Incumbents

• Monarch Queen Victoria (until 22 January), then Edward VII
• Governor General John Hope, 7th Earl of Hopetoun
• Prime Minister Edmund Barton

Premiers

• Premier of New South Wales William Lyne (until 28 March), then John See
• Premier of South Australia Frederick Holder (until 15 May), then John Jenkins
• Premier of Queensland Robert Philp
• Premier of Tasmania Elliott Lewis
• Premier of Western Australia Sir John Forrest (until 15 February), George Throssell (until 27 May), George Leake (until 21 November), Alf Morgans (until 23 December), then George Leake
• Premier of Victoria Sir George Turner (until 12 February), then Alexander Peacock

Governors

• Governor of New South Wales William Lygon, 7th Earl Beauchamp (until 30 April)
• Governor of Victoria George Clarke (from 10 December)
• Governor of Queensland Charles Cochrane-Baillie, 2nd Baron Lamington (until 19 December)
• Governor of South Australia Hallam Tennyson, 2nd Baron Tennyson
• Governor of Western Australia Arthur Lawley
• Governor of Tasmania Arthur Havelock (from 8 November)

Events

• 1 January The Constitution of Australia comes into force, as the federation of Australia is complete. John Adrian Louis Hope, 7th Earl of Hopetoun, is appointed as the first Governor-General, and Edmund Barton as the first Prime Minister.
• 1 March Following federation naval and military forces of the States are transferred to Commonwealth control.
• 29 March The first federal election is held to elect the first members of the House of Representatives and the first members of the Senate.
• 31 March A national census is held, which indicates the population of Australia is 3,773,801 (excluding Indigenous Australians).
• 9 May The Parliament of Australia is opened in the Royal Exhibition Building, Melbourne.
• 22 May The foundation stone for St John's Cathedral, Brisbane is laid by The Duke of Cornwall and York (later George V). the church celebrated 100 years of construction in 2006 and is only gothic-style stone building under construction anywhere in the world.
• 3 September The Flag of Australia and Australian Red Ensign are adopted by the Government of Australia as official flags, following a national design competition.
• 21 December Construction begins on the rabbit-proof fence.
• 23 December The Immigration Restriction Act 1901 comes into force, instituting the White Australia Policy.

Sport

• 3 January Victoria wins the Sheffield Shield.^[1]
• 28 September Essendon beats Collingwood 6.7 (43) to 2.4 (16) in the 1901 VFL grand final.
• 5 November Revenue wins the Melbourne Cup.^[2]

Births

• 27 March Kenneth Slessor, poet (died 1971)
• 1 June Tom Gorman, rugby league footballer (died 1978)
• 16 September Peter "Mick" Madsen, rugby league footballer (died 1979)
• 25 September Gordon Coventry, Australian rules footballer for Collingwood (died 1968)

Deaths

• 10 January Sir James Dickson (born 1832), Premier of Queensland and Federal Minister for Defence
• 22 January Queen Victoria, first monarch of the Commonwealth of Australia (died in England)
• 20 June Alexander Forrest (born 1849), explorer, surveyor and politician
• 8 August William Henry Groom (born 1833), publican, newspaper proprietor and member of parliament
• 30 November Edward John Eyre (born 1815), explorer

See also

• 1900 in Australia
• other events of 1901
• 1902 in Australia
• Timeline of Australian history

References