Daughters of Robert Menzies and Arthur Calwell say parliament wasn’t always a “fort”

Last week, a very special event took place in Parliament House. The daughters of Sir Robert Menzies and Arthur Calwell - Heather Henderson and Mary Elizabeth Calwell - came together to reflect on their fathers’ legacies, and to offer their perspectives on a different era in Australia’s political history. Michelle Grattan moderated the conversation. The event was organised by the Menzies-Calwell Group, made up of members of parliament from both sides of the political divide. Inspired by the friendship between Menzies and Calwell, the group aims to inject a degree of bipartisanship into our present hyper-partisan politics. Additional audio:  A List of Ways to Die, Lee Rosevere, from Free Music Archive. Image:  Office of Maria Vamvakinou MP Mentioned in this episode:Your support mattersSupport non-profit journalism you can trust. Donations 2025The Making of an AutocratSearch: "The Conversation Weekly" for our new series. Is America watching its democracy unravel in real time? In The Making of an Autocrat from The Conversation, six of the world’s pre-eminant scholars reveal the recipe for authoritarian rule. From capturing a party, to controlling the military, Donald Trump is borrowing from the playbook of strongmen thoughout history. This is the story of how democracies falter — and what might happen next.