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 1975
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4th
You're My World
Daryl Braithwaite
11th
You're My World
Daryl Braithwaite
18th
You're My World
Daryl Braithwaite
25th
You're My World
Daryl Braithwaite
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North Vietnamese forces
begin a major campaign
to take control of South Vietnam in the wake of the withdrawal of American
personnel following the singing of the Paris Peace Accord. The Vietcong conquer
Phuoc Long province on the border with Cambodia. North Vietnamese
regular units, supplemented by local guerrillas, rout the South Vietnamese
army in a mere three weeks. More than 3,000 South Vietnamese troops are killed
or captured, and millions of dollars' worth of supplies are seized. Although
Phuoc Long is not particularly important in either military or economic terms,
it is the first province the North Vietnamese have taken since 1972 and it is only
80 miles from Saigon. This crucial event is scarcely mentioned in the
American news media. Although Washington has pledged to "respond with
decisive military force" to any North Vietnamese violation of the 1973 accords,
in the event it does nothing.
A huge month for
Skyhooks. Their "Polaroid In Concert" TV special screens nationally.
on TV screens across the nation, and hundreds wait ticketless in the
foyer of the Dallas Brooks Hall when Skyhooks headline there. The
Living In The 70's LP reaches #1 on the 3XY charts, Sydney's 2JJ
opens transmission with the banned album track You Just Like Me 'Cos
I'm Good In Bed, and the band in a free concert under the Harbour
Bridge. At the end of the month Skyhooks prove to be "the explosion
point" of Sunbury '75, winning rave reviews from Rolling Stone
and The Age. Beating off strong competition, Michael Gudinski
takes over as their manager.
Ariel return from the UK and add singer/guitarist
Glyn Mason (ex-Chain) as fifth member.
Drummer Phil Rudd (ex-Buster
Brown) joins AC/DC
Australian content regulations
for radio are increased to 15%
Police again clash with Aborigines
at Laverton and Skull Creek in W.A. A subsequent Royal Commission
finds that the arrest made were unjustified and that parts of
the police report of the events had been fabricated.
Major overseas releases:
Bob Dylan - Blood
On The Tracks
Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel - Make Me Smile
John Lennon - No. 9 Dream
Bob Marley & the Wailers - Natty Dread
1 The
University of Wollongong is founded
- Stevie Nicks and Lindsay Buckingham join Fleetwood Mac.
2
A U.S. District Court rules that John Lennon should have access to Department of
Immigration files pertaining to his deportation case. Lennon wants to know whether
the case against him stems from his 1968 British drug conviction or
from his anti-establishment comments and actions during the period of Richard Nixon's
presidency.
3 Sir
Robert Askin retires as NSW Premier
5 A benefit
concert at the Sydney Opera House raises $75,000 for victims
of the Cyclone Tracy disaster.
- The Australian National Line bulk carrier
Lake Illawarra drifts off course while travelling down
the Derwent River beneath the Tasman Bridge in Hobart. The ship
rams a pylon, causing an entire span of the bridge to collapse
into the river, sinking the ship. Seven of the Lake Illawarra crew are
killed, along with five motorists who drown in cars
which plunged off the bridge.
6 The musical The Wiz opens on Broadway.
- Boston's Mayor Kevin White cancels a Led Zeppelin concert
after one thousand fans riot at the venue, breaking seats and doors, and causing an esimated $30,000
damage.
8
Three Led Zeppelin concerts at New York's Madison Square Garden - 60,000 tickets
in all - sell out in a record four hours.
14 Little Feat, The Doobie Brothers and Graham Central Station start a European tour. Little Feat (led by former Mothers of Invention guitarist Lowell George) establishes a strong cult following during the month-long tour.
14 Gough
Whitlam arrives in Moscow for talks with the Soviet government.
19 The ABC's new rock music station 2JJ (Double Jay)
begins broadcasting in Sydney. It is the first non-commercial
24--hour rock music station in Australia, and the first new radio
licence issued for a capital city station for 35 years. The station
creates a furore with its opening track - Skyhooks' You Just
Like Me Cos I'm Good In Bed - one of six cuts from Skyhooks'
debut album which have been banned by commercial radio. Double
Jay also thumbs its nose at the commercials by choosing Holger
Brockmann as its first DJ on air. Brockmann is an ex-commercial
radio DJ who had been forced to use the name "Bill Drake"
at while working at 2SM.
25-27
The fourth - and last - Sunbury Festival is held over the Australia
Day weekend. In almost all respects, it's a disaster - the event
is rained out, only 16,000 people attend and organisers Odessa
Promotions cop a massive loss, forcing them into liquidation
immediately after the event. Jim Keays' special performance of
his concept album The Boy From the Stars is one
of the few successes of the weekend, and his supergroup backing
band is the only local act who gets paid (having wisely pre-arranged
an outside sponsor). Almost all the other local acts go unpaid
while headliner Deep Purple's exclusive performance nets
them a whopping $60,000 (at least 100 times the average fee for
Australian bands at that time). Proceedings are also marred on
the last day by the heavy-handed behaviour of Deep Purple's entourage,
who provoke a fist-fight with ex-Easybeat George Young,
AC/DC and the AC/DC roadies, after refusing to let AC/DC
play after their set. AC/DC eventually leave without playing.
