Why has the Liberal Party long outlived its predecessors?

16 October 2024 marked 80 years since the close of the Canberra Unity Conference, widely considered to be the ‘birth date’ of the Liberal Party of Australia. To mark the occasion, we broadcast our first-ever ‘Afternoon Light Live’, an interactive webinar which allowed the audience to become directly involved in the discussion between host Georgina Downer and guests David Kemp and Zachary Gorman. Both of whom were central contributors to our new book Unity in Autonomy: A Federal History of the Founding of the Liberal Party.

The Hon. Dr David Kemp AC is a former Federal Member and Minister in the Howard Government. Before entering Parliament he was Professor of Politics at Monash University, and after leaving Parliament Professor and Vice-Chancellor’s Fellow at the University of Melbourne. He is the former Chairman of the Museum of Australian Democracy at Old Parliament House and of the Australian Heritage Council. He has published books on voting behaviour and political analysis, and is particularly known for his ground-breaking series on Australian Liberalism published by Melbourne University Press.