This is Prime Minister Paul Keating’s response to a question about the supposed “golden age” of the 1950s. It occurred in the House of Representatives on February 27, 1992.
The question permitted Keating to make one of his most vitriolic attacks on the Liberal Party, its founding leader, Sir Robert Menzies, and the cultural cringe.
Keating had been prime minister for just over two months, following his overthrow of Bob Hawke on December 19, 1991.
The Dorothy Dix question put to Keating was the tenth for the day and was asked by Daryl Melham, the first-term Labor member for the NSW seat of Banks. Melham held Banks until he was defeated in the 2013 federal election.