What would Menzies think now?
- lydiajulian1
- 16 hours ago
- 7 min read
In all the controversy about the appropriateness and meaning of Australia Day, not to mention being caught up in events at the Australian Open, an important political anniversary probably passed by most of us.
Australia Day 2026 was the sixtieth anniversary of the resignation of Australia’s longest serving Prime Minister, Robert Gordon Menzies. He was Prime Minister first from 26th April 1939 until 29th August, 1941. Menzies used the relatively new medium of the wireless to tell Australians that it was his “melancholy duty to inform Australians that, as a consequence of England being at war against Germany, Australia was also now at war” in September ,1939.
Losing office following the defeat of his minority coalition government, Menzies reformed the United Australia Party, with it re-emerging as the Liberal Party in 1944. Menzies led his party to victory at the December 10,1949 election and remained in office until his retirement, winning a remarkable seven elections in a row, serving a second term for just over 16 years.
Australia has now had 31 Prime Ministers. Only two have left office when they wished to. Menzies was one of them. The other was Australia’s first Prime Minister, Edmund Barton, who retired in 1903 to become one of the three founding Justices of the newly created High Court of Australia. Every other Prime Minister has lost office, either being defeated by the people at an election, rejected by their party or dying in office.
60 years on, what would Menzies make of contemporary Australia? An ardent monarchist, self-described as “British to his bootstraps,” change was not long coming following his retirement. On 14th February, 1966 – Australians did not celebrate Valentine’s Day then- decimal currency was introduced. Dollars and cents replaced the pounds, shillings, and the pence. Menzies had wished to call the new currency “the Royal.”
What could be considered the ten greatest changes to Australian society since Menzies’ retirement? To what extent have these social changes been homegrown or generated by Australia being part of the globalised Anglosphere?
Here are my top ten post-Menzian seismic social changes:
1. Changing role of women- The Menzies’ era ended without women having legally protected equal pay. That was to come in 1973. Women were only eligible to be Rhodes Scholars in Australia from 1972. No-fault divorce became Today the Senate has a majority of female members, with women comprising 40% of the House of Representatives. The High Court has had a bench with a majority of female Justices. Women are graduating in equal if not greater numbers in law and medicine. Female sport and female sporting champions have unprecedented cachet. Women now have paid maternity leave. Men have also been emancipated from stereotypical roles to some degree. Paternity leave is now available to many fathers, some of whom choose to be ‘house husbands.’
2. Multiculturalism – Australia’s White Australia immigration policy was under siege when Menzies retired. In 1948, Australia’s Immigration Minister, Arthur Calwell, declared to the approval of the Parliament that “two Wongs do not make a white.” Significant numbers of European communities had arrived after World War 2 to assist Australia “populate or perish.” During the 1970s, however, especially after the fall of South Vietnam to communism, Australia’s multicultural policy created a polyglot society that neither Menzies nor Calwell would recognise. Long praised as an exemplar for the world, the Bondi massacre has refocussed attention on the social efficacy of multiculturalism.
No such debate exists about the culinary consequences of multiculturalism. A permanent and adored revolution has occurred. The tea-drinking ‘meat and three vegetables’ with sponge pudding as dessert, menu of Menzies’ Australia is dead. From arancini to zabaglione Australians can now enjoy every aspect of the world’s cuisine. Who would have thought that coriander and lemongrass would be as much a staple of the typical Australian pantry as salt and pepper?
3. Technology- When Menzies retired most Australian homes had black and white televisions, sans remote controls, with a maximum of four stations. Many homes did not have landline telephones. An expensive telegram was the most rapid form of communication. Overseas phone calls were made by millionaires or in the event of emergencies. Mail was still delivered on a Saturday morning.
Fast forward sixty years and technology has reshaped every aspect of our life.
First there were the domestic appliances that liberated housewives, helping them complete a woman’s work: Dishwashers, microwave ovens, fully automatic washing machines and dryers, non-stick irons, frost free refrigerators and freezers. Not to forget the air-conditioners that have tempered the extreme temperatures of the cars, offices and homes in our “wide brown land.”
Then then came the technologies that were the stuff of science fiction in 1966 : mobile phones, text messages, Internet, e-mails (whatever happened to facsimile machines?), even smarter phones and watches, QR codes, digital wallets, self-serve checkouts, Google searches, streamed television services, ATMs, and a prevailing and often pernicious social media…. Who could imagine Menzies having a Facebook page and/or an Instagram account? Unlike President Trump, he would not have known what a meme is, let alone how to use one in an unedifying manner.
