Afternoon Light

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 In...

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...

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.

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 fifth episode features Anne Henderson on 'The Menzies Government, B A Santamaria and the Beginning of State Aid', Jennifer Clark's paper on 'Science and Science Education' (begins...

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 fourth episode features Damien Freeman and Senator Dean Smith on 'Recommending an Appointment to the Sovereign', Josh Woodward's paper '"A cure for prejudice": Robert Menzies, Trav...

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 third episode features Andrew Carr on 'The ADF Menzies Built', Tom Lewis's paper 'The Menzies defence legacy: wise, brave, and enduring' (begins at 20:20), and Lucas McLennan's pap...

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 second episode features Jim Walter's paper on 'Robert Menzies and Allen Brown: The odd couple?', John Hawkin's paper on 'Menzies and the Vernon Report' (begins at 22:52), and Nicho...

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 first episode features the keynote address delivered by Geoffrey Blainey, David Lee's paper on 'Menzies and the Dual Economy, 1961-66' (begins at 21:29), and Selwyn Cornish on 'RG...

At what price, of human endeavour and sacrifice, did Australia purchase its claim to 42% of Antarctica? On Afternoon Light #177 Georgina Downer speaks with author Dr Emma McEwin to discuss her great-grandfather Sir Douglas Mawson. A man whom Menzies lauded for providing ‘the key with which to unlock the door’ of the mysteries of the frozen continent. Dr Emma McEwin holds a PhD in creative writing...

Who is Australia’s greatest prime minister & by what criteria should you even make the judgement? On Afternoon Light #176 Georgina Downer speaks with Malcolm Mackerras AO, to engage in the fun but highly controversial task of ranking Australia’s prime ministers. No prizes for guessing who ended up at number one! Malcolm Mackerras AO is Australia’s leading psephologist, having worked in the fie...

What does it mean to be an Italian in Australia, & has the act of migration itself shaped this sense of identity? On Afternoon Light #175 Georgina Downer speaks with Francesco Ricatti, author of Italians in Australia, about the impetus, complexities, tribulations and effects of Italy’s vast population movements. A process which served to ‘create’ Italy, almost as much as it exported the idea....

Why has the Liberal Party long outlived its predecessors? 16 October 2024 marked 80 years since the close of the Canberra Unity Conference, widely considered to be the 'birth date' of the Liberal Party of Australia. To mark the occasion, we broadcast our first-ever 'Afternoon Light Live', an interactive webinar which allowed the audience to become directly involved in the discussion between host G...

Are modern denunciations of Empire anachronistic, and how does the shame they propagate hinder the West's ability to defend itself? On Afternoon Light #173 Georgina Downer speaks with Nigel Biggar, author of  Colonialism: A Moral Reckoning , to discuss how demonising the past has real-world consequences for the present. Unpacking the moral ambiguities of the British Empire, as a series of conquest...

Are Western Australians a bunch of secessionists, and what else makes the politics of our most isolated state unique? In the tenth episode of a special series of the Afternoon Light Podcast, marking the 80th anniversary of the founding of the Liberal Party and the release of the new book on the history of that event, Unity in Autonomy , Georgina Downer speaks with chapter contributor Sherry Sufi t...

Why did leading centre-right Queenslanders absent themselves from the Unity Conferences that helped spawn the Liberal Party, and did this slight separation from the Liberal fold presage the later Queensland Liberal merger with the Nationals? In the ninth episode of a special series of the Afternoon Light Podcast, marking the 80th anniversary of the founding of the Liberal Party and the release of...

How did NSW go from being the home of Liberal icons like Henry Parkes, George Reid & Joseph Carruthers, to being described as a natural Labor state? In the eighth episode of a special series of the Afternoon Light Podcast, marking the 80th anniversary of the founding of the Liberal Party and the release of the new book on the history of that event, Unity in Autonomy , Georgina Downer speaks wi...

Why did the Country Party not join in Menzies’s push for centre-right unity? In the seventh episode of a special series of the Afternoon Light Podcast, marking the 80th anniversary of the founding of the Liberal Party and the release of the new book on the history of that event,  Unity in Autonomy , Georgina Downer speaks with chapter contributor Terry Barnes to explore how and why the federal Coa...

How did Victoria become ‘the jewel in the Liberal crown’? In the sixth episode of a special series of the Afternoon Light Podcast, marking the 80th anniversary of the founding of the Liberal Party and the release of the new book on the history of that event,  Unity in Autonomy , Georgina Downer speaks with chapter contributor Stephen Wilks, about how and why Victoria became the quintessential Libe...

Has Australia’s political system lost the art of compromise? On Afternoon Light #167 Georgina Downer speaks with Damien Freeman, author of The End of Settlement: Why the 2023 referendum failed , about how Australian politics was once marked by broad agreement on a range of core issues. He unpacks why this is no longer the case, and the negative consequences this poses for the nation. Damien Freema...

Should the public know the brutalities of war? On Afternoon Light #166 Georgina Downer speaks with Stephen Dando-Collins, author of a new book covering the remarkable story of how two World War II photographers defied Australian censors to depict the realities of the Pacific conflict. In doing so, they demonstrated that the truth would not lead to demoralisation, but actually help galvanise suppor...

What goes into creating a successful political party? In the fifth episode of a special series of the Afternoon Light Podcast, marking the 80th anniversary of the founding of the Liberal Party and the release of the new book on the history of that event, Unity in Autonomy , Georgina Downer speaks with chapter contributor Andrew Kemp on how the Liberal Party’s early organisers laid a platform for e...

If changing a constitution proves too difficult, what’s the problem with judges taking on the responsibility of evolving with the times? On Afternoon Light #164 Georgina Downer speaks with Judge Amul Thapar to discuss differing approaches to constitutional interpretation, and why he believes that upholding the original meaning of the words is the only way to keep power where it belongs - in the ha...

If a Labor Party is conservative enough to produce Joseph Lyons, what space does that leave for their centre-right opponents? In the fourth episode of a special series of the Afternoon Light Podcast, marking the 80th anniversary of the founding of the Liberal Party and the release of the new book on the history of that event,  Unity in Autonomy , Georgina Downer speaks with chapter contributor Ste...

Why was South Australia the only State with a centre right government as of 1944? And how did the success of its Liberals act as a model for the formation of the nationwide Liberal Party? In the third episode of a special series of the Afternoon Light Podcast, marking the 80th anniversary of the founding of the Liberal Party and the release of the new book on the history of that event, Unity in Au...

Why did it take until 1943 for a woman to be elected to federal parliament? And how did that momentous event feed into the emergence of the Liberal Party the following year? In the second of a special series of the Afternoon Light Podcast, marking the 80th anniversary of the founding of the Liberal Party and the release of the new book on the history of that event, Unity in Autonomy, Georgina Down...