The Menzies Government rebuilt Australian freedom and prosperity after the Second World War, and laid the economic and social foundations that have made Australia one of the most successful democracies in the world since that time.

The Menzies government also marked the beginning of one of the most successful periods for the Liberal Party at a federal level. Coming to power only a few years after the Liberal Party was formed, its founder – Sir Robert Menzies – led a government tasked with remaking Australia after the war.

Robert Menzies was deeply committed to principles of individual freedom and opportunity, and he was determined that Australia would not go down the damaging road that Labor was planning (and that Britain had embarked on) with nationalisation of all major industries and government attempts to centrally plan the economy. In Britain that strategy produced a long period of slow decline, only reversed in the 1980s. Thanks to Robert Menzies, Australia avoided that. He believed that people had to be rewarded for their efforts, that taxes should be kept down, and that the creativity of the individual, expressed within a framework of just and fair laws, would secure Australia's future strength and prosperity.  The prosperous and free Australia he left behind on his retirement proved that he was correct.

The Liberal Party under Menzies also strongly resisted the efforts of the Communist Party of Australia (backed by the Soviet Union), with its base in the trade unions, to disrupt and weaken Australian industry and undermine Australia in the Cold War.  While Labor was consumed in its internal battles between the extreme Left and anti-communist elements, the Liberal Party stood firm in the defense of the democratic ideals on which Australia had been founded. The Labor Party split between the Left and anti-Communist elements in 1954, and the anti-communist Labor group became the Democratic Labor Party.

The Menzies period is often recognised as a golden era in Australia’s history with widespread prosperity, a flourishing economy and work for all. Some features of Australia under the Menzies Government include:

• high living standards for all Australians and the level of consumer goods per head (cars, radios, etc) rose dramatically
• the ratio of home owners rose from a little over 50 per cent to around 75 per cent of the population
• great progress in industry, manufacturing output, primary industry production and mineral development
• Australia achieved a position in the world’s top ten trading nations
• consistent spending on defence programs
• the arrival of 1 million immigrants in just 10 years
• the introduction of new social security measures such as creating the pensioner medical and free medicines service
• a dramatic expansion in education, with new universities in most states and the ending of the discriminatory funding policies for non-government schools
• the introduction of needed improvements in the national divorce laws

The Menzies Government achieved much during its 16 years and Australia was transformed into one of the region's leading economies. Australia grew rapidly during this period and the Menzies team was able to provide for the explosion in population through sound financial management and a public works program that included the construction of the Snowy Mountain Scheme. Some of the significant achievements that highlighted the Menzies era include:

• the introduction of child endowment for the first child 
• establishment of a highly successful popular voluntary health insurance scheme
• negotiating the ANZUS and SEATO defence treaties
• support for the successful United Nations effort to stop the Soviet-backed takeover of South Korea by communist forces
• the encouragement of growth in Canberra, making it truly the nations capital
• changes to taxation – tax deductions for school fees and allied expenditure, the abolition of land and entertainment tax and tax concessions introduced more married pensioners
• completing the standardisation of the rail line between Sydney and Melbourne, as well as other rail standardisation works
• an expanded public heath program including the introduction of special grants for anti-tuberculosis campaigns, the establishment of a Medical Benefits Scheme and free medical treatment for pensioners and dependents
• the establishment of the Department of Housing, the Home Savings Grants Scheme and Housing Loans Insurance Corporation as a means of helping more Australians own their own home
• reforms to education such as the introduction of the Commonwealth Scholarships and the establishment of the Australian Universities Commission
• the introduction of State aid for non-government schools, ending decades of discrimination against parents sending their children to Catholic and independent schools

These and many more initiatives introduced during the Menzies era helped to make Australia what it is today – a free, vibrant, cosmopolitan, economically strong and prosperous nation, trading with the world and standing up for democratic principles in the international community.