Afternoon Light

In this special series of the Afternoon Light podcast Georgina Downer speaks with participants from the Menzies Early Career Network to discuss their chapters in the new book, Menzies Rediscovered: A new generation’s inspiration for political philosophy, domestic challenges and foreign affairs. In this episode, Georgina speaks with Jamie Robbins on the topic 'Shaping of the Cabinet'. The Menzies E...

In this special series of the Afternoon Light podcast Georgina Downer speaks with participants from the Menzies Early Career Network to discuss their chapters in the new book, Menzies Rediscovered: A new generation’s inspiration for political philosophy, domestic challenges and foreign affairs. In this episode, Georgina speaks with Chantal Moore on the topic 'Ancient lessons for modern democracy'....

In this special series of the Afternoon Light podcast Georgina Downer speaks with participants from the Menzies Early Career Network to discuss their chapters in the new book, Menzies Rediscovered: A new generation’s inspiration for political philosophy, domestic challenges and foreign affairs. In this episode, Georgina speaks with Fiona Duncan on the topic 'Attorney-General versus Friends of the...

In this special series of the Afternoon Light podcast Georgina Downer speaks with participants from the Menzies Early Career Network to discuss their chapters in the new book,  Menzies Rediscovered: A new generation’s inspiration for political philosophy, domestic challenges and foreign affairs. In this episode, Georgina speaks with Charlie Hume on the topic 'A prime minister’s American odyssey'....

In this special series of the Afternoon Light podcast Georgina Downer speaks with participants from the Menzies Early Career Network to discuss their chapters in the new book,  Menzies Rediscovered: A new generation’s inspiration for political philosophy, domestic challenges and foreign affairs. In this episode, Georgina speaks with Axel Melkonian on the topic 'Political pragmatism and post-war Ge...

In this special series of the Afternoon Light podcast Georgina Downer speaks with participants from the Menzies Early Career Network to discuss their chapters in the new book,  Menzies Rediscovered: A new generation’s inspiration for political philosophy, domestic challenges and foreign affairs. In this episode, Georgina speaks with Mary Coleman on the topic 'Civic Virtue in a Technological Age'....

In this special series of the Afternoon Light podcast Georgina Downer speaks with participants from the Menzies Early Career Network to discuss their chapters in the new book,  Menzies Rediscovered: A new generation’s inspiration for political philosophy, domestic challenges and foreign affairs. In this episode, Georgina speaks with Pablo Avaria-Jimenez on the topic 'Blueprint for middle-power sta...

In this special series of the Afternoon Light podcast Georgina Downer speaks with participants from the Menzies Early Career Network to discuss their chapters in the new book,  Menzies Rediscovered: A new generation’s inspiration for political philosophy, domestic challenges and foreign affairs. In this episode, Georgina speaks with Anton Vassallo on the topic 'Riding on the sheep’s back into Japa...

In this special series of the Afternoon Light podcast Georgina Downer speaks with participants from the Menzies Early Career Network to discuss their chapters in the new book,  Menzies Rediscovered: A new generation’s inspiration for political philosophy, domestic challenges and foreign affairs. In this episode, Georgina speaks with Andrew Fankhauser on the topic 'Konfrontasi and evolving defence...

How did Australia's most decorated military leader become so loathed, & is his negative reputation unfair? On this week’s Afternoon Light Georgina Downer speaks with Brent Taylor to discuss the distinguished yet controversial career of Field Marshal Sir Thomas Blamey. The man Robert Menzies chose to lead the Australian Army in World War Two, and who equally received the full backing of John Cu...

Is the sickness of modern democracy our increasing inability to argue constructively, with an honest view towards convincing or even learning from our opponents? On this week’s Afternoon Light Georgina Downer speaks with Leila Brammer to unpack the centrality of debate to democracy, why its quality has declined in recent years, and what we can do to reverse the trend. For as Robert Menzies said, ‘...

After 75 years of the Australian-American Alliance, are we still pulling our weight? On this week’s Afternoon Light Georgina Downer speaks with Andrew Hastie to mark 75 years of the ANZUS Treaty and explore the myriad of challenges that Australia faces today. From unpredictable allies to deindustrialisation, the complacency with which we have coasted through the post-Cold War period will no longer...

