Robert Menzies by Troy Bramston

Author:Troy Bramston
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: BIO010000, POL055000, POL000000, BIO011000, HIS004000
Publisher: Scribe Publications Pty Ltd
Published: 2019-04-15T16:00:00+00:00

IN February 1957, just a few months after he was elected deputy leader, Harold Holt wrote a 21-page paper for Menzies titled ‘The political situation’. The paper provided an inside assessment of the Menzies government at its mid-point. It was not overly flattering. ‘Although comparatively comfortably placed at present, the Menzies government does not enjoy the degree and warmth of public support that its policies, achievements and personnel merit for it,’ Holt argued. He said ‘there is scope for considerable improvement’ in the government’s relations with its own backbench, state, and federal party organisations, and also with state MPs. On the bright side, the leadership was ‘widely respected’, and ministers were ‘able and experienced’.49

Holt noted ‘the parlous plight of our opposition’, but warned against complacency. Holt thought the government needed ‘an imaginative program’ of policies to take to the voters by the time of the next election. ‘We still lack a sufficiently large following of devoted people who are wholeheartedly for our principles, and enthusiastic about how we apply them,’ Holt wrote. There was recognition that the government had been ‘delivering the goods’, with ‘sustained prosperity, development and full potential’, and that it was ‘sounder’ on finance, foreign policy, and defence. But the government could not afford to rest on its laurels.50

As Holt’s report reminds us, it would be a mistake to think that Menzies was always dominant. He suffered a significant setback at the December 1961 election, for example, and had to govern for the next two years with only a one-seat majority in the House of Representatives. Menzies never courted popularity, and was acutely conscious that he did not always possess it; in fact, Menzies at no stage reached the heights of popularity enjoyed by John Curtin. The Gallup Poll often showed that, between terms, the Coalition trailed Labor, led first by Evatt and then Calwell, only to recover by election day. This was true of Menzies before winning the 1954, 1961, and 1963 elections. This was also the case with Gough Whitlam (1974), Malcolm Fraser (1980), Bob Hawke (1987 and 1990), Paul Keating (1993), and John Howard (1998, 2001, and 2004).

Menzies was a shrewd practitioner of politics who learned from his mistakes, and could change course on policy, or devise new political strategies to remain in power. This was being pragmatic — a hallmark of any successful political leader. Menzies knew it was more important to be respected than popular. Respect can help a government survive, even when it has a slim majority on the floor of the parliament, whereas popularity can be fleeting and, once it is lost, can lead to disappointment among voters and to panic among MPs. A government needs a more stable foundation for effective political leadership than popularity alone, and that is what Menzies provided.

On 30 November 1954, Robert Menzies became Australia’s longest-serving prime minister. He had been in office over two terms for seven years, 15 weeks, and one day — a day longer than Billy Hughes.51 A month earlier, the Liberal Party had reached ten years since its founding.

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