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 1975
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1st
My Little Angel
William Shakespeare
8th
My Little Angel
William Shakespeare
15th
My Little Angel
William Shakespeare
22nd
Please Mr Postman
The Carpenters
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Skyhooks are
nominated in 7 of 12 categories in the first Moomba National. Music
Awards, eventually taking out the major prizes Record of the Year (for
the album Living in the 70's) and Producer of the Year
(Ross Wilson). They play a live televised Moomba concert on the banks of
the Yarra, and are subsequently mobbed, causing a traffic jam two lanes
wide and the band make their escape in a police divvie van.
Australia's first legal nude
bathing beach is declared in SA
Major overseas releases:
David Bowie - Young
Americans
Elton John - Philadelphia Freedom
John Lennon - Rock 'N' Roll
Led Zeppelin - Physical Graffiti
The Temptations - Shakey Ground
Yes - Yesterdays
9 Attorney
General Lionel Murphy resigns to become a judge of the
High Court of Australia
20 In
Parliament, Deputy PM Jim Cairns is forced to defend his
appointment of Juni Morosi after claims by Liberal backbencher
Billy Wentworth that she was unfit for her position and a newspaper
report suggesting a romantic link between Morosi and Cairns.
28 The
ABC officially launches colour TV broadcasting in Australia
with a five-minute special, Aunty Jack Introduces Colour,
which runs from 11:58pm to 12.03am on 1 March.
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Love
Song (Oh Jene) / Baby Please Don't Go
AC/DC |
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 1975
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1st
Please Mr Postman
The Carpenters
8th
Please Mr Postman
The Carpenters
15th
Please Mr Postman
The Carpenters
22nd
Please Mr Postman
The Carpenters
29th
Horror Movie
Skyhooks
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A big month for hard rock
outfit AC/DC, scoring their first Australian hit when
their version of Baby Please Don't Go reaches #10, and
making their legendary first appearance on Countdown, with
lead singer Bon Scott dressed as a schoolgirl. They release their
debut LP High Voltage, produced by Vanda &
Young, which charts for 25 weeks and becomes the second
biggest-selling Australian album of the year. Bassist Mark Evans
also joins this month, completing the 'classic' 75-77 lineup
of the group.
Syhooks perform
on the ill-fated Graham Kennedy Show, and on Countdown's on the
first day of colour transmission. The band kicks off an all-conquering
national tour with the Australian Music to the World concert at
Adelaide's Memorial Drive, whish is sold out ten days prior; 10,000
attend and hysteria ensues, although the Vice Squad confiscate the
band's phallus prop. The tour smashes attendance records and huge crowds
have to be turned away at most venues.
Olivia Newton-John scores another US #1 single with
Have You Ever Been Mellow?
Major overseas releases:
Jeff Beck - Blow
By Blow
David Bowie - Young Americans
Joe Cocker - You Are So Beautiful
Jimi Hendrix - Crash Landing
Elton John - Philadelphia Freedom
The Kinks - Soap Opera
Led Zeppelin - Physical Graffiti
Lou Reed - Lou Reed Live
1 Colour television broadcasting is officially
introduced in Australia. The ABC officially
launches colour TV broadcasting with a five-minute special, Aunty
Jack Introduces Colour, which runs from 11:58am to 12.03
on 1 March. One of the
first commercial shows to be broadcast in full colour is the
Seven Network's Sounds, the national two-hour music show
hosted by former DJ and sometime pop singer Donnie Sutherland.
5
TV host Graham Kennedy performs
his controversial "crow call" during a live advertising segment on his
night-time variety show. The incident results in a flood of complaints and
outraged newspaper headlines. After the comlpaints are investigated by the
Broadcasting Control Board, Kennedy is banned from appearaing live on TV
for an indefinite period. He quits the Nine Network soon after over the
network's censorship of criticisms he made of Media Minister Doug
McClelland's lack of support for stronger Australian content regulations.
8 The first edition of ABC Radio's The Coming
Out Ready Or Not Show. Later shortened to The
Coming Out Show, it is the first radio program to concentrate
exclusively on women's issues and feminist politics.
10-12 North Vietnamese forces commanded by General
Van Tien Dung take the city of Ban Me Thuot the capital
of Darlac province, in the Central Highlands. It is the key strategic link
in the South Vietnamese army's defences and its capture enables the
pro-Communist forces to effectively cut South Vietnam in half.
Dung's force disguises its real assault by first mounting pinprick attacks
in the two northernmost provinces of South Vietnam. Although minor,
these attacks trigger the exodus of more than 50,000 refugees, which
has an immense effect on battles to come. The Vietcong then
isolate the city by blocking the main highways, then three army divisions
equipped with tanks begin a direct assault on the city, which is defended by two reinforced
regiments of the 23rd Division. Despite a barrage of 122mm artillery fire,
the South Vietnamese army, commanded by Maj. Gen. Pham Van Phu, fights well.
However, they are finally worn down and by 12 March the Vietcong have taken
control of the city. Ban Me Thuot was also the first occurrence of a phenomenon
that would increasingly undermine the South's morale. Many of its army
officers, including Phu himself, use helicopters to pick up their families
and flee south. Thousands of South Vietnamese peasants crowd the main roads
and pathways in a mass exodus for the coast, where they jam the seaports seeking
transport to the south.