Whilst we all love the efficiencies that the technological revolution has brought us, many may mourn the impersonal world of commerce it has created. Is there anything more agonising than waiting for a phone call to a bank/insurance company to be finally answered by a person whom you will never be able to contact again, whilst all the while waiting having to hear a recorded message which tells you, “that your call is important to us.”?
The benefits of our technology must be set against its burdens. Have we created a startling paradox? Never have there been more ways to communicate, yet have we lost the art of genuine and original communication? Has AI arrived to further corrupt learning and intellectual rigour?
4. Housing- The great Australian dream of owning one’s own home has become a nightmare for too many. Years are required to save for a deposit on an averagely priced property. The cost of housing is negatively affecting many aspects of social life, especially Australia’s population growth rate. We are not replacing our population, focussing more on obtaining and repaying a mortgage.
5. Life’s seminal moments have been deferred and postponed: Compared to 1966 fewer Australians are marrying and are having fewer children. If and when they do, it is while they are in their late 30s, not their 20s. ‘Baby Boomer’ parents and grandparents are living longer. The two incomes required to pay for a typical Sydney or Melbourne mortgage are also required to prepare and pay for the daily care of infants and the nursing of the elderly.
6. Diversity, Equality and Inclusion- Our society has radically changed its approach to acknowledging and assisting those long ignored and neglected. When Menzies retired, Australia’s indigenous population did not have citizenship rights. Male homosexuals were still criminals. People with mental and physical disabilities were out of sight and out of mind. Very few people talked openly about their struggles to maintain sound mental health. Inclusion, equality, and active social participation are now the aims of policies of acceptance and assistance. Who could have dreamt of same-sex marriage in 1966?
7. ‘Casual becomes chic’- Barry Humphries’ comic creation, Sandy Stone, often wondered, “whatever happened to poise?” The Menzies era saw women and men wear hats, and often gloves for the ladies, “when going down the street.” Wearing one’s ‘Sunday best’ meant just that. Today, it seems almost anything or nothing goes. People wear their gym gear to coffee shops. Singlets, shorts, tee-shirts, and sandals have become an accepted mode du jour.
8. The professionalisation of sport. When Rod Laver won his first Grand Slam in 1962, he did so as an amateur. Winning Wimbledon saw him receive a voucher to purchase a pair of cufflinks from the jeweller appointed to the Royal Family. Laver turned professional shortly afterwards and returned to an ‘open’ Wimbledon in 1968. Last year, Jannik Sinner won three million pounds for winning Wimbledon, just under a mere six million Australian dollars. American footballers and basketballers, the world’s soccer elite and Formula One drivers receive eye-watering salaries.
9. Does anyone make anything here anymore? Menzies’ Australia had an economic foundation built on riding “on the sheep’s back” through exporting agricultural products. We are still an exporter of raw products, with minerals, especially iron ore, now leading the way. However, through protectionist policies Australians in 1966 were buying cars, clothes, shoes, fridges, and stoves made in Australia. No more. The tariff wall has been demolished. The Metters stove and the Malleys Whirlpool washing machine have been replaced by Miele imports.
10. Loss of religious faith: The 2021 Census recorded that 10,000,000 Australians had no religious affiliation. When Menzies retired, the names of Christian archbishops were well known. Sunday was truly a sabbath for most Australians. Cinemas were only open in the afternoon. Shops and sporting grounds were never opened. Now Sunday is the busiest trading day at major shopping centres. Sporting matches are played regularly on Sundays. National football codes now play matches on Good Friday.
And, to keep the vein of tennis arrive, we should also ask after the Australian Open whether Carlos Alcaraz now makes the cut as one of the greatest male tennis players ever?
So, in the hope of further extending the controversy about the GOAT debate, here are my current post-2026 Australian Open fifteen greatest players of all time:
MEN
=1.Federer/Nadal
3. Djokovic
4. Laver
5. Sampras
6. Alcaraz
7. McEnroe
8. Connors
=9 Don Budge and Fred Perry
11.Lew Hoad
12.Jack Kramer
13.Roy Emerson
14.Ivan Lendl
15.Andre Agassi
WOMEN
=1 Graf/Navratilova
3. Margaret Court
4. Serena Williams
5. Maureen Connolly
6. Suzanne Lenglen
7. Helen Wills-Moody
8. Chris Evert
9. Billie Jean King
10.Monica Seles
11. Louise Brough
12. Maria Bueno
13. Venus Williams
14. Evonne Goolagong
15. Doris Hart