Scott Morrison hails power of faith in the making of Robert Menzies

Scott Morrison has warned Australians to guard against ‘forces’ that seek to undermine ‘the life of faith’.

Robert Menzies in 1974.

Scott Morrison has warned Australians of faith to guard against “forces” that seek to undermine, discredit and diminish “the life of faith in Australia”, which he says has been an essential foundation of society.

In a foreword to a new book that examines Robert Menzies’ ­relationship with God, the Prime Minister writes that how people view and engage with the world is a product of their values and is ­informed by what they believe in.

“Our beliefs are formed in the nursery of our family, the classrooms of our experience and education, the fellowship of our community and the quiet spaces of reflection, where we confront our vulnerabilities and mortality,” Mr Morrison writes.

“It is also still true for the ­majority of Australians that what we believe is heavily influenced by where we come together to worship and pray. Faith remains a powerful force in the lives of many Australians. This remains a good thing for our nation.”

Mr Morrison argues that the “faith and moral character” of the Liberal Party‘s principal founder and Australia’s longest-serving prime minister “produced a principled but pragmatic Australian liberalism” that identified the “dignity and potential” of every person and continues to guide the party today.

In David Furse-Roberts’s book, God and Menzies: The Faith that Shaped a Prime Minister and his Nation (Connor Court), Mr Morrison notes that while Menzies’ world-view was classically secular, it was not conceived and nurtured in the absence of religious principles. A Christian ethos fuelled his contribution to public life and the Bible provided a foundation for his values. “In Menzies’ view, Christianity starts with the individual, not the society or the state,” the Prime Minister writes. “To transform society, you must first transform the heart, soul, mind and life of the individual believer. Likewise, it is the moral character and agency of individual Australians, rather than the collective state, that is the true driver of change, progress and renewal.”

Menzies often referred to himself as “a simple Presbyterian”. His father, James Menzies, was a Presbyterian but preached in the Methodist Church in Jeparit. Growing up in Jeparit, Menzies recalled his father reading passages from the Bible every day and ­attending church every week. And in Melbourne, he enrolled in the Methodist-run Wesley College.

Dr Furse-Roberts writes that Menzies’ “reservoir of faith” was filled in his youth and helped form his political philosophy and personal convictions. This Judaeo-Christian inheritance also shaped the values of the Liberal Party. Menzies disdained sectarianism and never tolerated religious bigotry or prejudice. His government provided funding for non-government schools.

“The modern Liberal Party, though secular in the classical sense of being non-ecclesiastical, was not conceived in a spiritual and moral vacuum but … was heir to a robust ­Judaeo-Christian tradition ­affirming of individual dignity and freedom, strong families and subsidiarity, together with an ethical citizenship of neighbourly love, social justice and religious toleration,” he writes.

Troy Bramston is the author of Robert Menzies: The Art of Politics (Scribe)