Search

Zachary Gorman, ‘A story of mythology coming true’ Magna Carta and its impact on Australia

Seventy years ago the Menzies Government made the unlikely purchase of an original 1297 copy of Magna Carta. Transported to Australia with the greatest degree of care and attention, it has (barring the occasional restoration) sat in pride of place in Parliament House ever since. The question this podcast seeks to unpack is why? – what does a 13th century document principally designed to meet the interests of self-interested aristocrats have to do with a modern democracy based on universal suffrage and the legal equality of individuals? The answer, as it turns out, is everything; for the Charter captured the imagination of proceeding generations who fought and won parliamentary democracy by appealing to a powerful symbol, precedent and semi-mythologised history. The lesson to be drawn is the centrality of culture and continuity in securing and protecting freedom.

In this week’s episode of the Afternoon Light podcast, Robert Menzies Institute CEO Georgina Downer talks to Dr Zachary Gorman, author of Summoning Magna Carta: Freedom’s Symbol Over a Millenium, about the Great Charter’s impact on Australia.

Dr Zachary Gorman is the Academic Coordinator for the Robert Menzies Institute. He is a professional historian who has specialised in the history of Australian liberalism and has been working as a researcher and academic since 2013, including several years at the University of Wollongong where he received his PhD. He has authored two books: Sir Joseph Carruthers: Founder of the New South Wales Liberal Party, which traces how Australian liberalism came to sit on the centre-right of politics, and Summoning Magna Carta: Freedom’s Symbol Over a Millennium, an examination of the importance of history & culture in securing individual rights. He is also the editor of The Young Menzies: Success, Failure, Resilience 1894–1942 due for release from Melbourne University Press later this year.