Sydney hosts the Empire Games, the forerunner to the Commonwealth Games

(April) Prime Minister Lyons dies in office and is replaced by Robert Menzies and the first Menzies Government

A team of scientists, under Howard Florey, develops penicillin

3 Divisions of the 2nd Australian Imperial Force join operations in the Mediterranean. After initial successes against Italy, 2nd AIF suffered defeat against the Germans in Greece, Crete, and North Africa.

Feb, Fall of Singapore. 15,000 Australians become Prisoners of War of the Japanese

Australia wins its first Oscar, with cinematographer Damien Parer honoured for Kokoda Front Line! documentary.

Cowra breakout, mass escape of Japanese prisoners of war occurs in NSW.

the Liberal Party of Australia is established with Robert Menzies as its first leader.

Minister for Immigration Arthur Calwell introduces the major post-war immigration scheme

Minister for External Affairs, Dr. H.V. Evatt is elected President of the United Nations General Assembly.

Construction of the Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric Scheme begins

1950-53 - Australian troops are sent to the Korean War to assist South Korea.

Australia signs the ANZUS treaty with the United States and New Zealand

First nuclear test conducted in Australian territory by the United Kingdom off the coast of Western Australia.

Elizabeth II and Prince Philip make a royal visit; the Soviet diplomat Vladimir Petrov defects, leading to the Petrov Affair and another split in the Labor Party

Democratic Labor Party splits from Australian Labor Party over concerns of Communist influence in the labour movement

Television in Australia is launched.

The song 'Wild One' makes Johnny O'Keefe the first Australian rock'n'roller to reach the national charts.

Robert Menzies' Commonwealth Electoral Act provided that all Indigenous Australians should have the right to enrol and vote at federal elections, removing remaining restrictions applying in QLD, WA and NT.

The Beatles tour Australia;

Indigenous Australians gain right to vote in state of Queensland

The ban on the employment of married women in the Commonwealth Public Service is lifted;

Decimalisation; on 14 February the Australian currency is changed to dollars and cents, with the Australian Dollar replacing the Australian pound.

Large areas of Hobart and south-eastern Tasmania are devastated by bushfires on 7 February that kill 62 people;

Australia signs the nuclear non-proliferation treaty; Aboriginal boxing champion Lionel Rose defeats Masahiko 'Fighting' Harada in Japan to become the world bantamweight champion; Australia's first liver transplant operation is performed in Sydney;

French conceptual artist Christo 'wraps' Little Bay in Sydney;

More than 200,000 people participate in the largest demonstrations in Australian history, against the Vietnam War

Neville Bonner becomes the first Aborigine to become an Australian Member of Parliament;

The Commonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration Commission rules that women doing the same job as men have the right to be paid the same wage.

The Sydney Opera House is opened

Darwin is devastated by Cyclone Tracy

(November) A constitutional crisis occurs when Malcolm Fraser blocks supply, bringing the nation to a standstill until Governor-General John Kerr dismisses Prime Minister Gough Whitlam on the 11.11.75. Fraser wins elections and becomes Prime Minister

The Australian Capital Territory legalises homosexuality between consenting adults in private.

Advance Australia Fair becomes Australia's official national anthem

The First Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras kicks off in Sydney

Australian women win the right to maternity leave

Baby Azaria Chamberlain disappears from a campsite at Uluru (Ayers Rock), reportedly taken by a dingo. The Coalition wins the 1980 Australian federal election.

A referendum is held in Tasmania to vote for whether or not the Franklin Dam should be built.

Commonwealth Games held in Brisbane. The National Gallery of Australia is opened.

Australia wins the America's Cup;

Advance Australia Fair is proclaimed as Australia's national anthem.

The government grants the freehold title of a large area of land in central Australia, including prominent landmarks Uluru and Kata Tjuta, to the Mutitjulu people, who in turn give them a 99-year lease.

The Australia Act removes the right of appeal from State courts to the British Privy Council, making the High Court the final court of appeal in Australia. The Act also removes all remaining rights of the UK parliament to pass law for Australia. Anita Cobby murder in Sydney. Russell Street Bombing in Melbourne. Crocodile Dundee is released in Australia.

