In this special summer series of the Afternoon Light podcast you can enjoy the presentations delivered at our November 2024 conference entitled ‘The Final Chapter: Purpose, Endurance and Legacy 1961-66 and Beyond’. This first episode features the keynote address delivered by Geoffrey Blainey, David Lee’s paper on ‘Menzies and the Dual Economy, 1961-66’ (begins at 21:29), and Selwyn Cornish on ‘RG Menzies and the Introduction of Decimal Currency’ (begins at 31:48).

Geoffrey Blainey is known for his texts on Australian economic and social history. His first book, The Peaks of Lyell, was published in 1954. His second book, The University of Melbourne: A Centenary Portrait (1956), led him back to academia, and in 1961 he began his teaching career in economic history at the University of Melbourne. He was made professor in 1968, and in 1977 he was given the Ernest Scott chair in history. His later books included The Causes of War (1973), Triumph of the Nomads (1975), A Land Half Won (1980), A Shorter History of Australia (1994), Sea of Dangers: Captain Cook and His Rivals (2009), and A Short History of Christianity (2011). Before I Forget: An Early Memoir was published in 2019.

David Lee is Associate Professor in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of New South Wales, Canberra. He is the author inter alia of John Curtin, Connor Court, 2022 and The Second Rush: Mining and the Transformation of Australia, Connor Court, 2016.

Selwyn Cornish is Honorary Associate Professor in the School of History, Research School of Social Sciences at the Australian National University, and the Official Historian of the Reserve Bank of Australia.