Afternoon Light

Alistair Thomson on the Ten Pound Poms: "Implicitly assumed they weren't migrants"

Why don't the British figure in narratives of post-war migration, when for decades they were still the largest migrant group?
On Afternoon Light #189 Georgina Downer speaks with Alistair Thomson about the 10 Pound Poms. Whose complex migrant stories provided us with plenty of Aussie rock icons, but also gradually revealed that Australia was not quite as British as either they or we assumed.
Alistair Thomson is Professor of History at Monash University in Melbourne, and was previously Professor of Oral History at the University of Sussex in England. His books include Anzac Memories: Living With the Legend (1994), The Oral History Reader (1998 and 2006, with Rob Perks), Ten Pound Poms: Australia’s Invisible Migrants (2005, with Jim Hammerton), Moving Stories: an intimate history of four women across two countries (2011) and Oral History and Photography (2011, with Alexander Freund).

Michael Easson on Depression era PM James Scullin: "Trying to hold the place together"

Who was Australia's unluckiest Prime Minister?
On Afternoon Light #188 Georgina Downer speaks with Michael Easson about James Scullin, the PM sworn in the week of the Wall Street Crash. His 1931 electoral defeat was the last time an Australian federal government failed to win a second term; a record Anthony Albanese is desperate to avoid.
Michael Easson AM is a businessman, company director, former union leader and Labor historian. Thirty years ago, he was Secretary of the Labor Council of NSW [now called Unions NSW], a Vice President of the Australian Council of Trade Unions; and Senior Vice President of the NSW ALP. He published Connor Court's Whitlam’s Foreign Policy as well as In Search of John Christian Watson: Labor’s First Prime Minister. His latest book is the Australian Biographical Monograph on James Scullin.

David Lowe on the 75th Anniversary of the Colombo Plan: "Opened a lot of Australian eyes"

How did Australia develop its reputation as an exporter of higher education?
On Afternoon Light #187 Georgina Downer speaks with David Lowe to mark 75 years since the meeting that spawned the Colombo Plan. An innovative and enduring foreign aid program that helped our 'near north' neighbours to economically develop, winning 'hearts and minds' during the Cold War and inadvertently shifting Australian hearts and minds against the White Australia Policy.
David Lowe is the Chair in Contemporary History at Deakin University and has extensively published on Australia's involvement in wars, including its role during the Cold War, as well as aspects of Australia's foreign policies in the 1940s and 1950s. His notable works include Menzies and the 'Great World Struggle': Australia's Cold War 1948-1954 (UNSW Press, 1999), Ministers, Mandarins and Diplomats: Australian Foreign Policy Making 1941-1969 (co-authored with Joan Beaumont, Chris Waters, and Garry Woodard, MUP, 2003), Australia Between Empires: The Life of Percy Spender (Pickering and Chatto, 2010), and Remembering the Cold War (co-authored with Tony Joel, Routledge, 2013).

Santamaria and the DLP | Samuel Chamberlain

The son of a greengrocer who was an Italian immigrant, Santamaria became an incredibly influential figure in Australian politics. Yet for someone who had did not hold a formal position, was his influence overstated? And how did Santamaria color Menzies' own worldviews when the latter was in office? 
Samuel Chamberlain talks to Georgina Downer about his chapter in the recently released book Finding Menzies, and how Menzies formed his opinion on the anti-communist journalist. 
This episode of the Afternoon Light Podcast was recorded as part of our Menzies Early Career Network Series.
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Colin Milner on Sir Robert Garran: "Continuously close to the centre of the action"

Can you imagine Australia without government bureaucrats?
On Afternoon Light #186 Georgina Downer speaks with Colin Milner to tell the remarkable story of the Commonwealth's first public servant Sir Robert Garran. A father of federation and authority on the constitution, whose long career exerted more power and influence than some prime ministers.
Colin Milner, BA Hons, LLB (Sydney University), is a former official of the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) who served as Special Representative to Nauru in 2004–05 and Acting High Commissioner in 2013. Currently a PhD candidate in the Australian National University’s School of History, he is preparing a thesis on the factors that shaped the world view of the distinguished Australian constitutional lawyer and public servant Robert Randolph Garran. He has produced numerous publications in this area, focusing in particular on Garran’s activities as the first Secretary of the Commonwealth Attorney-General’s Department from 1901–1932.

How to Create a Middle-Class Economy | Abby Smith

How did inflation targeting and child endowment change Australia’s trajectory? And specifically, how did this create the middle-class economy we are familiar with today? 
Abby Smith talks to Georgina Downer about their chapter in the upcoming book Finding Menzies, how Menzies went about spearheading the Australian middle-class economy. 
This episode of the Afternoon Light Podcast was recorded as part of our Menzies Early Career Network Series.
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The Philosophy of Aspiration, The Australian Dream | Priscilla Spalding

What does it mean to be aspirational as a person? And how did Menzies encourage Australians to be aspirational? 
Priscilla Spalding talks to Georgina Downer about their fascinating chapter in the book Finding Menzies: on how Menzies's political philosophy lifted a country after dark times, and let us all understand more about his character. 
This episode of the Afternoon Light Podcast was recorded as part of our Menzies Early Career Network Series.
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Andrew Kemp & Zachary Gorman on the 1949 Election: "There was an optimism, a confidence, about the Liberal pitch"

What does it take to win a federal election from Opposition?
On Afternoon Light #185 Georgina Downer speaks with Andrew Kemp and Zachary Gorman to discuss Robert Menzies’s watershed 1949 election victory. Drawing out its enduring impact on modern Australia, as well as the lessons it offers political campaigners in 2025.
Andrew Kemp is a Melbourne-based writer and a former economist at the Commonwealth Treasury and the Department of Treasury and Finance in Victoria. He conducted extensive research into the early Liberal Party’s fundraising and campaigning techniques, as part of a chapter he wrote for Unity in Autonomy.
The innovative radio advertisements of 'John Henry Austral' can be found here.

Enemy of my enemy? Australia and the Sino-Soviet split | Jesse Seeberg-Gordon

Where did our allegiances really lie between 1959-1964? 
Jesse Seeberg-Gordon talks to Georgina Downer about his chapter in the upcoming book Finding Menzies, on how fissures in international relations brought catalyzed debates on what friendly relations with surrounding countries could also entail. 
This episode of the Afternoon Light Podcast was recorded as part of our Menzies Early Career Network Series.
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Overprivileged: An Episode of High Political Drama | Patrick Irwin

Where was Menzies's limit when it came to free speech? 
Patrick Irwin talks to Georgina Downer about his chapter in the upcoming book Finding Menzies, on how Menzies’s struggle with the limits of free speech came to a fore that shone him in a new light in the public consciousness. 
This episode of the Afternoon Light Podcast was recorded as part of our Menzies Early Career Network Series.
➡️ Support the Robert Menzies Institute: https://give-aus.keela.co/christmas-m... 📱 Follow the Menzies Institute on Social Media: X: https://x.com/rmenziesinst Facebook: / robertmenziesinstitute TikTok: / robert.menzies.in Instagram: / robertmenziesinstitute