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.

Sydney hosts APEC summit.

Kevin Rudd leads bi-partisan Parliamentary apology to the Stolen Generation.

Black Saturday: Massive bushfires swept across Victoria, resulting in 173 fatalities.

Kevin Rudd challenged and replaced as leader of the Labor Party by Julia Gillard;

State of Queensland affected by major flooding followed by Cyclone Yasi.

Born Elaine Margaret Madill, Monday, 20th March 1944, to Jim and ‘Kitty’, one of six children. I grew up during the ‘old days’ with the horse and cart and saw the days of the electricity, phone and the tractor. When I was ten years old, I helped my brothers milk the cows. One morning I woke up and they had already milked the cows; I sat up in bed and cried because they never woke me up to help. I went to Drouin East State School, then to Warragul High School. At the age of fifteen I made my Debut at the hall in Jindivick. At the age of sixteen I played basketball (netball) with Buln Buln and won Best and Fairest player for B-Grade in the Ellinbank District Basketball League. When I left school, I worked at Smiths Shoe Store, then at the weaving mill at Drouin. I used to walk from Clifford Street in Warragul to the railway station, in the middle of winter, using a torch and catching the six o’clock train to Drouin, then wait for two hours for the weaving mill to open. I really wanted to be a hairdresser but never got the opportunity, so I think that is why I liked my hair to look nice. When I was eighteen I met the love of my life, Peter Maisey at the R.S.L. Dance at Warragul. We went together for five years and married on the 16th of March, 1968. We lived in Tynong for four years, behind the Butcher’s shop. We moved to Drouin, with Darren (4yrs) and Natalie (2yrs). Then we had Rohan and Kelvin where we lived for forty-five years. During the time that the children were at school I did house-cleaning and ironing. In 1995, my sister Marlene and I went to America to visit my niece Joanne who was a Nanny over there. When I came home from the U.S.A., Peter and I drove to Perth, Western Australia where our grandson Jake was born on the 11th of November, 1995. On Christmas Day 1997 our beautiful twenty-two years old son, Kelvin we lost, in a road accident. Some things you never get over. I have only cried with joy twice in my life; when Sydney Swans, Lachlan and my team won the Grand Final in 2003. By the way, Lachlan’s birthday, 24th June, is the same day as Kelvin’s, which is lovely. The other time I cried for joy was when Bethany Elaine was born. I love the Royal Family (British), and I have my views on politics and would have my say. I never liked to be away from home when any of our children or grandchildren had birthdays. On Sundays I would watch the ‘Insiders’ on Channel Two, then Andrew Bolt on Channel Ten. After that we would go out for the day. I love photography, mainly of my family and friends. I had photo albums of my children and now photo albums of my grandchildren. I always have my camera in my handbag. We have nine beautiful grandchildren, Maddison, Jake, Thomas, Matthew, Justin, Lachlan, Seth, Daniel and Bethany. In 2006 I was diagnosed with breast cancer, I had a mastectomy. Peter and I went on The Ghan to Darwin, then in 2011 we went to New Zealand, which is a very clean country, no graffiti. I went on a cruise with some of the Brandy Creek Town Club girls, we had a great time. Then in 2014, Peter and I went to England, Ireland and Scotland, back to where our ancestors came from. We had many trips in our caravan, which we enjoyed. I joined the Brandy Creek Town Club, a club where you lose weight naturally. In the first year I reached my ‘goal’ weight (Doctor’s aim), I lost fourteen kilograms in twelve months, and in that year I became ‘Princess’ of the Club. Pam Pinkerton, Joan Forbes and I met at Warragul High School and then years later, we met at Town Club together. Then, in 2015 I was diagnosed that the cancer had come back, nine years later.