Join the Robert Menzies Institute for A Forgotten Platform for Reform: Indigenous Policy During the Menzies Era to be delivered by Nyunggai Warren Mundine AO on Wednesday 02 August 2023 5:30pm – 7:00pm (Formalities commencing at 6:00pm).

While it is often assumed that the Menzies era was a time in which Indigenous Australians received little attention from political leaders, the period actually saw a number of important innovations which deserve to be better remembered. Menzies’s Minister for Territories Paul Hasluck introduced a wide range of reforms aimed at ensuring Indigenous Australians achieved legal and political equality in the Northern Territory, despite Indigenous Policy remaining a matter for the States until 1967. The States were not left alone to their own devices, as Menzies’s landmark 1962 Electoral Act overturned State-based bans on Indigenous voting in both Queensland and Western Australia. The Menzies Government established the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies – which greatly expanded the knowledge and preservation of Indigenous culture. Menzies also laid the foundation for the famous 1967 referendum, while simultaneously warning of the dangers of having race in the Constitution in a manner highly prescient of the debates of today.

To discuss these issues and their nuances, the Robert Menzies Institute is proud to host Nyunggai Warren Mundine AO to deliver this lecture.

Mr Nyunggai Warren Mundine AO

Mr Mundine is a member of the Bundjalung Indigenous Nation of Australia and a descendant of the Gumbaynggirr and Yuin Indigenous Nations of Australia. He is from Grafton, NSW.

Mr Mundine is a highly respected and influential businessman, political strategist and advocate for empowering the Indigenous people of Australia to build businesses and sustainable economies. His life and career have been shaped by a personal commitment to community and economic development. He has more than 40 years’ experience working in the public, private and community sectors.

He has advised successive Australian governments since 2004 and his appointment as Chairman of the Prime Minister’s Indigenous Advisory Council from 2013 to 2017 follows a long career in the public, business, policy, arts and community sectors.

He is currently Chairman and Managing Director of Nyungga Black Group, Chairman of the Australian Indigenous Education Foundation and a Governor for the Committee for the Economic Development of Australia, Chairman of Fuse Minerals and Aura Energy and was previously Chairman of Real Futures, RISE Ventures, NAISDA College, NAISDA Foundation and the Australian Indigenous Chamber of Commerce, among others.