How early did Australia come to see Russian Bolshevism as a threat to the world? On this week’s Afternoon Light Georgina Downer speaks with Damien Wright to reveal the untold story of Anzac involvement in the Russian Civil War. Our nation's first battle against communism, which saw two Australians win the Victoria Cross, only for their heroism and sacrifice to be all but forgotten. Damien Wright i...

How did Australia go from being the 'golden land' to a place of persecution? On this week’s Afternoon Light Georgina Downer speaks with Michael Gawenda to unpack the horrific rise of antisemitism in Australia. Drawing on his own family history as Menzies era migrants, and recent experiences as a prominent Jew in Australia's media landscape. Michael Gawenda is a multi-award winning journalist and f...

250 years after Adam Smith published The Wealth of Nations, have we in Australia forgotten the foundational economic lessons that Smith offered? On this week’s Afternoon Light Georgina Downer speaks with Joseph Healy to resuscitate the insights of famous Scottish Enlightenment thinker Adam Smith to help tackle Australia's current problems. From cost of living and housing crises to corporate cronyi...

Does Australia's utilitarian constitution reflect a lack of inspiration on the part of our founding fathers? On this week’s Afternoon Light Georgina Downer speaks with Ben Saunders to unpack the intent behind the framing of Australia's constitution. Something which eschewed grand value statements and a Bill of Rights, in favour of trusting the Australian people to 'breathe life' into the 'dry bone...

Amidst seemingly unending crises of social cohesion, cost of living, and in the party system, how is Australia's democracy holding up? On this week’s Afternoon Light Georgina Downer speaks with Lydia Khalil and Zachary Gorman to unpack the conditions under which democracy thrives, and issues which currently threaten Australia's democratic health. Offering both timely warnings and enduring optimism...

Before Dan Andrews, who was Australia's most polarising state premier? On this week’s Afternoon Light Georgina Downer speaks with Bruce Kingston to discuss one of Australian history's most beloved and bemoaned Queenslanders, Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen. The man who turned the Sunshine State into a modern economic powerhouse, yet who is contrastingly reviled for allegedly representing all of its maroon...

Did you know that Captain Cook's Endeavour was originally a coal ship? On this week’s Afternoon Light Georgina Downer speaks with Denis Porter to explore the crucial role the coal industry has played throughout Australian history, from the earliest days of British settlement right up until the present. A story of triumph and tragedy, in which economic growth and political controversy have often go...

Does offering financial support for Prisoners of War risk incentivising surrender? On this week’s Afternoon Light Georgina Downer speaks with Christina Twomey, to discuss how the Australian government dealt with returned World War II POWs who had been deeply scarred by their time spent in captivity. Revealing the brutal realism of military commanders who feared that offering too much assistance mi...

What is the story behind the woman who appears on Australia's $50 note? On this week’s Afternoon Light Georgina Downer speaks with Hilary Silbert to uncover the remarkable life of Australia's first female parliamentarian, Edith Cowan. Who rose from the familial infamy of having a convicted murderer for a father, to become one of the most influential citizens in the history of Western Australia, an...

30 years on from the election of the Howard Government, how does its extensive foreign policy legacy live up to scrutiny? On this week’s Afternoon Light Georgina Downer speaks with Alexander Downer and his biographer Tony Parkinson to discuss A Step to the Right , the new book on Australia's longest serving foreign minister. The man who oversaw one of the most eventful periods in Australian foreig...

Do those who denigrate Australia's past hurt Australia's present? On this week’s Afternoon Light Georgina Downer speaks with Tony Abbott to discuss his new book, Australia: A History. An antidote to the 'Black armband' view of our national story, which doesn't downplay the darker aspects of our past, but highlights the overwhelming good. A good we might expect to find if we appreciate the nation t...

Do Australians still agree on enough fundamental values to hold society together? On this week’s Afternoon Light Georgina Downer speaks with Perter Kurti from the Centre for Independent Studies, to ponder how Australia's democratic and social cohesion can survive our increasing pluralism and historically high immigration rate. Exploring whether there remain enough common threads to bind us togethe...

In this special summer series of the Afternoon Light podcast you can enjoy the presentations delivered at our November 2025 conference entitled ‘Menzies and the British Commonwealth of Nations’. This seventh & final episode features Paul Brown's paper 'Sons of Empire: Menzies, Downer and their response to Britain joining the EEC', Andrew Kemp's paper 'A very different world: Robert Menzies, Ha...