The Menzies Brief - Menzies FoundationThe Menzies Brief Currently the Menzies Brief is primarily...

CONTENTS

Editorial and News from the Foundation ................................................................................................................................

News from Oxford: Patrick Ky and Alisa Selimovic ......................................................................................................................... 2

Handbook for Allied Health Researchers launch ............................................................................................................................ 2

Awards: CJ Martin/RG Menzies Fellowship and Menzies Centenary Prize ............................................................................. 3

Prize presentation, Dimboola ................................................................................................................................................................ 3

Harvard Awards ........................................................................................................................................................................................ 4

NHMRC Program Grant : Prof Paul Hodges ...................................................................................................................................... 4

PM’s XI Cricket Match ............................................................................................................................................................................... 4

MRI 20th Anniversary: A Menzies Foundation Perspective ........................................................................................................... 5

EDITORIAL Greetings to all Menzies Scholars wherever you may be

in Australia or abroad. The year is racing along and I’m sure those of you who are currently undertaking Scholarships will be wondering how time seems to fly; indeed how you are going to complete your commitments in the time available. The good news is that the vast majority of Scholars are successful in their endeavours, largely because those who become Scholars possess personal characteristics that will ensure achievement. Resilience and determination carry the day!

I am writing this Editorial thinking about our President Marie Estcourt’s new role as mother to Isaac. Please join me in congratulating Marie and her partner Mike on the birth of their son, and wish them the best as they embark on the journey of establishing their family. We look forward to welcoming you back to your MMSA duties when you see your way clear to do so, Marie.

I had the pleasure of attending my first Menzies Board meeting in March, and meeting the dedicated Board members who give so generously of their time to further the cause and aid in achieving the goals and objectives of the Foundation. I was very impressed by the breadth and depth of knowledge seated around the Board room table, as well as the passion demonstrated by the members of the Board. We are indeed fortunate to have

News from the Foundation

Vol 13, No 1, 2010

The Menzies Brief

Currently the Menzies Brief is primarily identified as the MMSA newsletter, but it is also used by the Foundation to report to a wider audience on the Scholarship program, the activities of past scholars, and on other activities of the Foundation. The Foundation and the MMSA will continue to strengthen their association through joint ownership of the Menzies Brief, and through other shared activities to increase public awareness of the scholarship program, the alumni, and the Foundation.

With the loss of scholarship funding from the British Commonwealth and Foreign Office, the Foundation is looking at other options to conserve and supplement the funds available for UK scholarships in future years. One cost-saving option has been for the Foundation to advertise the UK Engineering Scholarship in 2010, but for take-up to be deferred to the 2011 academic year. This change in timing will also bring the Engineering and Law Scholarships time-tables into better alignment.

It may be that through MMSA, past scholars can come up with ideas that will help the Foundation to strengthen the scholarship program in future years. Please contact either Liisa Laakso (Secretary of the MMSA) or John Mathews (Executive Director of the Foundation) with your suggestions.

Marie Estcourt and Isaac

their guidance at the helm and of course ably supported by the Executive Director and Secretariat . I have a separate short report on matters relevant to the MMSA raised at the Board meeting.

Liisa Laakso MMSA Secretary/Treasurer

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Newsletter of the Menzies Memorial Scholars Association Vol 13, No 1, 2010

The Foundation welcomed radio and television presenter, Ms Virginia Trioli to launch its Handbook for Allied Health Researchers on 9 December, 2009 at Clarendon Terrace.

The handbook, published by the Foundation and edited by Professor Alison Perry, Professor Meg Morris and Dr Sue Cotton, will support research in clinical practice. Previous Menzies Scholars, Assoc Professor Sandy Brauer, Dr Fiona Dobson, Professor Paul Hodges and Dr Deborah Walsh, contributed to the publication and Dr Andy Chien spoke at the launch.

The handbook provides research advice in a clear and user friendly format.

Copies can be ordered at menziesfoundation.org.au.