Hoddle Street Massacre kills 7 victims and injures 19,

Australia celebrates its bicentenary, with large celebrations and major funding for capital works projects. The new Parliament House opens. Federal referendums on 4-year parliamentary terms, recognition of local government and other issues are defeated. Brisbane hosts World Expo '88.

Newcastle Earthquake kills 13 people.

Royal Australian Navy deployed in preparation for the First Gulf War.

Prime Minister Bob Hawke is replaced by Paul Keating.

The High Court delivers the Mabo Decision, which rules that indigenous native title does exist. This effectively extinguishes the concept of terra nullius.

Keating defeats John Hewson in the 1993 federal election;

The Northern Territory legalises voluntary euthanasia, but it is overruled by the federal government when Liberal MP Kevin Andrews proposes the Euthanasia Laws Bill 1996

The High Court hands down the Wik Decision, which holds that indigenous native title can survive the granting of pastoral leases.

Expelled Liberal MP Pauline Hanson forms the One Nation Party

A major strike results when Patrick Stevedores attempt to introduce non-union labour to reduce the influence of the Maritime Union of Australia

Both houses of the federal parliament pass a motion signifying both recognition of and regret at past treatment of indigenous Australians.

27th Olympic Games held in Sydney.

Australia celebrates centenary of Federation;

2002 Bali bombings, the deadliest act of terrorism in the history of Indonesia, killing 202 people, (including 88 Australians.

Australian military deployed to Iraq War to oust the Saddam Hussein regime for serial non-compliance with the 1991 Gulf War Peace Treaty.

A bomb explodes outside the Australian embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia, Asia.

Sydney beachside suburb of Cronulla sees a protest against the alleged bashing of a beach lifeguard, developing into an alcohol-fuelled, racially-charged riot.

The Commonwealth Games are held in Melbourne.

