MHHV >
The Final Chapter: Purpose, Endurance, and Legacy 1961-66 and Beyond
November 23 @ 9:00 am - November 24 @ 5:00 pm
The period from 1961-66 was the final phase of the Menzies era, yet in some respects it was the most remarkable.
After a near defeat at the 1961 election, Menzies held a razor thin majority and many assumed that he would ride off into the political sunset.
However, if anything the near miss reinvigorated him, spurring a new wave of policy innovation in the introduction of State Aid for independent schools, major investments in science education and the space race, and laying the groundwork for the decimal currency.
On the geopolitical front, it was a time of heightened danger in which a full-scale war with Indonesia loomed as a very real possibility, prompting a major overhaul of the Australian Defence Force and a controversial commitment to Vietnam.
Papers to be presented include:
Michael de Percy, From the bottom of the sea to the moon: Menzies and Australia’s communications golden age
Lucas McLennan, Australian anti-Communist organisations in the Vietnam War debate
Andrew Carr & Peter Dean, The ADF Menzies Built
Tom Lewis, The Menzies defence legacy: wise, brave, and enduring
Damien Freeman & Dean Smith, Recommending an Appointment to the Sovereign