The refugee stream includes not only civilians who had helped the South's army
or the Americans, but also those who had no reason to expect bad treatment from
North Vietnam's army but who were simply fleeing in the general panic. The refugee
crowd also includes many South Vietnamese soldiers who left the line of battle
to find their families and escort them to safety, and their desertion has a disastrous
effect upon South Vietnamese resistance, accelerating the dissolution
of the South's capability to resist.
13 Split Enz arrive in Sydney from New Zealand.
14 Panicked by news of the fall of Ban Me Thuot,
President Nguyen Van Thieu secretly orders the withdrawal of South
Vietnamese
forces from the Central Highlands. Thieu's decision proves to be a monumental
strategic error, and precipitates the complete collapse of South Vietnamese resistance
to the renewed Vietcong assault. Because no plans for the withdrawal had been drawn
up, the retreating
troops are caught up in the mass of refugees already fleeing from the
region. Their agonizing journey south comes to be known as "The Convoy of
Tears". The refugees take any and every sort of vehicle available -- buses, tanks,
trucks, armored personnel carriers, private cars, anything with wheels.
Crawling nose to tail along Route 7B, the convoy vehicles are jammed with
soldiers and overloaded with family members from babes in arms to aged
grandparents, packed on top or clinging to the sides. Many of those who
fall off are crushed by the vehicles behind. Thousands more flee on foot,
carrying their few belongings with them. The convoy travels for fifteen
blistering hot days and cold nights with no food or water, and the route
is soon littered with those too ill or weak to carry on -- children, the elderly,
the sick and infirm. To make matters worse, North Vietnamese troops of the
320th Division pounce on the
refugee column and keep them under constant
attack, killing thousands of people. Artillery units pick off vehicle after
vehicle at near point-blank range, throwing body parts into trees and drenching the
ground with blood. As many as 40,000 people die on the road, and the
situation worsens even further when renegade South Vietnamese army troops
also begin firing on the refugee columns. When the exhausted survivors
finally make it to a seaport, they are callously exploited by their
countrymen, who charge exorbitant prices for food and as much as $2 a
glass for water. At this point discipline breaks down completely and
the South Vietnamese troops denegerate into an armed mob, preying on civilians
and looting whatever can be found.
18 Vietcong forces capture the northern cities of Kontum and Pleiku,
putting their planned invasion of the South weeks ahead of schedule. South
Vietnamese President Thieu's disastrous order to withdraw from the Central
Highlands costs the South six provinces and two army divisions, along with more
than US$1 billion in materiel. Clinging to an almost childlike belief that the
Americans will intervene and repel the invasion, Thieu hastily improvises an
"enclave" plan, concentrating his forces on holding coastal cities including
Da Nang and Saigon and the Mekong Delta region.
21 Malcolm Fraser replaces Billy Snedden as federal
Liberal leader
- "Wollongong The
Brave", a new 4-part comedy series from the Aunty
Jack team, premieres on ABC
24 Following multiple attacks on Quang Tri province
and mass desertions by South Vietnamese troops, the northern city of Hue
falls to the Vietcong. As Hue is shelled, other Vietcong forces surround
Da Nang, to which over 1 million refugees have fled. Thousands attempt to
escape by sea in anything that will float, and many drown. Over the
next few days there is a chaotic civilian airlift evacuation.
Edward J. Daly, president of World Airways, defies US
Ambassador Graham A. Martin and sends two Boeing 727s to Da Nang, flying on
the first one himself. On landing, his plane is mobbed by thousands of
people, but only 270 manage to get on board, of whom all but a handful
are armed soldiers rather than the civilians that Daly had intended to evacuate.
The 727 takes off amid gunfire and a grenade explosion that damages the flaps. It
hits a fence and a vehicle before staggering into the air. Desperate to leave, some
try to climb into the wheel well, and one man is killed as the gear comes
up and jams, crushing him to death. Somehow the 727 limps back to Saigon, managing
to land safely despite the jammed landing gear and flaps. Ironically the death of
the man in the landing gear saves four others who had also climbed into the wheel
well, as his crushed body prevented the gear from fully retracting and killing them
all. Later, when the details of the hair-raising takeoff are analysed by Boeing, they
conclude that the 727 should not have been able to fly. The catastrophic
evacuation by sea at Hue is repeated on an even greater scale at Da Nang, where people are
trampled to death by crowds fighting to board the larger ships. More than 2 million
people crowd into Da Nang, but only
50,000 manage to escape by sea. In what has become a familiar pattern, discipline breaks
down as Communist artillery fire rake the city and widespread looting begins.
Organized resistance crumbles, and fleeing civilians are caught in a murderous
crossfire between North and South Vietnamese troops.
29 Vietcong forces conquer the city of Da Nang, former location of
the main American airbase. They also capture billions
of dollars' worth of materiel stacked over thousands of acres around
the airfields.
