The Menzies Legacy: Ideals, Change, Procession, 1960s and Beyond

Was Robert Menzies out of step with the swinging 1960s, or did he shape the profound changes that it wrought?Menzies led Australia for over half the decade, finally retiring in 1966 as our oldest prime minister.His reputation for stability and continuity appears opposed to everything we commonly associate with the 1960s.Yet he governed during a dynamic period marked by rising levels of homeownership, university education, opportunities for women, engagement with Asia, instantaneous communications, space exploration, international travel and trade.These years also saw the decline of bitter sectarian divisions, an evolving Australian identity and even the introduction of a new currency.Multitudinal transformations occurred against a backdrop of stormy geopolitical tensions, involving a presidential assassination, a clandestine war with Indonesia, the introduction of conscription and the commitment of a combat battalion to Vietnam.Australia would never be the same, but was this because of