The following lists events that happened during 1889 in Australia.

Incumbents

Monarch A monarch is a head of stateWebster's II New College DictionarMonarch Houghton Mifflin. Boston. 2001. p. 707. Life tenure, for life or until abdication, and therefore the head of state of a monarchy. A monarch may exercise the highest authority ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

Premiers

Premier of New South Wales The premier of New South Wales is the head of government in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The Government of New South Wales follows the Westminster Parliamentary System, with a Parliament of New South Wales acting as the legislature. ...

–

Henry Parkes Sir Henry Parkes, (27 May 1815 – 27 April 1896) was a colonial Australian politician and longest non-consecutive Premier of the Colony of New South Wales, the present-day state of New South Wales in the Commonwealth of Australia. He has ...

until 16 January, then

George Dibbs Sir George Richard Dibbs KCMG (12 October 1834 – 5 August 1904) was an Australian politician who was Premier of New South Wales on three occasions. Early years Dibbs was born in Sydney, son of Captain John Dibbs, who 'disappeared' in the sa ...

17 January-7 March, then

Premier of Queensland The premier of Queensland is the head of government in the Australian state of Queensland. By convention the premier is the leader of the party with a parliamentary majority in the unicameral Legislative Assembly of Queensland. The premier is ap ...

–

Boyd Dunlop Morehead Boyd Dunlop Morehead (24 August 1843 – 30 October 1905) was a politician in Queensland, Australia. He was Premier of Queensland from November 1888 to June 1890. Early life Boyd Morehead was born in Sydney, New South Wales, the second son ...

Premier of South Australia The premier of South Australia is the head of government in the state of South Australia, Australia. The Government of South Australia follows the Westminster system, with a Parliament of South Australia acting as the legislature. The premier is ...

–

Thomas Playford II Thomas Playford (26 November 1837 – 19 April 1915) was an Australian politician who served two terms as Premier of South Australia (1887–1889; 1890–1892). He subsequently entered federal politics, serving as a Senator for South Australia ...

until 27 June, then John Cockburn *

Premier of Tasmania The premier of Tasmania is the head of the executive government in the Australian state of Tasmania. By convention, the leader of the party or political grouping which has majority support in the House of Assembly is invited by the governor of Ta ...

–

Philip Fysh Sir Philip Oakley Fysh (1 March 1835 – 20 December 1919) was an English-born Australian politician. He arrived in Tasmania in 1859 and became a leading merchant in Hobart. He served two terms as premier of Tasmania (1877–1878, 1887–1892) ...

Premier of Victoria The premier of Victoria is the head of government in the Australian state of Victoria. The premier is appointed by the governor of Victoria, and is the leader of the political party able to secure a majority in the Victorian Legislative Assembly ...

–

Duncan Gillies Duncan Gillies (14 January 1834 – 12 September 1903), was an Australian colonial politician who served as the 14th Premier of Victoria. Gillies was born at Overnewton near Glasgow, Scotland, where his father had a market garden. He was sent ...

Governors

Governor of New South Wales The governor of New South Wales is the viceregal representative of the Australian monarch, King Charles III, in the state of New South Wales. In an analogous way to the governor-general of Australia at the national level, the governors of the ...

–

Lord Carrington Peter Alexander Rupert Carington, 6th Baron Carrington, Baron Carington of Upton, (6 June 1919 – 9July 2018), was a British Conservative Party politician and hereditary peer who served as Defence Secretary from 1970 to 1974, Foreign Secret ...

Governor of Queensland The governor of Queensland is the representative in the state of Queensland of the monarch of Australia. In an analogous way to the governor-general of Australia at the national level, the governor Governors of the Australian states, performs c ...

–

Henry Wylie Norman Field Marshal Sir Henry Wylie Norman, (2 December 1826 – 26 October 1904) was a senior Indian Army officer and colonial administrator. He served in the Second Anglo-Sikh War, the campaign against the Kohat Pass Afridis, the suppression of the ...

Governor of South Australia The governor of South Australia is the representative in South Australia of the Monarch of Australia, currently King Charles III. The governor performs the same constitutional and ceremonial functions at the state level as does the governor-gene ...

– Sir William Robinson until 5 March, then 9th Earl of Kintore *

Governor of Tasmania The governor of Tasmania is the representative in the Australian state of Tasmania of the Monarch of Australia, currently King Charles III. The incumbent governor is Barbara Baker, who was appointed in June 2021. The official residence of the ...

– Sir Robert Hamilton *

Governor of Victoria The governor of Victoria is the representative of the monarch, King Charles III, in the Australian state of Victoria. The governor is one of seven viceregal representatives in the country, analogous to the governors of the other states, and the ...

