Robert Menzies: The Man Who Made Modern Australia

“Menzies’s greatest legacy as a statesman was to lay the foundations of modern Australia.”– John Howard, 2014

Robert Menzies was a boy from Jeparit, a scholarship student at the University of Melbourne, a Barrister, Prime Minister of Australia for over 18 years, and later Chancellor of the University but most importantly…

He understood your dreams.

The desire to strive and reach your full potential.

The importance of the support of family and community.

The desire to own a home of your own.

Most of all, he understood the need for a fair and stable nation, where everyone is guaranteed respect and has the best chance to succeed.

The Man Who Made Australia Exhibition Contributors:

Curator: Alex McDermott

Assistant Curator and Project Manager: Victoria Hronas

Design Studio: U-P

Video and Photography: Mathew Dooling

Conservators: Erina McCann and Misty Wade

Chief Executive Officer: Georgina Downer

Principal Supporter: Charles Kiefel AM

Exhibition Items

Posed period photograph of the Menzies children: From the left, Frank, Belle, and Robert and Syd

A phrenologist and some society people in a parlour, Lithograph by H. Jannin after L.C. Bommier, Wellcome Collection

Robert’s parents on their Wedding Day: James and Kate Menzies

Scottish Dirk

William Dargie, The Rt Hon. Sir Robert Menzies KT AK CH FRS QC, oil on canvas, 106.5 × 92.5 cm. Accession no. 1971.0052, commissioned by Members of Council, (1971)

The Crusades (1894)

The Melbourne University Magazine, (1916) (Vol. 10)

Family Photograph of Robert and his siblings

Table Talk Portrait (1929) Prominent Personalities R. G. MENZIES, K.C. (1929, April 25). Table Talk (Melbourne, 1885 - 1939), p. 13. Retrieved February 17, 2026, from The National Library of Australia