaining of leaks and gossip which undermined the cabinet.

16 The first Qantas Boeing 747 jumbo jet "City of Canberra" makes its maiden flight.

20 Writer Bob Ellis is dismissed from the ABC after breaking staff rules about making public comments on the ABC's activities

30 Members of Women's Liberation march in Melbourne protesting against sexism in the union movement

Travelling South / Moonshine
Carson

   

 

September 1971

4th  Daddy Cool     
Drummond     

11th  Daddy Cool     
Drummond     
     
18th  Daddy Cool     
Drummond     

25th  Daddy Cool     
Drummond 

Saxophonist Jeremy Noone (ex-Company Caine) joins Daddy Cool.

Spectrum record their double album Milesago at Armstrong's Studios

Daddy Cool, La De Das, Chain, Tamam Shud and Country Radio play large outdoor concerts at the Wollongong and Sydney Showgrounds, on consecutive days, drawing 3,500 and 4,000 people respectively.

Major overseas releases:
Deep Purple - Fireball
John Lennon - Imagine
Traffic - Welcome To The Canteen


18 South Sydney defeats St George in the Rugby League Grand Final

19 The last trams run in the Victorian regional city of Ballarat

25 Hawthorn defeats St Kilda in he VFL Grand Final

Toward The Blues (LP)    
Chain

Trixie Stonewall's Wayward Home For Young Women / It's Up To You 
Company Caine

Come Back Again / Just As Long As We're Together
Daddy Cool

Finding My Way / Ballad Of Sacred Falls
Flying Circus

Feelings/Young Man's Lament
Frieze

Gonna See My Baby Tonight/Fare Thee Well
La De Das

Looking Through A Window / We Need A Song
Wendy Saddington & Copperwine

   

 

1971

2nd  Daddy Cool     
Drummond     
     
9th  Daddy Cool     
Drummond     
     
16th Daddy Cool     
Drummond     
     
23rd  The Banks Of The Ohio     
Olivia Newton-John     
     
30th  The Banks Of The Ohio     
Olivia Newton-John

Australia's first sex shop opens in Sydney.

Major overseas releases:
The Allman Brothers - Live At The Fillmore East
Aretha Franklin - Rock Steady
Jimi Hendrix - Rainbow Bridge
Elton John - Madman Across The Water
The Move - Chinatown
Santana - Santana III


9 "Hey Hey It's Saturday" premieres on the Nine Network. Originally a Saturday morning children's cartoon show, the program gradually develops a unique free-form live comedy format over the next few years, and after shifting to an early evening time slot it becomes one of the longest running and most popular variety shows in Australian television history. Hey Hey runs continuously until 21 November 1999, and host Daryl Somers presents the program for its entire 28 year run.

16 Robin Boyd dies aged 52

30 ABC Radio cancels rebroadcasts of BBC News

31 Daylight saving is introduced on a trial basis throughout Australia, except in WA and NT.

I'm Gonna Be Wheel Someday / The Train Of Love   
Bobby & Laurie

Speak to the Sky / I Didn't Mean to Love You
Rick Springfield

   

 

1971

6th  The Banks Of The Ohio     
Olivia Newton-John     

13th  The Banks Of The Ohio     
Olivia Newton-John     

20th  The Banks Of The Ohio     
Olivia Newton-John     

27th  Maggie May / Reason To Believe     
Rod Stewart

In London, an appeal court finds that Judge Argyle, who heard the original OZ obscenity case, had misdirected the trial jury. The convictions against the editors of  OZ, Richard Neville, Felix Dennis and Jim Anderson, are overturned.

Four new categories of film classification come into force in Australia - G, NRC, M and R classifications. It becomes an offence for anyone under 18 years to be admitted to a theatre showing an R film. Robert Altman's McCabe and Mrs Miller is the first R-certificate film to be screened in Australia under the new regulations.

Australia ends its operational role in the Vietnam War.

The BLF imposes "Green Bans" on development in Sydney's historic Rocks district.

