Afternoon Light

Summer Series 2024-5 Part 7: Charles Richardson, Stephen Loosley & Frank Bongiorno

In this special summer series of the Afternoon Light podcast you can enjoy the presentations delivered at our November 2024 conference entitled ‘The Final Chapter: Purpose, Endurance and Legacy 1961-66 and Beyond’. This final episode features Charles Richardson on 'Menzies’s Philosophical Legacy to his party', Stephen Loosley's paper 'A Horse With No Name: Federal Labor, 1954-1966' (begins at 19:50), and Frank Bongiorno's paper ‘"one of the world’s masterpieces"? Australian reaction to Menzies’s retirement, January 1966' (begins 33:15).
Charles Richardson has a law degree from Melbourne University and a PhD from Rutgers University, specialising in ethics and political philosophy. He has worked in a variety of positions in government and politics, and is a former director of Above Quota Elections Pty Ltd. His work has appeared in numerous publications and he has been featured as a commentator in newspapers, radio and television. Since 2012 he has written on world politics at his blog, The World is Not Enough, and does periodic consulting work on electoral matters. His research interests include the history of liberal democratic structures and the comparative study of European party systems.
Stephen Loosley is the former Council Chair at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute. Mr Loosley was the General Secretary of the NSW branch of the Australian Labor Party (1983–90), prior to being elected to the Australian Senate in 1990, where during his term he served as Chairman of the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs. He also served a term as ALP National President (1991–92).
Frank Bongiorno is Professor of History at the Australian National University and President of the Council for the Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences. His books include Dreamers and Schemers: A Political History of Australia (La Trobe University Press,2022) and (co-authored with Nick Dyrenfurth) A Little History of the Australian Labor Party (Second edition, NewSouth,2024). He contributed a chapter to Confusion: The Making of the Australian Two Party System (ed. Paul Strangio and Nick Dyrenfurth, Melbourne University Press, 2009). He is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia, and recently completed a term as President of the Australian Historical Association.

The Arts’ Last Advocate: Menzies and the Cause of Liberal Education | Jacob Carson

What did Menzies have to do with the idea of Liberal Education?
Jacob Carson discusses with Georgina Downer how Menzies was at the centre of the push and pull between vocational and commercial understandings toward higher education, and how this debate still goes on today.
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

Freedom, Empire, and the ‘Ordinary Australian’ | Josh Woodward

What does the 'ordinary Australian' actually mean? 
Josh Woodward talks to Georgina Downer about how the idea of the 'Ordinary Australian' confronts notions of Empire, as well as the concept of individual freedoms.
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

Popular Criticism of Menzies’ War Aims | Aaron Marston-Pattison

What was the public willing to support in wartime during Menzies's era? 
Aaron Marston-Pattison speaks to Georgina Downer about which aspects of Menzies's war aims the public was willing to support.
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

Remembering the Anglo-Australian Relationship of the 20th Century | Scarlett Wakelin

How do we look back on the Anglo-Australian relationship when we look at the history of Australia? 
Scarlett Wakelin speaks with Georgina Downer on the nature of the Anglo-Australian relationship that persisted through the 20th century.
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

Menzies the Student, Menzies the Statesman | Nick Warren

How did Menzies' undergraduate career become reflected in the trials and accomplishments of his life as a statesman?
Nick Warren talks to Georgina Downer in this episode of the Afternoon Light Podcast, 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 / Instagram: robertmenziesinstitute

Summer Series 2024-5 Part 6: Will Stoltz, Sean Jacobs, David Furse-Roberts & Christopher Beer

In this special summer series of the Afternoon Light podcast you can enjoy the presentations delivered at our November 2024 conference entitled ‘The Final Chapter: Purpose, Endurance and Legacy 1961-66 and Beyond’. This sixth episode features Will Stoltz on 'Managed Decolonisation', Sean Jacob's paper 'Relaxed and Comfortable: Menzies and the fall of Empire (1961-66)' (begins at 19:15), David Furse-Robert's paper 'Homes Material, Homes Human and Homes Spiritual: The Menzies Government and Housing Policy' (begins at 35:25), and Christoper Beer's paper 'The frontier of property-owning democracy: Housing, the reform of Australian liberal urbanism, and electoral politics in Western Sydney, 1961-1966' (begins 54:45).
Will Stoltz is a security and foreign affairs scholar and former Australian national security official. He is a Lecturer & Expert Associate at the ANU's National Security College and a Visiting Fellow at the Robert Menzies Institute, where he's researched the Menzies Government's foreign policy decisions and role in establishing the Australian Secret Intelligence Service.
Sean Jacobs is a Port Moresby-born Australian writer, government relations and policy specialist. He has worked with all levels of government in PNG, Fiji, New Zealand and Australia. He currently works in local government in Australia. Sean is the author of three books, and has published with the Diplomatic Courier, International Affairs Review, Small Wars Journal, The Spectator and the Australian Institute of International Affairs. He is a graduate of Griffith and Macquarie Universities, and currently serves as a Griffith Asia Institute Industry Fellow.
David is a Research Fellow at the Menzies Research Centre. He holds a PhD in history from the University of NSW and is the editor of Howard: The Art of Persuasion (2018) and Menzies: The Forgotten Speeches (2017). Since joining the MRC in 2016, he has written for Quadrant, Spectator Australia, and other publications on the history and contemporary relevance of liberalism in Australia. In 2021 he published God and Menzies: The Faith that Shaped a Prime Minister and his Nation.
Christopher Beer is an academic whose research has spanned many aspects of Australian urbanism. He completed his doctoral studies at the Australian National University and subsequently held associations with the University of Canberra, Macquarie University, and the University of Newcastle.

Maya Khurana Redefines Australian Middle Class Identity

Was Menzies for class segregation, or was he a vehement opponent of the entire system? 
Maya Khurana talks to Georgina Downer about the Australian middle-class, and how Menzies drove significant change whilst challenging the notion of class at the same time.
This episode of the Afternoon Light Podcast was recorded as part of our Menzies Early Career Network Series. ➡️ Support the Robert Menzies Institute by visiting our website.
📱 Follow the Menzies Institute on Social Media: X: https://x.com/rmenziesinst / Facebook: robertmenziesinstitute / Instagram: robertmenziesinstitute
 

Orlando Throsby on Australia and NZ | Two Sides of the Same Sea

How did Australia's relationship with New Zealand come to define both countries histories, both between each other as well as their relations with neighboring Asia-Pacific countries? 
Orlando Throsby talks to Georgina Downer about the history of Australia and New Zealand's relationship with each other - as well as their neighbors. This episode of the Afternoon Light Podcast was recorded as part of our Menzies Early Career Network Series.
➡️ Support the Robert Menzies Institute by visiting our website.
📱Follow the Menzies Institute on Social Media: X: https://x.com/rmenziesinst /  Facebook: robertmenziesinstitute / Instagram: robertmenziesinstitute

Georgia Lowden on Policy Settings and Housing Booms | Lessons from Menzies

How much has the value of Australian home ownership changed between Menzies' era and our own? 
On a special edition of Afternoon Light, Georgina Downer talks to Georgia Lowden  This episode of the Afternoon Light Podcast was recorded as part of our Menzies Early Career Network Series.