The Menzies Watershed

Liberalism, Anti-communism, Continuities 1943–1954

Zachary Gorman

• Publisher: Melbourne University Press Digital
• Year: 2023
• Print ISBN:
  9780522880205
• eBook ISBN:
  9780522880243
• Topic: Histoire
• Subtopic: Histoire de l'Australie et de l'Océanie

The eleven years that passed between the 1943 and the 1954 elections were arguably some of the most pivotal in Australian history. This was a period of intense political, policy and strategic transition, which saw a popular Labor Government and its state-led vision for post-war reconstruction toppled by Robert Menzies and his newly formed political machine, the Liberal Party of Australia. Meanwhile, a backdrop of rising Cold War tensions came to dominate domestic and international policymaking, ushering in a divisive communist party ban, the ANZUS treaty, the Colombo Plan, and Australia's own agency of international espionage, ASIS. But what was the difference in practical terms between Menzies and his predecessors? What role was the state to play under a centre-right government, and would Menzies be able to live up to the liberal ideals with which he had won over the Australian public? All these issues are explored in the second of a four-volume history of Menzies and his world, based on conferences convened by the Robert Menzies Institute at the University of Melbourne. Contributors include Christopher Beer, Andrew Blyth, Troy Bramston, Lorraine Finlay, Nicolle Flint, David Furse-Roberts, Anne Henderson, David Lee, Lucas McLennan, Lyndon Megarrity, Charles Richardson, William Stoltz and Tom Switzer.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Foreword
• Introduction
• 1 Menzies’s miracle? The Foundation of the Liberal Party of Australia
• 2 Menzies and the Movement: Two Pillars of Australian Anti-communism
• 3 Menzies and the Banks
• 4 Liberalism Applied? Policy Shifts in the Transition From Chifley to Menzies
• 5 Early Think Tanks and Their Influence on the Menzies Government
• 6 What Liberty for the Enemies of Liberty?
• 7 The Art of Power
• 8 Menzies, Evatt, and Constitutional Government
• 9 The Forgotten People by the Sea? Liberalism and the Suburbanisation of the Central Coast of New South Wales During the 1950s
• 10 Menzies and Economic Management, 1950–54
• 11 A Prudent and Urgent Measure: The Founding of the Australian Secret Intelligence Service
• 12 An Innovative Realist: Percy Spender’s Achievements in the Liberal Tradition of Australian Foreign Policy
• 13 Overseas Students in Australia: Before and After the Colombo Plan
• Appendix: Australia’s Greatest Prime Minister?
• Bibliography
• Notes
• Index