Robert Gordon Menzies was born in Jeparit, Victoria, on 20 December 1894, the third of four children to James and Kate Menzies. A gifted student, Menzies won scholarships to study at Grenville College Ballarat, Wesley College and at the University of Melbourne. He went on to become a successful lawyer and was appointed Kings Counsel at the age of 25.

Menzies became a member of the Victorian Parliament in 1928 and served as Attorney General and Minister for Railways in the Victorian State Government of Sir Stanley Argyle.

Menzies entered the Federal Parliament in 1934 as the Member for Kooyong and was immediately appointed Attorney General and Minister for Industry in the Government of then-Prime Minister Joseph Lyons.

After the sudden death of Lyons in 1939, Menzies became Prime Minister, and subsequently won the 1940 election. After losing the support of his party and that of the United Australia Party’s coalition partner, the Country Party, Menzies resigned the prime ministership on 29 August 1941 in favour of Country Party leader Arthur Fadden.

While on the backbench, Menzies delivered a series of radio broadcasts from 1942-44 which became known as the Forgotten People speeches. These speeches set out Menzies’s philosophy in which he placed the middle class at the centre of his thinking. Recognising the demise of the United Australia as a political force in Australia, Menzies brought together non-Labor organisations to form the Liberal Party of Australia in 1944.

On 10 December 1949, Menzies led the Liberal Party to victory in the Federal election, beating the Chifley Labor Government. He would hold the post of Prime Minister for 16 years one month and seven days, a record unbeaten to this day. Menzies retired as prime minister on 20 January 1966, having won seven consecutive elections.

After retiring from politics, Menzies was appointed by Her Majesty the Queen as Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports. He was the Chancellor of the University of Melbourne from 1967-1972.

Menzies died on 15 May 1978 at his home in Haverbrack Avenue, Malvern.

The Legacy of Robert Menzies

Menzies’s two terms of government delivered widespread prosperity and a flourishing economy for Australians. Key aspects of the Menzies legacy include:

• Improvement of living standards and a dramatic rise in the level of consumer goods per head (cars, radios etc);
• Rise in home ownership from a little over 50% to around 75% of the population in a decade;
• Great progress in industry, manufacturing output, primary industry production and mineral development;
• Australia achieved a position in the world’s top ten trading nations;
• Instigation of some of the major treaties including South East Asian Treaty Organisation, ANZUS, the Commerce Agreement with Japan, along with close co-operation with the Commonwealth and other allies;
• Consistent spending on defence programmes;
• The arrival of 1 million immigrants in ten years;
• Introduction of a succession of social security measures such as creating the Pensioner Medical and Free Medicines Service;
• Expansion of support for education programs;
• Established Commonwealth scholarships and the introduction of Commonwealth scholarships for secondary schools as a means of introducing State Aid to all schools;
• Introduction of needed improvements such as the national divorce laws;
• Established the Australia Secret Intelligence Service (ASIS);
• Child endowment introduced for the first child;
• Free medical treatment for pensioners and dependants with the introduction of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme;
• Free milk to school children;
• Introduced the right of Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islanders to vote at Federal Elections;
• Abolished land and entertainment tax;
• Introduced Medical Benefits Scheme, and introduce free life-saving drugs for needy;
• Promoter of Colombo Plan assisting South East Asian nations;
• Reciprocity in social security with United Kingdom;
• Encouraged growth of Canberra as a national capital;
• Introduced Homes for Aged Scheme;
• Introduced capital grants to mental hospitals and aid for teaching hospitals;
• Tax deductions introduced for school fees and allied expenditure;
• Introduced National Health Scheme based on self-help, providing cover for all citizens;
• Completed rail standardisation Sydney to Melbourne and funded other standardisation works;
• Completed dams including Blowering;
• Introduced tax concessions for married pensioners;
• Development of beef roads scheme to develop the inland;
• Special grants introduced for anti-tuberculosis campaigns;
• Introduced Department of Housing, Home Savings Grants Scheme and Housing Loans Insurance Corporation to help more Australians own their own home;
• Establishment of sheltered workshops;
• Introduced Aged Pensioners Home Assistance Scheme;
• Introduced invalid pensions;
• Modernised and diversified Australia’s mining industry, overseeing a mining boom with major growth into new Asian markets.
• Established Australian Universities Commission.

Click here to view the timeline representing the life and legacy of Sir Robert Menzies.