31 Vietcong forces capture the city of Qui Nhon.
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Keep On Dancing (With Me) / I'll Be Gone
Ariel
High Voltage
(LP)
AC/DC
Legend
The La De Das
No Bother To Me / Malmsbury Villa
Split Enz (NZ only)
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 1975
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5th
Horror Movie
Skyhooks
12th
The Newcastle Song
Bob Hudson
19th
The Newcastle Song
Bob Hudson
26th The
Newcastle Song
Bob Hudson
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Surprised by the rapid
collapse of resistance, North Vietnamese General Van Tien Dung gives his forces a new goal -- completing the "liberation" of South Vietnam in time
to celebrate the birthday of their late leader, Ho Chi Minh, on 10 May. Dubbing the new action "The Ho Chi Minh Campaign", Gen. Dung gives his troops a new slogan: "Lightning speed, daring, and more daring." Dung's forces soon cut all roads around Saigon and begin shelling Bien Hoa airbase. With the fall of the South now obviously imminent, the US begins a massive evacuation operation,
using civilian and military airlift and virtually any water craft that will float. 57,700 people are flown out by fixed wing aircraft, and 73,000 more leave by sea. About 5,000 Americans are evacuated plus many foreigners. They also airlift out South Vietnamese citizens whose service to their government or to
the United States would have made them candidates for reprisals from the Communists. One especially valiant effort is that of Francis Terry McNamara,
the US Consul-General in Can Tho. At great personal risk, McNamara
commandeers landing craft to ferry hundreds of Vietnamese down the
Bassac River to safety during a
fierce storm, undaunted by approaching North Vietnamese forces.
Skyhooks play
major concerts in Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth. Their Anzac Day in
Melbourne, Festival Hall is sold out, packed with "a seething mass of
Skyhooks fans ... scenes of hysteria and adulation that have not been
seen here since the days of Beatlemania" (Listener In TV). "It
was Skyhooksmania ... the crowd went mad. About 50 fans were carried
semi-conscious onto the stage after being crushed in the crowd" (The
Sun). The single Ego Is Not A Dirty Word is released and
bounds up the national charts to overtake Horror Movie, their
pervious #1 which is still top ten in most states.
Ariel make a second trip to the UK
Split Enz move to Australia
Major overseas releases:
ABBA - I Do, I Do,
I Do, I Do, I Do
Eric Clapton - There's One In Every Crowd
Kraftwerk - Autobahn
Led Zeppelin - Trampled Under Foot
John Lennon - Stand By Me
3 Vietcong forces
capture the city of Nha Trang after a battle lasting just three hours.
Cam Ranh Bay falls the same day after only 30 minutes' fighting.
4
The US begins "Operation Babylift", conducted between April 4 and 14, in which
some 2,600 Vietnamese children are flown to the United States to be adopted.
However Babylift is marred by a tragic accident on the first flight of the operation,
when a C-5A transport suffers an explosive decompression at 23,000 feet,
blowing out a huge section of the aft cargo door and cutting the control
cables to the elevators and rudder. The pilot, Capt. Dennis Traynor does a
masterful job of keeping the plane in the air, using power for pitch and
ailerons for directional
control. He manages to bring the aircraft back to within five miles of Tan Son Nhut,
where he makes a semicontrolled crash. Of the 382 people aboard, 206 are killed,
most of them children. All subsequent flights are completed safely.
5 A chartered
jet carrying 212 Vietnamese war orphans arrives in Sydney.
9 North and South
Vietnamese forces commence the last major battle of the Vietnam War, at Xuan Loc,
on National Route 1, only 37 miles from Saigon. Southern forces fight valiantly in
the bitter 15-day battle, particularly the 18th Division, which previously had
a bad reputation, but which in this case fought on against the crack North Vietnamese
4th Corps, despite suffering 30 percent casualties and receiving no reinforcements.
12
The United States evacuates 276 Americans from Phnom Penh, Cambodia,
in Operation Eagle Pull. The withdrawal sends Hanoi yet another signal that US
intervention is not to be feared but South Vietnamese President Thieu
clung to the hope of US intervention for another nine days.
17
The Cambodian capital Phnom Penh falls to the Khmer Rouge
21 President Nguyen Van Thieu
of South Vietnam resigns, turning the government over to the aging and feeble
Tran Van Huong. Thieu sends his personal belongings and money out of the country,
then follows his valuables into exile in Taiwan and then Britain. Huong soon transfers
power to Gen. Duong Van Minh (aka "Big Minh"), the man who had planned the Novemeber
1963 assassinations of then president Ngo Dinh Diem and
Diem's brother, Ngo Dinh Nhu.
23 Victoria
abolishes capital punishment
- the south Vietnamese city of Xuan Loc
falls to the Vietcong. The same day, in an address at Tulane University,
US President Gerald Ford states that the war in Vietnam "is finished as
far as America is concerned". He receives a standing ovation.
- William Hartnell, star of the famous BBC-TV science fiction series Dr Who, dies from cardiovascular disease in Marden, Kent, aged 67. Hartnell had a long stage, film and TV career, appeared in many Brtitish films including Brighton Rock (1947) and This Sporting Life (1963) and was often cast as a policeman or a soldier. In 1963 he created the title role in Dr Who and remained with the series until 1966, when he was forced to retire due to ill health and was replaced by Patrick Troughton. His final screen appearance was in 1973 when he briefly reprised the role of the first Doctor in the four-part serial "The Three Doctors", a story specially commissioned to celebrate the program's tenth anniversary which featured all three actors who had portrayed the Doctor to date -- Hartnell, Troughton and John Pertwee.
