Join the Robert Menzies Institute in Sydney to celebrate the launch of our second book The Menzies Watershed on Tuesday 9 April 2024 6:00pm – 7:30pm.

We are honoured to have Emeritus Professor Greg Craven AO to launch this book, the second in a four-volume history of Menzies and his world, based on conferences convened by the Robert Menzies Institute at the University of Melbourne.

You can register for tickets here. The launch will be held at the Centre for Independent Studies, Level 1, 131 Macquarie Street, Sydney NSW 2000.

Light refreshments will be served from 6:00pm, with formalities commencing at 6:30pm.

Copies of The Menzies Watershed will be available to purchase on the day and are available for pre purchase at the Robert Menzies Institute Bookstore .

About The Book

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, with a foreword by The Honourable John Howard OM AC.

About Professor Greg Craven:

Professor Greg Craven, lawyer and academic, served as Vice-Chancellor of Australian Catholic University (ACU National) from 2008 until 2021.

Professor Craven has researched and written on constitutional law, government, public policy, constitutional history and federalism. An expert in public law, Professor Craven has published numerous journal articles and four books, including Conversations with the Constitution (University of New South Wales Press, 2004). A regular contributor to public debate, he is a columnist for the Australian.

He was a leading advocate of republicanism in the leadup to the (eventually unsuccessful) 1999 referendum on the proposed change in Australia from being a constitutional monarchy to a republic. He is also noted as a key Australian Catholic opinion on most important issues.

Prior to his appointment at ACU, Professor Craven served as Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Strategy & Planning) at Curtin University of Technology in Western Australia, where he also held the position of Professor of Government and Constitutional Law, having previously served as Executive Director of the John Curtin Institute of Public Policy.

Professor Craven was Foundation Dean and Professor of Law at the University of Notre Dame Australia, and Reader in Law at the University of Melbourne. He also served as Crown Counsel to the Victorian Government from 1992-95.