Handbook for Allied Health Researchers launch

Dr Andy Chien and Professor Alison Perry

Virginia Trioli, Dr Sue Cotton, Professor Alison Perry and Professor Meg Morris following the launch of the Handbook

for Allied Health Researchers at Clarendon Terrace

The Foundation was delighted to receive this recent update from 2009 Engineering Scholar, Alisa Selimovic, on her life and progress in Oxford:

“I am very well, and having a fantastic time both in and out of work. My PhD is progressing very rapidly—I have already had the opportunity to contribute to one paper, with two more to come in the next three months, as well as to teach pre-doctoral students. In July I am attending a summer school on arterial biomechanics in Austria, and, icing on the cake, I have been invited to present at the World Congress of Biomechanics in Singapore in August!!

“Outside of the PhD, I am very much involved with the Oxford branch of Engineers Without Borders, and with the nice(r) weather finally making its way here, I am training for the Cardiff half marathon in October which is the best-placed in terms of timing. Whether it's well-placed in terms of weather is really questionable! But, given that it rains here nearly every day (it hailed during one of my runs last week!), I think I will have been toughened up enough to put up with it.”

Alisa Selimovic

Law Scholar Patrick Ky (second from left) waits in line to be presented to Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth. Patrick was Environment representative on the Committee at Magdalen College. “I've been told by my friends that

they have never seen me as serious as I look in this photo. Clearly, they weren't there during my Menzies interview!” (This belated item came to light when Patrick visited the Foundation before Christmas.)

News from Oxford

Patrick Ky

The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh visited Magdalen College, Oxford University on 27 November 2008 to celebrate the 550th Anniversary of the College. They met students in the President's Lodgings, had lunch with Fellows, students and staff in the College Hall and visited the Chapel. It was the first visit the Queen had made to the College since 1948.

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AWARDS

This Prize, initiated in 1994 to mark the centenary of Sir Robert’s birth in Jeparit, is awarded annually to a Year 12 student from Dimboola Memorial Secondary College. The award of $10,000 towards the cost of tertiary study is jointly funded by the Foundation, the Menzies Memorial Scholars Association and through the generous support of Sir Robert Menzies’ daughter, Mrs Heather Henderson.

The 2010 Prize has been awarded to Ms Jessie Hutchinson. Jessie gained an ENTER score of 93.8 and was Dux of the College in 2009. She achieved the prize for Scholastic Excellence every year along with Honours and Effort Certificates and received awards in Technology, English and Maths over several years. A School Contribution Award was also made to Jessie in in recognition of her participation in school events.

Jessie will study Health Sciences/Occupational Therapy Practice at La Trobe University in Bendigo commencing in 2011.

Menzies Centenary Prize The CJ Martin/RG Menzies Fellowship, awarded in

association with the NHMRC, is available for postgraduate medical study at approved overseas institutions with tenure for up to four years.

The 2010 award has been made to Dr Daniel Worthley from the Queensland Institute of Medical Research.

Dan’s study on the contribution of myofibroblasts to the development of stomach cancer will be carried out at the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center, Columbia University, New York and the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, Melbourne.

The study has important implications for many different inflammation-associated cancers including oesophageal, bowel and cervical cancers.

Medicine

Dan Worthley

I had heard of past scholars’ experiences during their trip to Dimboola to present the Menzies Centenary Prize, so I was more than willing to accept an invitation to present the award to Elizabeth Klinge in 2009.

After driving with my mother from Melbourne to Dimboola, we went on a tour of the Dimboola Memorial Secondary College. The staff were very friendly and happy to have a Menzies representative at the awards ceremony later that night.

At the Awards Night, I briefly addressed the school community about the Menzies Foundation and how I came to be a part of the Foundation as a Menzies Scholar. Parents and staff were interested in discussing my Autism research after the presentation, which led to some of their students doing volunteer work at the Autism centre at La Trobe University.

After a wonderful night, we were invited to see the Klinge’s farm the next morning. During the visit we saw a shed full of their award winning wool, which was

obviously very soft! We also took a short trip to Jeparit, the birthplace of Sir Robert Menzies.