25
Australia closes its embassy in Saigon, completing its withdrawal from Vietnam.
29
As North Vietnamese forces encircle and
bombard the city, US Ambassador Graham A. Martin
reluctantly gives the order for "Operation Frequent Wind", the helicopter
evacuation of Saigon. Staff are airlifted from the Defense Attaché's Office at Tan Son
Nhut and from the US embassy compound and in all some 6,236 passengers are removed to
safety, despite severe harassing fire, although some believe that the DAO
area and the evacuation process itself are deliberately spared by the North
Vietnamese. At the embassy, large helicopters use the walled-in courtyard as a
landing pad while smaller helicopters lift people from the roof. Despite the lack of
time and inadequate landing facilities, crews perform with remarkable
precision. On 29 and 30 April there are 662 US military airlift flights
between Saigon and ships 80 miles offshore. Air Force and Marine Corps
helicopters fly a total of 638 sorties, with a further 325 support aircraft
sorties by Marine, Navy, and USAF aircraft. Air America, the CIA proprietary
airline, also joins in, having already flown 1,000 sorties in the previous month.
As the Americans and their allies flee, reporters capture unforgettable images of
crowds streaming up the steps of the
rooftop helipad, desperately trying to board overcrowded US helicopters,
while hundreds more try to force their way onto the US Embassy grounds,
with some even passing their babies over the barbed wire "to waiting hands and
an unknown future".
30
In the early hours of the morning, as Vietcong forces move into the South Vietnamese
capital, the last US personnel are alirifted from the city.
At 4:58 a.m., Saigon time, a US helicopter with the call sign "Lady Ace 09",
flown by Capt. Jerry Berry, takes the US Ambassador Graham Martin from the
embassy roof to the waiting US fleet.
At 7:53am the last US helicopter takes off from the embassy roof, carrying
the Marines who had been guarding the American Embassy compound. They
leave behind some 200-450 Vietnamese personnel who had been promised
evacuation. Meanwhile, every available South Vietnamese helicopter is crammed
with people and these are flown en masse to the waiting ships of the US 7th Fleet.
As the helicopters land (sometimes on top of each other) the occupants are
disarmed and led away, then the helicopters are then dumped over the side to
make room for the next. At least 45 are disposed of in this manner.
Fixed wing South Vietnamese aircraft flee across the Thai border,
landing willy-nilly at various airfields in Thailand. Meanwhile, in
Washington, the State and Defence Departments hastily assemble
task forces to set up refugee processing centers
at Ft. Chaffee, Arkansas, Ft. Indiantown Gap, Pennsylvania, and Eglin AFB, Florida.
In the weeks following the fall of Saigon, 675,000 refugees are brought to the
United States. Around midday, a North Vietnamese tank symbolically smashes down
the gates of the Presidential Palace and the Vietcong flag is raised over the Presidential
Palace, marking the fall of the city.
South Vietnamese President Minh tries to surrender but is told that he
longer controls anything that can be surrendered. At 3:30pm, Minh
is allowed to broadcast a two-sentence speech announcing the surrender
of Saigon and marking the end of the bloody, decades-long war.
- A Marine Court of Inquiry board finds that the captain of the
Lake Illawarra was solely responsible for the Tasman Bridge disaster
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Aunty Jack Sings Wollongong
(LP)
Aunty Jack & The Gong
She Do It To Me / Terry's
Tune
Greg Quill |
 1975
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3rd
The Newcastle Song
Bob Hudson
10th
Summer Love
Sherbet
17th
Summer Love
Sherbet
24th January
Pilot
31st
January
Pilot
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Dragon arrive in Australia from New Zealand
The La De Das announce their break up after ten
years as one of Australasia's top rock bands
Split Enz record their debut LP Mental
Notes in Sydney
A major political scandal
erupts over the so-called "Iraqi Loans Affair"
when it's revealed that Federal Minerals & Energy Minister
Rex Connor had used a Pakistani financier, Tirath Khemlani, to
broker a secret $2000 million loan from sources in the Middle
East, against Treasury and Reserve Bank advice.
Arista Records boss Clive
Davis signs Max Merritt & The Meteors to Arista's
new UK division after seeing them live in London.
Major overseas releases:
The Bee Gees - Jive
Talkin'
David Bowie - Fame
Elton John - Someone Saved My Life Tonight, Captain
Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy
King Crimson - USA
Wings - Listen To What The Man Said, Venus And Mars
The Rolling Stones - I Don't Know Why
1
The Sydney Daily Telegraph publishes its famous editorial on the
fall on Saigon and the end of the Vietnam War:
"END OF A TRAGEDY
A long and dreadful chapter of Asian history has ended ... another, unknown
chapter is about to begin.
And suddenly there is nothing left to say.
The tears have been shed. A million words have described the agony and the
horror and the bloodshed. Its over. Thank God.
Now we can only pray that the people of Vietnam will be shown the mercy they
have for so long been denied."
5 "Newsvoice"
replaces the "Young World" on ABC Radio, ending the
43-year run of the Children's Session
19 Federal
Parliament votes in favour of groundbreaking reforms to family law,
approving a "no fault" system which makes 12 months'
separation the sole grounds for divorce.
