Afternoon Light Live | Gough Whitlam and the End of the Menzies Era with Troy Bramnston

The Institute is delighted to invite you to our second Afternoon Light Live for this month on Thursday 30 October 2025, 3-4pm with Troy Bramston to discuss his latest prime ministerial biography Gough Whitlam: The Vista of the New in an episode entitled ‘Crashed or Crashed Through: Gough Whitlam and the End of the Menzies Era’.

What’s more – we are experimenting with live audience with this webinar. So, if you would like to watch this in person get in quick as we will have just a small live audience present in the room to watch the discussion unfold live.

Robert Menzies and Gough Whitlam remain two of the most important prime ministers in Australian political history. Both are especially revered by their respective side of politics and represent entirely contrasting approaches to governance: Menzies with 18 years of steady and consolidated progress, Whitlam with 3 years attempting to ‘crash through or crash’.

But in many ways their careers are intimately linked: Menzies grew Australia’s middle class by expanding homeownership and tertiary education, Whitlam remade the ALP to appeal to that more prosperous and educated electorate.

Troy is best person to compare and contrast Sir Robert and Gough Whitlam, as the author of both Robert Menzies: The Art of Politics and now Gough Whitlam: The Vista of the New.

In fact, in his biography of Whitlam, Troy draws many parallels between Menzies and Whitlam: family connections, their time in parliament together, their admiration and criticisms of each other. Gough Whitlam entered Parliament in 1952, and was Sir Robert’s fellow parliamentarian through most of his second prime ministership.

The format of our live event will be 30-min of discussion with the guest and 30-min for live audience Q&A.

Date: Thursday 30 October 2025
Time: 3-4pm (AEDT)
Venue: Live Online over Zoom / Robert Menzies Institute, Old Quad, East Wing, University of Melbourne, Parkville (for live audience)
Tickets: FREE registration to join online  available HERE / To attend in person, register HERE (limited seating)