Kevin Andrews (Menzies, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Three-quarters of a century ago, Robert Menzies set out his political philosophy in a series of radio presentations, which have since become known as 'the forgotten people' broadcasts after the one he delivered 75 years ago tonight.

Menzies' creation of the Liberal Party was borne of long and often bitter experiences over decades. At first a Nationalist member in the Victorian and Australian parliaments, Menzies became a cabinet member in the United Australia Party government of Joseph Lyons. The UAP was a device constructed to join the popular Joe Lyons with the Nationalists—one appealing to the masses, the other controlled by big business. It was a marriage of convenience supported in part by Jack Lang's destruction of Labor. Lyons' achievement was to drag the nation out of the Great Depression through spending restraint and debt reduction, but his relationship with Menzies was often strained, leading the latter to resign from the cabinet.

Central to Menzies' philosophy was a reflection that it was the middle class—as he said, 'salary earners, shopkeepers, skilled artisans, professional men and women, farmers and so on'—who were the backbone of the nation but they were unrepresented in the Australian polity. That is why there are certain core principles to which the party has subscribed: free enterprise, lower taxes, less burden on small business, support for families raising children, a strong defence force and a commitment to a shared culture. They are the values of the 'forgotten people'. It falls to every generation of Liberals to ask: who are today's forgotten people and how do we best serve them?