26 The
bushranger drama Cash & Co. premieres
on the Seven Network
29 The
Family Law Court is established.
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 1975
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7th
January
Pilot
14th
January
Pilot
21st
January
Pilot
28th
January
Pilot
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Ariel return to Australia from the UK; original drummer
Nigel Macara replaces John Lee who has stayed in the UK to join
Dirty Tricks.
AC/DC's debut LP High
Voltage is certified gold.
Ian Meldrum makes his first
appearances on COUNTDOWN, presenting the "Humdrum"
segment.
Major overseas releases:
The Beach Boys - Sail
On Sailor
Bob Dylan/The Band - The Basement Tapes
Neil Young - Tonight's The Night
The Rolling Stones - Metamorphosis
2 Lance Barnard resigns as Deputy PM to become Ambassador to Sweden;
Treasurer Dr Jim Cairns takes his place.
5 PM Gough
Whitlam reshuffles his cabinet, appointing former Qld policeman
Bill Hayden as the new Treasurer
15 Tim
Burstall's film End Play is released
16 Multicultural
radio begins broadcasting in Australia from 2EA in Sydney.
19 Manning
Clark and Dame Joan Sutherland are amomg the first recipients
of the newly established Order of Australia announced
in the Queen's Birthday honours
23 Melbourne
multicultural radio station 3EA commences broadcasting
28
David Bowie's single Fame (which features John Lennon on backing vocals
and guitar) enters the US charts, where it subsequently goes to #1.
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High Voltage / Soul Stripper
AC/DC
Mental Notes
Split Enz
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 1975
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5th January
Pilot
12th January
Pilot
19th
Before The Next Teardrop Falls
Freddie Fender
26th Bye
Bye Baby
The Bay City Rollers |
AC/DC cut their second album,
TNT, at Albert's Studios in Sydney
Major overseas releases:
Lou Reed - Metal
Machine Music
1 The
federal governement initiates major changes to Commonwealth services.
Medibank, a new national health insurance system is established,
providing low-cost, rebated health care and funded by a new levy
on income tax.. Two new bodies, Australia Post and Telecom Australia
(later Telstra) takeover the functions of the old Postmaster-General's
Dep't (PMG); Australian National Railways is established
2 The
embattled federal Labor government is rocked by another major
scandal when Deputy PM Dr Jim Cairns is sacked by Gough
Whitlam. The sacking comes after the revelation of Cairns' involvement
in a proposed $200 million loan to finance a real estate development
in Melbourne's western suburbs. Whitlam says he was not satisfied
with Cairns' explanations regarding a letter he signed, setting
out terms of commission for the loan, and with the activities
of Cairns' son Phillip, who was involved in promoting the scheme
while a ministerial officer attached to his father's department.
4 Sydney
activist and newspaper proprietor Juanita Nielsen disappears. She is last seen leaving her home in Kings Cross at 11am, when she leaves for a meeting to discuss advertising with Edward Frederick Trigg, an employee at the Carousel
Club, a Kings Cross nightclub owned by "prominent Sydney
buinessman" Abe Saffron. Ms Nielsen, the 37-year-old heiress
to the Mark Foys retail fortune, is the publisher of Now,
the independent newspaper which has taken a strong stance
against vice and inner city redevelopment, and has strenuously
opposed plans by the local council and developer Frank Theeman
to demolish of the row of historic terrace houses in Victoria
Street, Kings Cross where Ms Nielsen lives, and to redevelop
the site as multi-storey housing. Ms Nielsen, who lived in one
of the terraces in Victoria Street earmarked for demolition,
had become the lone public voice of protest against the Kings
Cross development after a Green Ban imposed by the NSW Builders
Labourers Federation was lifted.
12 Dams
and creeks in outer western Sydney are searched after personal
effects belonging to missing activist Juanita Nielsen
are found near the Western Freeway. Despite a large search, a
lengthy police investigation and a Coronial Inquiry into her
disappearance, Ms Nielsen's body is never found, and those responsible
for her presumed death are never tracked down In 1977 Edward
Trigg is charged with her murder but he absconds while on bail
while awaiting trial in 1980. In 1981 Shayne Martin-Simmonds
is tried on charges of conspiring with Trigg and persons unknown
to kidnap Ms Nielson. Trigg is eventually captured in the USA
in 1982 and returned to Australia, where he is gaoled for 3 years
on conspiracy charges. Police reopen the case in 1998 when a
new witness comes forward who says that a man told him he had
killed Ms Nielsen.
- Don Dunstan is re-elected as SA Premier
14 Frank
Crean replaces Jim Cairns as deputy PM
31 Bob
Hawke gives an early hint of his political aspirations, when
he pledges to give up drinking if he becomes Prime Minister.
Hawke's fondness for drink, and his beer-sculling record, set
while he was studying at Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar in the 1960s,
are almost as well-known as his academic achievements.
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A
Little Easier /
Max Merritt & The MeteorsEgo Is Not A
Dirty Word (LP)
Skyhooks |
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 1975
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2nd
Fox On The Run
The Sweet
9th
Fox On The Run
The Sweet
16th
Fox On The Run
The Sweet
23rd Fox
On The Run
The Sweet
30th Fox
On The Run
The Sweet
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Major overseas releases:
Eric Clapton - E.C.
