X-Nico

10 unusual facts about Robert Menzies


Bob Dyer

Bob and his wife, Dolly, were probably, after Sir Robert and Dame Pattie Menzies, the most recognised double act in Australia in the 1960s.

Cabinet of Australia

The growth of the ministry in the 1940s and 1950s made this increasingly impractical, and in 1956 Liberal Prime Minister Robert Menzies created a two-tier ministry, with only senior ministers holding Cabinet rank.

Government of Australia

The growth of the ministry in the 1940s and 1950s made this increasingly impractical, and in 1956 Robert Menzies created a two-tier ministry, with only senior ministers holding Cabinet rank, also known within parliament as the front bench.

Henry Gullett

However, when Robert Menzies formed a coalition with the Country Party in March 1940, he was moved to Vice-President of the Executive Council, and Minister in charge of Scientific and Industrial Research.

In the Wet

The Queen meets not only with current Australian politicians but with elder statesmen Sir Robert Menzies and Arthur Calwell.

John McEwen

When the conservatives returned to office in 1949 under Robert Menzies after eight years in opposition, McEwen became Minister for Commerce and Agriculture, switching to Minister for Trade and Industry in 1956.

Ord River

The construction of the Ord River Diversion Dam started in late 1960 and was officially opened in July 1963 by then Prime Minister, Robert Menzies.

Parker Moloney

Chairman of the Victorian Dried Fruits Board from 1936–1957, he was only able to retire after being provided with a pension by Prime Minister Robert Menzies.

Robert Menzies

Writer Gerard Henderson has rejected this theory, but history professors Judith Brett and Joan Beaumont support Day, as does Menzies' daughter, Heather Henderson, who claimed Lady Astor "even offered all her sapphires if he would stay on in England".

Worshipful Company of Clothworkers

Famous Clothworkers included King James I, Samuel Pepys, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Baroness Burdett-Coutts, George Peabody, Sydney Waterlow, Edward VII, Lord Kelvin, Viscount Slim, Robert Menzies and the Duke of Kent.


1931 VFL season

In round 12, Carlton rover Tommy Downs is reported for kicking Richmond captain Maurie Hunter; despite the efforts of one R. G. Menzies, K.C., Downs was suspended for the remainder of the 1931 season and the whole of the 1932 season.

Charles Spry

ASIO's first Director-General, Geoffrey Reed, had been due to retire in February 1950, but his appointment was extended until the Menzies Government could find a suitable replacement.

Donald Hardman

The decision by Australian Prime Minister Robert Menzies to appoint an RAF officer caused resentment in the Air Force, compounded when he stated his reason as being that there was "no RAAF officer of sufficient age, or operation experience, to take the post of Chief of the Air Staff", ignoring the wartime records of such figures as John McCauley and Frederick Scherger.

Eddie Ward

While in opposition during the early years of World War II, Ward was leaked evidence of the 'Brisbane Line' plan, the Menzies government's decision that, in the event of enemy invasion, Australia would have been defended by the concentration of Australian military forces on a line drawn from Brisbane to Adelaide, meaning that large tracts of Australia would have been abandoned to the Japanese.

Harry C. Giese

Harry Giese AM MBE (1913–2000) administered Australian federal government policy for the people of the Northern Territory under Prime Ministers including Robert Menzies and Harold Holt and Ministers including Paul Hasluck.

Max Julius

He was a frequent candidate for elections, and it was his preferences that decided the seat of Moreton in the 1961 federal election in favour of the Liberal James Killen, allowing Robert Menzies to retain government.

Newsfront

Events recreated in the film include Robert Menzies' return as Prime Minister of Australia, the 1951 referendum to ban the communist party, Post-war immigration to Australia, the combatting of the rabbit plague, the 1955 Hunter Valley floods and the 1956 introduction of television in Australia.

Sport in the Australian Capital Territory

The Prime Minister's XI started by Robert Menzies in the 1950s, was revived by Bob Hawke in 1984, and has since been played every year at Manuka Oval.

Warren McDonald

The Menzies Liberal Government appointed him to the Australian National Airlines Commission in 1952, operator of Trans Australia Airlines, of which he was chairman by February 1957.

William Heseltine

He was Private Secretary to Sir Robert Menzies, Prime Minister, 1955–1959, and Acting Official Secretary to Viscount De L'Isle, Governor-General, May to August 1962.