Afternoon Light

Anne Henderson, ‘A Shakespearean play’ Menzies vs Evatt

There has never been a political rivalry in Australia quite like that between Robert Menzies and Herbert Evatt. Born in the same year, these two brilliant lawyers were on opposite sides of the Engineers’ Case and ended up on opposite sides of the House of Representatives. Evatt bested Menzies in the battle over the 1951 referendum, but there followed a political and arguably phycological implosion on Evatt’s part which would shape Australian politics for decades. Joining us to discuss their epic clashes is Anne Henderson, author of the new book Menzies Versus Evatt.
Want to hear more? Listen to Gideon Haigh delve further into the story of Evatt.
Want to learn more? Read our On This Day article on the Communism Referendum.
Anne Henderson was educated at Melbourne University and is deputy director of The Sydney Institute – a forum for debate and discussion which enjoys good relations with both sides of Australian politics. She is the editor of The Sydney Papers Online and one of Australia’s leading biographers with studies on Dame Enid Lyons and former prime minister Joseph Lyons along with books on immigration and women in politics. Anne Henderson’s Menzies at War was short-listed for the Prime Minister’s Prize for Australian History in 2015 and she appeared in the ABC TV documentary Howard on Menzies: Building Modern Australia (2016) and Foxtel’s The Menzies Years hosted by John Howard (2022).

Peter Sekuless, ‘The Crowning Glory of her career’ Dame Annabelle Rankin

Of the first 10 women elected to the Federal Parliament, 8 were from the Liberal side of politics. One of the most talented and remarkable was Dame Annabelle Rankin, the daughter of a sugarcane farmer whose important organisational role in WW2 propelled her to prominence. When she entered the Senate in 1947, she was one of just 3 Coalition Senators in the entire chamber. She would go on to have a stellar career as party whip, Minister for Housing, and High Commissioner to New Zealand. But until recently, her story was little told. That is before our guest Peter Sekuless made an important addition to the Australian Biographical Monographs Series.
Want to hear more? Listen to Margaret Fitzherbert discuss the essential role of early Liberal women.
Want to learn more? Read about the Menzies Government’s signature policy of Child Endowment.
Peter Sekuless is a Canberra-based writer who has been a press gallery journalist, Commonwealth public servant and government relations consultant. His books include the life of Australian feminist Jessie Street and a profile of World War Two war correspondent Lorraine Stumm.

Jane Hume, ‘A stake in Australia’ The Homeownership Dilemma

At the heart of Robert Menzies’s vision for Australia was the home. He believed that homeownership gave people a stake in the country, encouraged habits of thrift and forethought, and acted as the bedrock of patriotism. In his ‘Forgotten People’ radio address he went so far as to suggest that homes could be spiritually uplifting; giving people a sense of independence that facilitated them to act with moral conviction. As prime minister, he followed through that romanticism with practical achievement, which saw homeownership rates rise above 70%. But in modern Australian, the Menzian dream is increasingly unobtainable for many, and this demographic shift towards renting could have dire consequences for centre-right parties. Joining us to discuss solutions is Senator Jane Hume.
Want to learn more? Read about how the Menzies Government managed to achieve major homeownership increases despite maintaining a consistently high immigration rate.
Want to hear more? Watch Senator Hume’s speech launching the book Markets and Prosperity earlier this year.
Bonus fact:
At the 1906 federal election, Robert Menzies’s uncle and political mentor Sydney Sampson argued that the antidote to socialism was to ensure that over 50% of people owned their own property.
Senator the Hon Jane Hume is a Liberal Senator for Victoria and Shadow Minister for Finance, the Public Service, and Shadow Special Minister of State. Jane was elected as a Liberal Senator for Victoria in 2016. Upon her election, she was appointed Chair of the Senate Standing Committee on Economics. Following the 2019 election, Jane was appointed Assistant Minister for Superannuation, Financial Services and Financial Technology. Then in 2020, she was promoted to the position of Minister for Superannuation, Financial Services and Digital Economy. In 2021, her responsibilities were expanded again, and she became the first Minister for Women's Economic Security during the Morrison Government.

