The Liberal Party was snubbing one of the greatest achievements of its founder, Sir Robert Menzies, by pretending the party was founded in Albury when it was founded in Canberra, according to the ACT Labor Attorney-General, Terry Connolly.
Mr Connolly said yesterday that the Liberal Party had been founded in Canberra 50 years ago, not Albury, and the Liberals should be holding their anniversary conference here.
He condemned the Liberals’ leader, Alexander Downer, for saying on Friday that the Liberal Party had been formed “”here in Albury”.
Mr Connolly cited yesterday excerpts from letters and books by Sir Robert Menzies to back up his claim.
Menzies had written to non-Labor political organisations in September 1944 saying that to return to office non-Labor parties “”must match Labor’s organisation with an Australian organisation of our own . . . I therefore invite you to be present at a conference to be held at Canberra on October 13, 14 and 16”.
The letter is quoted in (ital) The Liberal Party of Australia: A Documentary History (end ital) (G Starr, 1980).
Menzies notes in (ital) Afternoon Light (ital) the meeting was held at the Masonic Hall in Barton and adopted the name Liberal Party.
A second conference was held in Albury in December.
A speech by Menzies extracted in the documentary history said: “”This Liberal Party _ of Australia, mark you, an Australia-wide organisation _ originated in a conference in Canberra . . . ”.
Mr Connolly said, “”It’s as if the obsessive states’ rights anti-Canberra dogmas of the diverse state branches cannot bear to accept the historical reality that their party was, in fact, created in Canberra.
“”This is a pity because it distorts history and snubs one of the great achievements of Sir Robert Menzies _ the development and consolidation of Canberra as our nation’s capital.”
Mr Connolly said the Liberals celebrated their 21st anniversary in Canberra and cited a photo in The Canberra Times extracted in Robert Menzies’ Forgotten People.