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 final episode features Charles Richardson on ‘Menzies’s Philosophical Legacy to his party’, Stephen Loosley’s paper ‘A Horse With No Name: Federal Labor, 1954-1966′ (begins at 19:50), and Frank Bongiorno’s paper ‘”one of the world’s masterpieces”? Australian reaction to Menzies’s retirement, January 1966’ (begins 33:15).

Charles Richardson has a law degree from Melbourne University and a PhD from Rutgers University, specialising in ethics and political philosophy. He has worked in a variety of positions in government and politics, and is a former director of Above Quota Elections Pty Ltd. His work has appeared in numerous publications and he has been featured as a commentator in newspapers, radio and television. Since 2012 he has written on world politics at his blog, The World is Not Enough, and does periodic consulting work on electoral matters. His research interests include the history of liberal democratic structures and the comparative study of European party systems.

Stephen Loosley is the former Council Chair at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute. Mr Loosley was the General Secretary of the NSW branch of the Australian Labor Party (1983–90), prior to being elected to the Australian Senate in 1990, where during his term he served as Chairman of the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs. He also served a term as ALP National President (1991–92).

Frank Bongiorno is Professor of History at the Australian National University and President of the Council for the Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences. His books include Dreamers and Schemers: A Political History of Australia (La Trobe University Press,2022) and (co-authored with Nick Dyrenfurth) A Little History of the Australian Labor Party (Second edition, NewSouth,2024). He contributed a chapter to Confusion: The Making of the Australian Two Party System (ed. Paul Strangio and Nick Dyrenfurth, Melbourne University Press, 2009). He is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia, and recently completed a term as President of the Australian Historical Association.