Fraser Nelson, ‘A thrillingly unpredictable time’ The state of centre-right politics across the Anglosphere

Across Britain, Australia and like-minded nations, the centre-right of politics is in a state of flux. Thought leaders are at odds over how to deal with a societal shift towards big government and reliance on the state, epitomised by the uniformly illiberal responses to the pandemic – which were often implemented by supposedly centre-right governments. Likewise, there is much debate over the necessity and methodology of fighting the culture wars; and how to stand up for principles of equality and free speech now under direct assault. One thing seems certain: that one epoch has ended, and out of the current state of confusion, a new one will rise. Joining us to unpack these issues is The Spectator UK editor and respected conservative chronicler Fraser Nelson.
Want more to ponder? Watch Lord Jonathan Sumption’s Menzies Oration from 2022.
Fraser Nelson is editor of The Spectator UK. He also writes a weekly column for the Daily Telegraph and sits on the board of two think tanks: the Centre for Policy Studies and the Centre for Social Justice. He has turned The Spectator into the fastest-growing current affairs magazine in Europe, launching an Australian edition and doubling its subscriptions in a market that fell by two-thirds. Nelson has won numerous awards and is the only UK journalist to have simultaneously held the top industry awards for editing and political writing. His last was in 2021 from the British Magazine Society of Editors which named him Editor of the Year in a current title.

Michael Wesley, ‘An extraordinary amount of passion’ The Place of Universities in Australian Life

Australia has often viewed its universities as utilitarian enterprises whose primary function is to train professionals and boost the economy. However, Robert Menzies had a far grander vision for tertiary education, one which saw the university as essential to the health of a democracy. Menzies believed that a liberal education equipped people for a full life and the eternal search for truth that such a life involves. But is the current university sector living up to his dream? Are Australians happy with their university experience? And is the sector plagued by competing priorities? Hear University of Melbourne Deputy Vice-Chancellor Michael Wesley explore these issues.
Purchase Professor Wesley’s book, The Mind of the Nation
Want to learn more about Menzies’s vision for Australian Universities? Watch Professor Greg Melleuish deliver a paper on ‘The Idea of Education According to the Young Menzies’
Bonus Fact:
While it is well known that Robert Menzies attended the University of Melbourne on a scholarship, and later served as the University’s Chancellor, it is lesser known that on graduating Menzies worked for a time as a university tutor.

Troy Bramston, ‘Continues to loom large’ Menzies’s Art of Politics

Robert Menzies is a towering figure in Australian history, and one who has come to define his side of politics. Yet, despite this, he has only received one full length biography in the last twenty years. How did Menzies come to reach his preeminent position? What can modern politicians learn from our longest serving leader, and how he mastered the arts of persuasion and leadership? And is he often misrepresented by people who want to enlist his authority? Award winning author Troy Bramston unpacks these issues.
Purchase Robert Menzies: The Art of Politics here
Want to learn more? Watch Bramston’s addresses to the Robert Menzies Institute’s first and second annual conferences
Bonus Fact:
The title ‘The Art of Politics’ comes from an essay on politics as an art, which Robert Menzies published in the New York Times in 1948, the year before he won back the prime ministership.

William Stoltz, ‘Unyielding Truths’ Confronting Australia’s strategic dilemmas armed with the past

Are you worried about the possibility of war? As the geopolitical situation becomes ever more tense, many commentators have described the onset of a new Cold War. If the threats faced by the Western World do indeed bear similarities to the ideologically bifurcated world of the 1950s, then it would be wise to look back over that troubled period for lessons for the present. Robert Menzies Institute Fellow Dr William Stoltz has done exactly that, in a new occasional paper dubbed ‘Australia's Dilemmas: Then and Now’.
Read the occasional paper here
Want to hear more? Listen to Dr Jeffrey Wilson give his insights into using the example of the 50s to seize the opportunities of the present
Bonus Fact:
Tensions over Taiwan are nothing new. In 1958 the world was almost plunged into war over what is known as the Second Taiwan Strait Crisis. On that occasion, the Menzies Government strongly urged the United States to act with caution.
Dr William Stoltz is a Robert Menzies Institute Visiting Fellow and Senior Adviser for Public Policy at the ANU National Security College. He holds a PhD and Advanced Masters of National Security Policy from the Australian National University as well as a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Melbourne.