– Lord Loch *

Governor of Western Australia The governor of Western Australia is the representative in Western Australia of the monarch of Australia, currently King Charles III. As with the other governors of the Australian states, the governor of Western Australia performs constitutional ...

– Sir Frederick Broome

Arts and literature

* 17 August – The ''

9 by 5 Impression Exhibition The 9 by 5 Impression Exhibition was an art exhibition in Melbourne, Australia. It opened on 17 August 1889 at Buxton's Rooms on Swanston Street and featured 183 works, the majority of which were painted by Charles Conder, Tom Roberts and Arthur ...

'', featuring works by

Tom Roberts Thomas William Roberts (8 March 185614 September 1931) was an English-born Australian artist and a key member of the Heidelberg School art movement, also known as Australian impressionism. After studying in Melbourne, he travelled to Europe i ...

Arthur Streeton Sir Arthur Ernest Streeton (8 April 1867 – 1 September 1943) was an Australian landscape painter and a leading member of the Heidelberg School, also known as Australian Impressionism. Early life Streeton was born in Mt Moriac, Victoria, sou ...

and

Charles Conder Charles Edward Conder (24 October 1868 – 9 February 1909) was an English-born painter, lithographer and designer. He emigrated to Australia and was a key figure in the Heidelberg School, arguably the beginning of a distinctively Australi ...

, was opened in Melbourne. * 21 December – The poem "

Clancy of the Overflow "Clancy of the Overflow" is a poem by Banjo Paterson, first published in '' The Bulletin'', an Australian news magazine, on 21 December 1889. The poem is typical of Paterson, offering a romantic view of rural life, and is one of his best-known w ...

", by

Banjo Paterson Andrew Barton "Banjo" Paterson, (17 February 18645 February 1941) was an Australian bush poet, journalist and author. He wrote many ballads and poems about Australian life, focusing particularly on the rural and outback areas, including the ...

, is first published in '' The Bulletin'' magazine.

Sport

* 5 October – ' defeat ' by 2 goals to win the

1889 SAFA Grand Final The 1889 SAFA Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Norwood and Port Adelaide, held at the Adelaide Oval on the 5 October 1889. The match is recognised as "the first ever grand final in Australian football". Th ...

, the first Grand Final in

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

. *November ''–'' Bravo wins the

Melbourne Cup The Melbourne Cup is a Thoroughbred horse race held in Melbourne, Australia. It is a 3200-metre race for three-year-olds and over, conducted by the Victoria Racing Club on the Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne, Victoria as part of the Melbou ...

Births

* 23 February – Lucy Godiva Woodcock, pacifist, schoolteacher, trade union official and women's activist (died 1968) * 6 March –

William D. Francis William Douglas Francis (6 March 1889 – 2 January 1959) was an Australian botany, botanist. Born in Bega, New South Wales, at the age of 17 he moved with his father Alfred, and brother Frederick, from Wollongong, New South Wales, where he ...

, botanist (died 1959) * 18 April –

Jessie Street Jessie Mary Grey, Lady Street (née Lillingston; 18 April 1889 – 2 July 1970) was an Australian diplomat, suffragette and campaigner for Indigenous Australian rights, dubbed "Red Jessie" by the media. As Australia's only female delegate to th ...

, feminist and suffragette (died 1970) * 20 April – Cuthbert Butler, politician (died 1950) * 18 September –

Doris Blackburn Doris Amelia Blackburn (; 18 September 1889 – 12 December 1970) was an Australian social reformer and politician. She served in the House of Representatives from 1946 to 1949, the second woman after Enid Lyons to do so. Blackburn was a promin ...

, politician (died 1970) * 27 October –

Fanny Durack Sarah Frances "Fanny" Durack (27 October 1889 – 20 March 1956), also known by her married name Fanny Gately, was an Australian competition swimmer. From 1910 until 1918 she was the world's greatest female swimmer across all distances from f ...

, swimmer (died 1956)

Deaths

* 9 February –

Peter Lalor Peter Fintan Lalor (; 5 February 1827 – 9 February 1889) was an Irish-Australian rebel and, later, politician who rose to fame for his leading role in the Eureka Rebellion, an event identified with the "birth of democracy" in Australia. ...

Eureka Stockade The Eureka Rebellion was a series of events involving gold miners who revolted against the British administration of the colony of Victoria, Australia during the Victorian gold rush. It culminated in the Battle of the Eureka Stockade, which ...

leader (born 1827) * 5 November – Peter Warburton, explorer (born 1813)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1889 in Australia

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

Years of the 19th century in Australia