See also: 1931 in Australia, other events of 1932, 1933 in Australia and the Timeline of Australian history.

Incumbents

• Monarch King George V
• Governor-General Sir Isaac Isaacs
• Prime Minister James Scullin (until 6 January), then Joseph Lyons

State Premiers

• Premier of New South Wales Jack Lang (until 13 May) then Bertram Stevens
• Premier of Queensland Arthur Edward Moore (until 17 June) then William Forgan Smith
• Premier of South Australia Lionel Hill
• Premier of Tasmania John McPhee
• Premier of Victoria Edmond Hogan (until 19 May) then Sir Stanley Argyle
• Premier of Western Australia James Mitchell

State Governors

• Governor of New South Wales Sir Philip Game
• Governor of Queensland Sir John Goodwin (until 7 April), then Sir Leslie Orme Wilson (from 13 June)
• Governor of South Australia Sir Alexander Hore-Ruthven
• Governor of Tasmania none appointed
• Governor of Victoria none appointed
• Governor of Western Australia none appointed

Events

• 19 March Sydney Harbour Bridge is opened
• 30 March The Grey Street Bridge, later renamed the William Jolly Bridge, is opened in Brisbane
• 5 April Racehorse Phar Lap dies at ranch in San Francisco, CA
• 13 May Premier of New South Wales, Jack Lang, is dismissed by the Governor, Sir Philip Game
• 1 July The Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC) is established
• 23 November The statue of The Dog on the Tuckerbox is unveiled at Gundagai, New South Wales by Prime Minister Joseph Lyons

Science and technology

Arts and literature

• Ernest Buckmaster wins the Archibald Prize with his portrait of Sir William Irvine

Film

Sport

• Peter Pan wins the Melbourne Cup
• New South Wales wins the Sheffield Shield
• Australia defeats South Africa 5-0 in the cricket test series, played in Australia
• Bodyline is first introduced into cricket
• The Australian Olympic team wins 3 gold, 1 silver and 1 bronze medal at the 1932 Summer Olympics held in Los Angeles
• 20 March Racehorse Phar Lap, in Tijuana, Mexico, wins the Agua Caliente Handicap; across Australia, thousands celebrate after the radio broadcast of the race.
• 5 April Racehorse Phar Lap dies midday at ranch in San Francisco, CA, two weeks after winning at Agua Caliente racetrack (2 autopsies find nothing; however, trees had been sprayed with a lead-arsenate insecticide); it is 6 April at 10:30 am in Australia when news spreads.

Births

• 4 September John Herron, politician
• 11 October Barry Jones, politician
• 26 November North Shore Granny Killer, John Wayne Glover

Deaths

• 1 March George Chaffey (born 1848), irrigation pioneer
• 27 April Sir Adrian Knox (born 1863), Chief Justice of the High Court
• 17 June John Quick (born 1852), politician and author
• 23 June Francis Kenna (born 1865), poet and politician
• 10 October Bertram Mackennal (born 1863), sculptor

References