Major overseas releases:
James Brown - I'm A Greedy Man
The Byrds - Farther Along
The Faces - A Nod Is As Good As A Wink
Genesis - Nursery Cryme
Jimi Hendrix - Isle Of Wight, Rainbow Bridge
Humble Pie - Performance: Rockin' At The Fillmore
The Kinks - Muswell Hillbillies
Van Morrison - Tupelo Honey
Traffic - The Low Spark Of High Heeled Boys
Led Zeppelin - Untitled (Led Zeppelin IV)


2 The Operation Earth concert is held at the Myer Music Bowl. Featured acts include Chain, Blackfeather, Captain Matchbox, Bakery, Carson, Indelible Murtceps, Matt Taylor & Friends and The Aztecs.

- Silver Knight wins the Melbourne Cup

16 TDT embarrasses the federal government when reporter Gerald Stone conducts a live interview with fugitive draft resister Michael Matteson. Later in the the show, as Matteson eludes Commonwealth police called to the ABC's Gore Hill studios, interviewer Richard Carleton grills federal Attorney General Sen. Ivor Greenwood about why Matteson has been able to evade police for 3 months when TDT was able to locate him within three hours.

18 During the 11am news broadcast on ABC local radio in Sydney, ABC radio newsreader Rod McNeill gets some unexpected "help" from Goon Show creator Spike Milligan. Milligan. Spike, who had just been interviewed live on the morning show, does his best to throw McNeill off with a string of hilarious ad-libbed remarks. When McNeill concludes with "More news in one hour", Milligan retorts: "You'll never make it!" The ABC Chariman calls for a report on Spike's impromptu performance, and later issues a directive that Milligan is never again to be interviewed live on the ABC.

25 Late night shopping is introduced in Victoria

30 The flag is lowered for the last time at the Anzac task Force base at Nui Dat in Vietnam, ending almost ten years of military involvement by Australian and New Zealand troops.

Listen to the Children / Last Time Around
Country Radio

I Ain't Got The Time / Hello Sunshine
Freshwater

Gonna See My Baby Tonight / Fare Thee Well
The La De Das

   

 

1971

4th  Maggie May / Reason To  Believe     
Rod Stewart     

11th  Maggie May / Reason To Believe     
Rod Stewart     

18th  Maggie May / Reason To Believe     
Rod Stewart     

25th  Imagine  
John Lennon

NZ yacht Pathfinder wins the Sydney to Hobart race

Major overseas releases:
America - Horse With No Name
David Bowie - Hunky Dory
George Harrison - The Concert For Bangla Desh
King Crimson - Islands
Harry Nilsson - Nilsson Schmilsson
Billy Preston - Outa Space
Wings - Wings Wild Life
The Faces - A Nod Is As Good As A Wink....


1 Daddy Cool become the first Australian rock band to perform in a live-to-air national broadcast, from Armstrong's Studio in Melbourne.

7 Det. Sgt Philip Arantz is suspended from the NSW Police Force for allegedly leaking crime statistics to the media, and is later dismissed. After almost 15 years' struggle for compensation, he is finally awarded $250,000 in 1985 and his dismissal revoked in 1989.

- As part of its The Comedy Game series ABC-TV in Sydney screens Aunty Jack's Travelling Show, the pilot episode for the famous Aunty Jack series.

14 Late night shopping is introduced in NSW

24 Cyclone Althea kills three people and damages hundreds of buildings in Townsville. The TV series Barrier Reef had been filming nearby at the time, and the crew rushed to assist victims, as well as capturing actuality footage of the aftermath of the cyclone, which was later included in one of the episodes.

26 Daddy Cool and La De Das headline an outdoor concert at the 3XY Rosebud Show before an crowd of 50,000 people.

27 The premiere of Tim Burstall's movie STORK, starring Bruce Spence, and featuring an appearance by The Captain Matchbox Whoopee Band.

30 Aunty Jack's Travelling Show screens on the ABC in Melbourne.

Hi Honey Ho (long version) / Hi Honey Ho (short version)
Daddy Cool
Chart information copyright © Oz Net Music Chart 1997