Was Here
Bad Company - Feel Like Making Love
David Bowie - Fame
Bob Marley - No Woman, No Cry
Rod Stewart - Atlantic Crossing
2 Right-wing
unionist Brian Harradine is expelled from the Tasmanian
branch of the ALP
5 A seven
year dispute between the national executive and the Tasmanian
branch of the ALP climaxes with an ultimatum by federal secretary
David Combe that the national executive will disband the Tasmanian
branch if it does not back down from its decision to re-admit
Brian Harradine. The dispute dates back to 1968 when Harradine,
then secretary of the Tasmanian Trades and Labour Council, accused
"friends of the communists" on the national executive
of trying to silence him.
16 The
Gurindji people of the NT are given partial title to some
of their traditional land by PM Gough Whitlam
28
The
Henderson Commission into poverty tables its report in
Parliament. Established in 1972, the commission is chaired by
Professor Ronald Henderson, director of the Institute of Economic
Research at Melbourne University. Its key findings include revelations
that an estimated 10% of Australian households were living below
the poverty line in 1973, that fatherless families were the poorest,
and that 250,000 dependent children were living in poverty. It
also recommends the establishment of a guaranteed income scheme,
and the boosting of pensions and child endowments which it declares
to be "hopelessly inadequate" for large families on
the minimum wage.
30 The
first edition of ABC Radio's "The Science Show",
presented by Robyn Williams
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 1975
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6th
Fox On The Run
The Sweet
13th
Love Will Keep Us Together
The Captain & Tennille
20th
Love Will Keep Us Together
The Captain & Tennille
27th
Love Will Keep Us Together
The Captain & Tennille
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The Seymour Centre
opens in Sydney
AC/DC make their second appearance on "Coundtdown",
performing High Voltage
Major overseas releases:
ABBA - S.O.S
Jethro Tull - Minstrel In The Gallery
Elton John - Island Girl
Wings - Letting Go
7 The
historical drama Ben Hall premieres on ABC TV
16 Papua-New
Guinea is declared independent, ending 90 years of colonial rule
by Britain, Germany and Australia.
20 Eastern
Suburbs defeat St George in the NSW
Rugby Grand Final
27 North
Melbourne defeat Hawthorne in the
VFL Grand Final
- Controversial NSW Labor leader and former Premier Jack
Lang dies in Sydney, just short of his 98th birthday.
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Maybe / Titus
Split Enz
Blackmail / The Outlaw's
Reply
Greg Quill
A Little Easier (LP)
Max Merritt & The Meteors
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 1975
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4th
Love Will Keep Us Together
The Captain & Tennille
11th I
Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do
ABBA
18th
I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do
ABBA
25th
I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do
ABBA
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AC/DC embark on their first major national tour
Major overseas releases:
Elton John - Rock Of The Westies
Kraftwerk - Exceller 8
John Lennon - Imagine
The Who - Who By Numbers
9 Sean Ono
Lennon, the son of former Beatle John
Lennon and artist/musician Yoko Ono, is born in New York
on his father's 35th birthday.
- Bankcard, Australia's first credit card, is introduced
15
The
Whitlam government takes another body blow when Minister for
Minerals & Energy Rex Connor is forced to resign.
The resignation comes after it was found that Connor had misled
PM Gough Whitlam over his conduct of the "Loans Affair"[<-5/75].
He is the second Labor frontbencher forced out because of financial
improprieties with three months [<- 2/7/75]. In Parliament
that night, Opposition leader Malcolm Fraser provokes an unprecedented
constitutional crisis by announcing that Liberal senators will
use their numbers to block the government's supply bills to force
an early election, and they defeat a key loans bill by 29-28.
16 Opposition
senators block the government's supply bills for a second time,
leaving the government unable to pay for public services salaries,
recurring costs and capital works. In the weeks that follow,
the opposition will block all attempts to pass the bills.
17 Five
Australian journalists are murdered, and their bodies burned
by pro-Indonesian soldiers in East Timor. Journalist Greg
Shackleton, 29, cameraman Garry Cunningham, 27 and
sound technician Tony Stewart, from Melbourne, and journalist
Malcolm Rennie, 28, and cameraman Brian Peters,
29 from Sydney are executed while reporting on heavy fighting
between around the town of Balibo during the Indonesian invasion
of the former Portuguese colony. It will be eight days before
Indonesia releases any "official" information about
their fate.
24 Radio
Kupang in Indonesian West Timor broadcasts claims that the five
murdered Australian journalists have been killed "because
they were communists".
31 The
Commonwealth Racial Discrimination Act is proclaimed and Al
Grassby becomes the first Commissioner for Community Relations
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 1975
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1st Mama Mia
ABBA
8th
Mama Mia
ABBA
15th
Mama Mia
ABBA
22nd
Mama Mia
ABBA
29th
Mama Mia
ABBA |
Max Merritt & The Meteors score both an Australian Top 5 LP
with the album A Little Easier, and an Australian
and NZ Top 5 single with the song Slippin' Away.
AC/DC play their first headline
concert at the Festival Hall, Melbourne.