David Stevens, ‘What should you stand for?’ The Future of Australian Liberalism

Where to now for the Coalition? The aftermath of the 2022 federal election, and the advent of an era of big government which has swept much of the western world, has ushered in a period of soul searching for the Australian centre-right – but it is crucial to remember that this is not without precedent. The 1940s and 1980s were similarly wilderness years that ultimately acted as the springboard for the two longest serving governments in Australian history. The key is to use Opposition productively, and to ensure that when the Coalition eventually does return to office, it has a clear sense of purpose.
Get your copy of Dignity and Prosperity here
Want to hear more? Listen to Harry Stutchbury talk about liberal policies for the present
Want to learn more? Read our On This Day article about how the Liberal Party of Australia got its name
Bonus fact:
Robert Menzies was a member of two different centre-right parties before he founded the Liberal Party. Much of his early career was spent pushing for what he described as a ‘politics of principle’ in which policy would be based on clearly articulated philosophy, rather than vested interests and electoral imperatives.
David Stevens has spent the last 30 years leading major strategy and policy reform projects for public and private sector clients across the globe. He worked for Prime Minister Howard in the 1990s.

Jim Walter, ‘Stay on message’ The Evolving Office of the Prime Minister

Can you imagine Australian politics without press advisers and spin doctors? The office of the prime minister has evolved immensely over the years. When Edmund Barton was our country’s first leader, he claimed to carry the entire records of the government in his briefcase. Nowadays, the office of the prime minister is a behemoth made up of numerous people, its growth being matched only by our ever-increasing expectations of what the federal government is supposed to do. Learn the how and the why of the development of the most important position in Australia.
Want to learn more? Read this parliamentary paper explaining the origins an evolution of the prime ministership
Want to hear more? Listen to Bridget Griffen-Foley talk about how PMs like Menzies have handled the media
Bonus fact:
Menzies was so close to his leading public servants that they were referred to as ‘the boys’. Sundays at The Lodge often involved boozy dinner parties with them.

Karl Schmude, ‘Transcended his time’ G.K. Chesterton

Have you heard of G.K. Chesterton? One of the most prolific authors of the early 20th century, Chesterton has recently been experiencing a revival. With humorous, inciteful, and even prophetic views on ‘everything’ - including politics, religion, the press, economics and more, it is easy to see why. Chesterton was one of Menzies’s many favourite authors, whom he used to refer to as ‘that laughing philosopher’. There’s even an Australian Chesterton Society.
Who is G.K. Chesterton? Find out more here
Fascinated by Chesterton? Buy tickets to this year’s Chesterton Conference at Campion College Sydney
Bonus Fact:
Menzies quoted extensively from Chesterton to explain ‘The Place of a University in a Modern Community’, in an important speech he delivered as Prime Minister in 1939: ‘The whole point of education is that it should give a man abstract and eternal standards, by which he can judge material and fugitive conditions. If the citizen is to be a reformer, he must start with some ideal which he does not obtain merely by gazing reverently at the unreformed institutions. And if anyone asks, as so many are asking: “What is the use of my son learning all about ancient Athens and remote China and medieval guilds and monasteries, and all sorts of dead or distant things, when he is going to be a superior scientific plumber in Pimlico?” the answer is obvious enough. “The use of it is that he may have some power of comparison, which will not only prevent him from supposing that Pimlico covers the whole planet, but also enable him, while doing full credit to the beauties and virtues of Pimlico, to point out that, here and there, as revealed by alternative experiments, even Pimlico may conceal somewhere a defect.”...
Anyhow, that is what is the matter with Business Education; that it narrows the mind; whereas the whole object of education is to broaden the mind; and especially to broaden it so as to enable it to criticize and condemn such narrowness. Everybody ought to learn first a general view of the history of man, of the nature of man, and (as I, for one, should add) of the nature of God. This may enable him to consider the rights and wrongs of slavery in a slave community, of cannibalism in a cannibal community, or of commerce in a commercial community. If he is immediately initiated into the mysteries of these institutions themselves, if he is sworn in infancy to take them as seriously as they take themselves, if he becomes a trader not only before he becomes a traveller, but even before he becomes a true citizen of his own town, he will never be able to denounce those institutions—or even to improve them. Such a state will never have the ideas or imagination to reform itself; and hustle and bustle and business activity will have resulted in the dead fixity of a fossil.’