Sir Robert Menzies
Bev McARTHUR (Western Victoria) (09:50): I rise to defend a famous western Victorian, Australia’s 12th and longest serving Prime Minister Sir Robert Menzies. I was sorry to miss Dr Bach quoting Sir Robert in this place on Tuesday and Mr Batchelor’s mischief-making, because there is a lot more to add on the subject. Firstly, I am sure Sir Robert would recognise a straw man when he saw one, but nobody I know advocates every idea of any past hero, and certainly no-one suggests they form the sole basis of a 21st century political movement. But Sir Robert’s enduring legacy to the Liberal Party is not specific ideas and policies, it is the values he articulated. These tried and tested beliefs and principles remain as relevant today to our party as they were to the Australian people who elected him eight times.
One of the few PMs to escape Dr Bach’s wrath was the bold John Howard. That amused me. I am not sure where Dr Bach believes John Howard drew his inspiration from, but I can certainly tell him: it was Menzies. Mr Howard adapted Menzian principles to contemporary challenges and so must we. Finally, Menzies’s dull government was not revolutionary enough; after the war that was no bad thing. As Bob Hawke said of the Menzian years, ‘Basically, they were too long.’ What would we give now for long boring years of Liberal government?