Lead guitarist Wally Wilksinson
is sacked from Split Enz and is replaced by former member
Rob Gillies.
Major overseas releases:
David Bowie - Golden Years
Eno - Another Green World,
Fripp & Eno - Evening Star
Jimi Hendrix - Midnight Lightning
Kraftwerk - Radioactivity
Bob Marley & The Wailers - Live!
Joni Mitchell - The Hissing Of Summer Lawns
Neil Young - Zuma
4
Think Big wins
the Melbourne Cup
11 In
a day which combines political intrigue and high drama with moments
of slapstick and farce, the month-long constitutional crisis
reaches a climax in Canberra. In a move which stuns the country,
Governor-General Sir John Kerr invokes his reserve powers and
dismisses the Labor government led by Gough Whitlam,
commissions opposition leader Malcolm Fraser as caretaker
PM, dissolves both houses of parliament and issues writs for
a full election of both houses.
In the morning, Whitlam attempts to end the
deadlock which is preventing the passing of Supply bills through
the Senate, telling opposition leader Malcolm Fraser that he
intends calling a half-Senate election to break the opposition's
stranglehold on the upper house. Fraser rejects the suggestion
out of hand, insisting on a House Of Representatives election
instead. What Whitlam - crucially - does not know is that over
the preceding days Fraser has been holding secret talks with
both Governor General John Kerr and Chief Justice Sir
Garfield Barwick (a fact that later leads to accusations of conspiracy
against all three) and that they had already agreed on Labor's
dismissal as the means to end the crisis.
Whitlam had made an appointment to meet with
Kerr at 1pm to have the election writs signed, but Fraser visits
Kerr just before Whitlam was due to arrive, receiving his commission
to lead a caretaker government, and he leaves by a one door of
Kerr's office at virtually the same moment that Whitlam enters
through another. Fraser speeds back to parliament, armed with
the knowledge that Whitlam is about to be sacked, and he oversees
the rapid passing of the the Supply bills, after which the news
of his commission and Whitlam's dismissal are announced to the
stunned Parliament.
By mid-afternoon the news has spread and a
large crowd has gathered outside the House. At 4.45 Kerr's secretary
David Smith appeared on the steps, and reads out the proclamation
dismissing the government and dissolving Parliament. Whitlam
then makes his classic address to the assembled crowd of media
and supporters, during which he made his famous statement "Well
may we say 'God save the Queen', because nothing will save the
Governor General!" and his legendary declaration that
Fraser would go down in history as "Kerr's cur"
- a remark later censored from most reports of the event.
Another media legend is also born that day
-- by coincidence, actor and comedian Garry McDonald was in Canberra
and when he heard the news, he and an ABC film crew raced over
to Parliament House. Adopting his popular satirical character,
Norman Gunston, he briefly addressed the crowd and interviewed
members of the ousted government on the steps of the house. This
historic footage is later used for a segment on The Norman'
Gunston Show.
Kerr and Fraser's controversial actions sparked
a storm of protest across the country and pave the way for a
snap election in which is called for December 13.
12 Malcolm
Fraser is sworn in as caretaker Prime Minister.
14 30,000
people rally in Melbourne protesting the dismissal of the Whitlam
government.
18 Malcolm
Fraser is jeered and pelted with eggs while campaigning in Darwin.
19 A letter
bomb addressed to Queensland Premier Bjelke Petersen explodes
at his Brisbane office, killing two staff members.
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 1975
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6th
Mama Mia
ABBA
13th
Mama Mia
ABBA
20th
Mama Mia
ABBA
27th
Mama Mia
ABBA
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AC/DC's High Voltage
is certified triple gold
Rampage wins the Sydney To Hobart Yacht Race
Major overseas releases:
ABBA - Mamma Mia
Eno - Discreet Music
Paul Simon - Still Crazy After All These Years
8 AC/DC release their signature tune It's A Long Way To
The Top (If You Wanna Rock'n'roll), which becomes their second
national hit, peaking at #5 in January 1976. To promote it, ABC-TV's
Countdown films the now-classic video-clip for the single,
featuring the band playing the song live on the back of a flatbed
truck as they are driven through Melbourne.
10 Champion
swimmer Andrew "Boy" Charlton dies aged 68
13 The
Liberal Party, led by Malcolm Fraser, wins a landslide
victory in the Federal election. Aided by strong support from
the media, including the formerly pro-Labor Rupert Murdoch and
News Ltd, the Liberal-Country Party coalition win a massive 53-seat
majority in the Lower House and also gain a majority in the Senate.
One of the Liberals' first actions is to abolish the Department
of the Media.
17 The
High Court rules that the Commonwealth has sovereignty over the
states in matters concerning territorial waters and the continental
shelf.
25 Fifteen
people die in a fire at Sydney's Savoy private hotel.
The tragedy leads to a major overhaul of fire regulations in
NSW.
31 Australian-born
scientist John Warcup Cornforth (see top of
page) is named the joint winner
of the Nobel Prize for Chemistry, sharing the award with Vladimir
Prelog for their work on the stereochemistry of enzymes and the
spatial arrangement of molecules in living cells.
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I'll Take You High / I Can't Say What I
Mean
Ariel
It's A Long Way To The Top (If You Wanna
Rock'n'Roll)
AC/DC
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