Australia’s longest-serving Prime Minister, Sir Robert Menzies, believed “that a sense of history … does more to produce sanity of mind and judgment and stability of spirit than anything else.”

Recently, the house Menzies lived in from his retirement until his death at Haverbrack Avenue, Malvern was demolished. Sadly, we can’t bring back the house, but the demolition is a reminder of the importance of preserving buildings like this for our nation’s history.

Is it something in the irreverence of Australians that we do not like to commemorate our leaders’ past in the same way the Yanks and the Brits do? In the US the homes of presidents are like shrines, while in the UK the ubiquitous blue plaques are affixed to their walls.

Not all prime ministerial homes in Australia are lost, however. The Federal Government recently announced a grant of $1.3 million to restore Gough Whitlam’s home in Cabramatta and turn it into a museum.

Menzies’s house at Haverbrack Avenue was a chapter in a story of a great Australian, the father of modern Australia, the leader who gave us ANZUS, oversaw a period of extraordinary economic prosperity, expanded home ownership and educational opportunities for our growing nation.

Haverbrack Avenue tells us that Menzies was, contrary to popular belief, not a man born rich or focused on money-making. While he made some money at the bar before he went into politics, Menzies’s calling to public office meant he left politics without the means to fund his retirement. So, a few of his supporters purchased the house for Menzies and his wife Dame Pattie in 1965 for them to live in upon their departure from the Lodge. Menzies accepted the gift, but on the condition that the house be sold on his death and the proceeds donated to two schools where his wife and daughter Heather had attended.

If only the now demolished walls at Haverbrack Avenue could talk! Menzies in retirement had so many visitors and stickybeaks that he re-named it “Have a look” Avenue. A favourite visitor was Catholic activist B.A. Santamaria. He would come at 5pm and recalled how Menzies would wait impatiently until 5:50pm ‘on the dot’ when he would say ‘Well young Bob, time for our drink’, and pour two enormous whiskies.

Menzies died at Haverbrack Avenue while reading in his beloved armchair on 15 May 1978. The house may be lost, but his legacy remains in our great nation.

By Georgina Downer, Chief Executive Officer, Robert Menzies Institute

Originally published in the Herald Sun, 14 September 2021.