Eulogy Alan was born Alan James Madill in Warragul, Gippsland, on 23rd August, 1938, the second of six children to Jim and Catherine (known as Kitty). He had an older sister, Annette, while his younger siblings were Ian, Noel (now deceased), Elaine and Marlene. Home was in Drouin East, where Jim ran a dairy farm and, apart from going to school at Drouin East State and then Warragul High, and playing some local footy, Alan spent most of his time working on the farm. There was a young bloke about Alan's age who sometimes came out to Drouin East from Bentleigh. His name was Charlie Haynes and, while staying at a neighbour's property, he and Alan struck up a friendship. So, when Alan came to Melbourne for a holiday as a 16 year old, he stayed with the Haynes family in Bentleigh. Charlie had a girlfriend called Elaine who arranged for a long time friend of hers to join them on a night out as Alan's blind date. His date was lovely 16 year old Anne Whalebone and the four of them went to the pictures. Alan was a quiet country kid but Anne remembers that he bought her a block of chocolate, expecting that she'd open it and share it around. No, she didn't feel like chocolate then so she put it away. Mind you, once the boys had gone home much later, Anne and Elaine shared Alan's gift with much enjoyment. The evening had been a really good one for Alan and, from that night, the four of them, Charlie and Elaine and Alan and Anne, formed a bond that grew into a lifelong friendship. They'd often go ice skating at the Glacierium or St Moritz, and Alan soon came down to Melbourne most weekends on the train. Less often, Anne would go to Warragul and stay with the Madill family. Then, when he turned 18, Alan came down to the city and lived at Charlie's place. He had been introduced to a Mr Ridgeway through new neighbours in Warragul. Liking the idea of working with trucks, Alan joined Ridgeway Brothers, furniture removalists. For 12 months he worked as an offsider or 'jockey', then bought his own van and sub-contracted to the company for another year, working locally. Then he started travelling to the country and interstate. He really liked the longer trips and so, bought his own semi-trailer and, from then on, travelled interstate throughout Australia, including on the unsealed road to Perth. Alan's romance with Anne continued to grow until, on 31«sup»st«/sup» October, 1959, the 21 year old married his girlfriend of three years at John Knox Church in Gardenvale, after which the families celebrated at the nearby Birdwood Receptions. For their honeymoon, Alan and Anne went to Surfers Paradise, and stayed at the Chevron Hotel. Unlike today, Surfers then was largely undeveloped. On Cavill Avenue, there were only a couple of motels and the newly built Broadbeach Hotel was predicted to be a white elephant, since it was too far away. Upon their return, the newlyweds moved straight into their own home in Blamey Street, East Bentleigh, where they stayed for 12 years. During that time they were delighted with the births of their four children, Wayne, Dale, Kerri and Scott. They then built a house in Rydal Avenue, Mulgrave, and moved there when Scott was only one. While the house was being completed, the Madill family moved in with the Haynes' tribe in Glen Waverley. Charlie and Elaine had five children of their own, and so there were nine children living together, all under 10. That Christmas was a highlight and is still remembered happily by those now adult children. Mulgrave was home for the next 19 years after which Alan wanted more space. He and Anne moved to Lansell Close, Narre Warren South and that has remained their home since 1990. One of Alan's favourite places there was his prized veggie plot, in which he'd grow whatever was in season. They'd have some of the vegetables themselves, they'd give some away and the chooks enjoyed the rest. While not really a gardener, Alan did like to have hanging baskets at home, in which his favourite blooms were pansies and petunias. And he loved his corgi dog, Macca, named after his favourite Sunday morning radio show on the ABC. Workwise, Alan left Ridgeways in 1975 and started his own company, Rainbow Transport, which he ran successfully for 20 years. And he was rapt that his three sons all got their own trucks and sub-contracted with him, and that Kerri worked in the office, until she married Tim and started her own large family. When he later sold Rainbow Transport in 1995, Alan retired, but not entirely. He missed driving too much and so bought another truck and sub-contracted for Furniture Freighters Australia He said that those five years or so, before being diagnosed with prostate cancer, were the best years of his working life. He and Anne travelled a lot together during the later part of their 47 year marriage. They went to Asia in 1980 but it was after selling the business that they spread their wings. Places visited overseas included England, Sweden, America (including Alaska and Hawaii), India, Fiji and a Carribean cruise. They then bought a caravan and loved travelling through Australia Alan's other interests included golf in his earlier years, mainly at Waverley, and following St Kilda, the Saints. It should be mentioned that, through Anne, Alan did the unthinkable and changed his football allegiance. He had grown up following Melbourne but, through her family, he became a devout Saints supporter. He loved renovating tractors, knew his engines and, according to Anne, 'was always fiddling with things'. Musically, he loved country and his favourites were Slim Dusty, John Willamson and Johnny Cash. Christmas in the earlier years was spent at home for lunch and then to his parent's place in Warragul for tea. More recently, Christmases have rotated between Bairnsdale and Brisbane, where their children now live. For the last two years, Alan's health was increasingly compromised. It didn't prevent him being taken for a drive in Waye's new Mack truck last week in Brisbane. He greatly enjoyed the experience. Sadly, that was Alan's last trip and he passed away in Brisbane on Friday 8«sup»th«/sup» December, aged 68.

Inducted into the Shell Rimula Wall of Fame at ReUnion 2012. Born in 1938 Alan Madill grew up in Drouin, Victoria, on a dairy farm but always wanted to be a transport operator. In 1956, at the age of 18 he took a job at Wridgway Bros, Auburn (Victoria). Wridgways, today one of Australia’s top furniture removal companies, had its humble beginnings back in 1892 and is itself one of this country’s most iconic and longest running businesses. Working for them was a safe bet for a young man just starting out. Alan drove for the company for about five months before deciding to purchase his own Bedford van to do local work for Wridgways on a sub-contract basis. Within another twelve month Alan had upgraded to a bigger truck and was hauling interstate all over Australia. In 1963 Alan bought a Leyland semi to do interstate which he did continually right until 1975 when he decided to leave Wridgways and have a go at forming his own company. He called the business Rainbow Furniture Transport and primarily did removals from Victoria to Queensland. Alan’s three sons, Wayne, Dale and Scott, all worked with Alan in the business as they left school. It was a real family business with his sister and mother managing the office and administration. In 1995 the family decided to sell the business and retire. The call of the road was too strong and Alan found that retirement did not suit him. He went out and purchased another semi and subcontracted for Furniture Freighters (Australia). Unfortunately Alan’s health began to fail and he retired. Alan Madill passed away in 2006. He is remembered by family and friends as a very dedicated person and gave his all to the job and the trucking industry. He was well respected by those who knew of him and well deserves his place in the Shell Rimula Wall of Fame.