Melbourne University’s Robert Menzies Institute Is a Right-Wing Con
After starving universities of funding, Australian conservatives now want to set up an institute dedicated to right-wing leader Robert Menzies. Its only purpose will be to shift public debate to the right and provide Liberal hacks with subsidized employment.
A statue of Robert Menzies in Canberra, Australia, photographed in 2015. (Peter F. Williams)
The University of Melbourne is planning to establish a Robert Menzies Institute (RMI) to promote the life and legacy of Australia’s longest-serving prime minister, an archconservative. The plans have been met with outrage from staff and students.
The institute’s purported aim is to “uphold and promote Sir Robert’s legacy and vision for Australia as a country of freedom, opportunity, enterprise and individual dignity.” It will support lectures, exhibitions, public forums, and visits from schools.
Menzies served twice as Australia’s prime minister, first from 1939 to 1941 and then in a much longer stint from 1949 to 1966. He played a central role in founding the Liberal Party, which currently governs in coalition with the National Party, with Scott Morrison as prime minister.
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