Afternoon Light

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.

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).

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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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 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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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.

➡️ Support the Robert Menzies Institute: . 📱 Follow the Menzies Institute on Social Media: X: Facebook: / robertmenziesinstitute TikTok: / robert.menzies.in Instagram: / robertmenziesinstitute

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.

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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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

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.