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Warren Mundine: ‘An Enormous Foundation for Things to Happen’ Indigenous Policy under the Menzies Government

Sir Robert Menzies has been criticised for overlooking or even ignoring Indigenous issues during his record stint as Prime Minister. However, while Menzies’s record on Indigenous policy would certainly not live up to modern standards, such criticism can overlook the fact that his government introduced a number of important reforms in this area that were ground-breaking for the time and which paved the way for further advances like the election of Neville Bonner. Most important was the Commonwealth Electoral Act of 1962 which gave Indigenous people the right to vote in Commonwealth elections, overturning the disenfranchisement of Indigenous Australians that had previously been imposed by the governments of Queensland and Western Australia.

The Menzies Government also passed the initial legislation that would lead to the famous referendums of 1967, where Australians voted overwhelmingly to recognise Indigenous people in the census and to allow the Federal Government to make laws directed towards them. Even before the Federal Government was empowered in this manner, they still could make Indigenous policy in the Northern Territory, and it was here that Menzies’s Minister for Territories Paul Hasluck led a thorough reforming program. Hasluck had written a Masters thesis on Aboriginal affairs policy in Western Australia, and while his views have since been denounced for promoting assimilation, at the time he was advocating a level of recognition for Indigenous rights that had not previously existed.

Joining us to discuss these issues is Nyunggai Warren Mundine AO. Warren is a highly respected and influential businessman, political strategist and advocate for empowering Australia’s First People to build a sustained economy and to create business opportunities. He serves as the Director of the Indigenous Forum with the Centre for Independent Studies, the Executive Chairman Nyungga Black Group Pty Ltd, and a member of the board of the SBS. He is a member of the Bundjalung, Gumbaynggirr and Yuin people of New South Wales.