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 Freeman is a Fellow of the Robert Menzies Institute. He has authored several books, including Radical Conservatism: Tradition as a Guide for Managing Change and Abbott’s Right: The Conservative Tradition from Menzies to Abbott. He was previously the principal policy adviser at the PM Glynn Institute, Australian Catholic University.

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 support for the troops who had to endure it all.

Stephen Dando-Collins is the award-winning author of 45 books, including histories, biographies and even children’s novels. The majority of his works deal with military history ranging from Greek and Roman times to American 19th century history and World War I and World War II. His latest book is The Buna Shots: The Amazing Story Behind Two Photographs that Changed the Course of World War Two.

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 eight decades of endurance and achievement.

Andrew Kemp is a Melbourne-based writer and a former economist at the Commonwealth Treasury and the Department of Treasury and Finance in Victoria.

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 hands of ‘the people’.

Hon. Amul R. Thapar, Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, and is the first South Asian Article III judge. Prior to his confirmation to the Sixth Circuit, he served as a judge on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky and as the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky. In 2017, he became President Donald J. Trump’s first appellate court nominee. He is the author of The People's Justice: Clarence Thomas and the Constitutional Stories That Define Him.

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 Stefan Petrow, about how Tasmania proved itself to be innately conversative, yet took 25 years to elect a Liberal government.

Stefan Petrow is an Emeritus Professor at the University of Tasmania, where he previously worked as a Lecturer in History and Classics in the School of Humanities. In 2022 he was awarded the Clive Lord Memorial Medal by the Royal Society of Tasmania for his outstanding contribution to Tasmanian history.

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 Autonomy, Georgina Downer speaks with chapter contributor Baden Teague, about how South Australia was the first state to understand the importance of Liberal unity.

Dr Baden Teague was born and educated in South Australia, graduating with a BA, BSc (Adelaide) and PhD (Cambridge). He was elected a Liberal Senator for South Australia, serving in seven Australian Parliaments, 1978-1996. He has been a member of the State Council of the Liberal Party for fifty years, 1973-2023, and is currently a writer and farmer at Inman Valley, a Crows supporter, active at St Peter's Cathedral, and is married to Kathy Teague with three sons and nine grandchildren. He is the author of The Liberal Story: A history of the Liberal Party in South Australia, 1910-2022.

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 Downer speaks with chapter contributor Anne Henderson AM, to discuss how women helped to drive the liberal movement.

Anne Henderson AM 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).

What does it mean to be a ‘Liberal’ Party?

In the first 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 David Kemp AC to explore how Menzies deliberately set out to form a ‘party with a philosophy’. It was this focus on principle that would help take politics away from the influence of sectional interests, and allow it to instead uphold the freedom and dignity of the individual citizen.

The Hon. Dr David Kemp AC is a former Federal Member and Minister in the Howard Government. Before entering Parliament he was Professor of Politics at Monash University, and after leaving Parliament Professor and Vice-Chancellor's Fellow at the University of Melbourne. He is the former Chairman of the Museum of Australian Democracy at Old Parliament House and of the Australian Heritage Council. He has published books on voting behaviour and political analysis, and is particularly known for his ground-breaking series on Australian Liberalism published by Melbourne University Press.

Did the West sell-out Poland during and after World War II?

On Afternoon Light #159 Georgina Downer speaks with Gosia Klatt to tell the remarkable tale of how Australia came to diplomatically represent Poland in Moscow in the early 1940s. A story which highlights how even at the height of the War, the USSR was a highly ‘problematic’ ally, having invaded and massacred the very nation Britain and Australia went to war to protect.

Malgorzata (Gosia) Klatt is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Melbourne. Her research spans a broad spectrum of topics—including youth transitions, adult education, vocational education, education system transitions, education policy and governance. She is the former President of the Australian Institute of Polish Affairs and the author of The Poles & Australia.

Have you heard the story of how Australian pilots helped to defeat the Nazis?

On Afternoon Light #158 Georgina Downer speaks with Tony Brady to explore the remarkable tale of the Empire Air Training Scheme. A policy which drove a massive expansion in the Royal Australian Air Force that was perhaps the greatest logistical achievement of Australia’s war effort – leaving airfields dotted all around the nation to this day.

Tony James Brady was the inaugural winner of the RAAF Heritage Fellowship in 2014 and wrote his debut book The Empire has an Answer: The Empire Air Training Scheme as reported in the Australian Press 1939-1945 in fulfilment of this award. The book, based on more than 45 000 newspaper articles from the period, draws on the lived experience of numerous men and women to paint a picture of life in the Empire Air Training Scheme during World War II. It is no surprise that Tony was drawn to the life of historian and military history. Born in Singleton NSW where his father served in the Army, Tony can trace his family’s military history from his four-times great-grandfather, a Marine Private on the First Fleet, through his grandfather in the Light Horse at Gallipoli and Egypt to his father’s service in the Malay Emergency. In 1980, aged sixteen, Tony joined the RAAF as a technical apprentice and served as an Airframe Fitter and then Photographer. He continued his photography in civilian life before completing a Bachelor of Social Science in 2008 and an award-winning PhD in 2013.