Sudden hailstorms lash the Sydney area causing widespread damage to houses and properties, as well as traffic chaos and nearly $150,000 worth of damage to fruit and vegetable crops at Cobbity.
New South Wales Transport Minister announces that intensified police weekend patrols might become a regular part of the campaign to cut the road toll after 8,148 New South Wales motorists were arrested or charged over the New Year holiday weekend.
Federal Opposition Leader Gough Whitlam says in Port Moresby that Papuan leaders seem to accept completely the Australian Labor Party's timetable for independence of Papua New Guinea. The timetable provides for self-government as soon as a Labor government comes to power in Australia, and independence in 1976.
Immigration Minister Phillip Lynch gives a ruling that three Asian doctors at St Vincent's Hospital Sydney, who entered Australia under the private overseas student program, will be sent home, but may apply to return to Australia as migrants conditionally.
March
10 March - William McMahon replaces John Gorton as Prime Minister of Australia after a party room ballot on a motion of confidence in John Gorton as Prime Minister. The ballot was divided 33:33 until Mr. Gorton, as chairman, gave his casting vote against the motion, effectively voting himself out of office. He stood for and won the position of Deputy Party Leader, after William McMahon beat Billy Snedden for the leadership. Later, John Gorton publishes an article critical of Cabinet leaks.
President Richard Nixon gives Prime Minister William McMahon an unqualified endorsement of the Anzus alliance, saying that the United States would honour its commitments under the alliance, which he described as one of America's fundamental pillars in the Pacific.
Sonia McMahon, wife of Prime Minister William McMahon, captures international attention when she wears a daring full-length dress, with a long slit down the sides revealing her legs, to a White House reception. The dress was designed by South Yarra fashion designer Victoria Ciscijo of Valencia House. Sonia McMahon would be most remembered in years to come for this dress.[1]
4 January – American children's educational TV series Sesame Street premieres on ABC.
28 July – Pick-A-Box, hosted by Bob and Dolly Dyer, airs for the final time. It had first been broadcast as a radio program in 1948.
Sport
18 September – South Sydney defeated St. George 16–10 in the NSWRL Grand Final at the Sydney Cricket Ground; thus winning four premierships in five years and their 20th overall. It would become their final premiership win until 2014.
25 September – Hawthorn defeated St. Kilda 12.10 (82) to 11.9 (75) in the VFL Grand Final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground; thus winning their second senior premiership.
25 September – Derek Clayton wins his third men's national marathon title, clocking 2:11:08.8 in Hobart.
^"Sonia stuns White House". Sydney Morning Herald. 4 November 1971.
^Architect Victoria RAIA VIC awards 2007, 54
^Ritchie, Dean (6 April 2011). "Not being from Queensland no bar to Cane Toad State of Origin selection". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 7 July 2016. Retrieved 6 April 2011.
^"Mary GRIGSON - Olympic Cycling Mountain Bike | Australia". International Olympic Committee. 17 June 2016. Archived from the original on 30 September 2020. Retrieved 21 June 2019.
^Chase's Calendar of Events (15 September 2011). Chases Calendar of Events, 2012 Edition. McGraw Hill Professional. p. 344. ISBN 978-0-07-176672-2.