The trip to Dimboola was a wonderful experience and I highly recommend all Scholars to volunteer to make the presentation. It will be much appreciated by all.

Josephine Barbaro

Prize presentation, Dimboola

Dimboola Memorial Secondary School Elizabeth Klinge and

MMSA representative Josie

Barbaro at the Awards night.

Elizabeth is holding “R.G. Menzies - A

Portrait” by Sir John Bunting, a gift from

the Foundation.


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PM’s XI Cricket Match

Sir Robert Menzies had an abiding passion for cricket. He established the Prime Minister’s XI cricket match in 1951 when he convened an Australian team to take on the touring West Indies.

The 2010 Prime Minister’s XI vs West Indies match was played at Manuka Oval, Canberra on 4 February. The Foundation was represented at the match and the traditional pre-match reception by Mr Brian Doyle and Professor John Mathews.

The rain shortened match saw the Windies hit 399 off 45 overs, including 14 fours and eight sixes.

Opposing opening batsmen Chris Gayle (146) and Tom Cooper (160 off 120 balls) earned joint man-of-the-match honours and were presented with Menzies Foundation man-of-the-match medallions. The medallion features eleven cricketers in various aspects of the game and is a replica of the Sir Robert Menzies Memorial Cricket Trophy designed by Stuart Devlin.

Prime Minister Rudd presents the Menzies Memorial Trophy to Chris Gayle, captain of the winning team.

The trophy is on display at the Australian Prime Ministers' Centre at Old Parliament House, Canberra

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and The Foundation’s Deputy Chairman, Brian Doyle, at the Menzies medallion and

trophy presentation

Professor Paul Hodges, Menzies Allied Health Sciences Scholar in 1994, is a recent winner of a prestigious NHMRC Program Grant for his internationally recognised research in pain control. Musculoskeletal pain, injury and health: improving outcomes through conservative management. University of Queensland - $7,570,000

Description: Musculoskeletal pain and injury is a major health issue facing our ageing society. The cost in terms of health care and lost productivity is second only to cardiovascular disease. This program will address the major musculoskeletal disorders such as spinal pain and osteoarthritis. The team will undertake research with the potential for real and enduring impact on these conditions - from the physiological basis for their occurrence, to trials of innovative drug-free conservative treatments.

Paul is Director of the NHMRC Centre for Clinical Research Excellence in Spinal Pain, Injury and Health.

NHMRC Program Grant

John and Coralie Mathews meet the Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and his

wife Thérèse at The Lodge


MENZIES SCHOLARSHIPS TO HARVARD AWARDED

Jointly sponsored by The Harvard Club of Australia, the Australian National University and the Menzies Foundation, the recipients of the scholarship for 2010 are Dr Gregory Keane and Dr Lakshmi Nayana Vootakuru. The Foundation was represented in the selection process by Ms Edwina Menzies.

Dr Gregory Keane is a Fellow of the RANZCP. He is currently a Consultant Psychiatrist at the Peninsula Health Service, Salvation Army Health Service and Alfred Health in Victoria. Gregory will study for a Master of Public Health (Health Policy and Management) at the Harvard School of Public Health.

Dr Lakshmi Nayana Vootakuru is a graduate of the University of Newcastle’s medical school and she currently works in the field of Anaesthetics at Concord Hospital, NSW. Lakshmi has worked extensively in

remote and Indigenous communities, and to raise awareness of developing world health issues. Her ultimate goals include working as a clinician in under-resourced areas, acting as a health care advocate for marginalised populations and participating in health policy reform at a national and international level.

“The Menzies Scholarship will give me the opportunity to undertake postgraduate study in a world class institution and learn how health policy can be effectively utilised to achieve better health outcomes for marginalised communities in Australia.”

Lakshmi Nayana Vootakuru

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Distinguished guests and colleagues, it is a pleasure to be here today to help celebrate the achievements of the Menzies Research Institute on its 21st anniversary.

As an older person, one can more easily look back and trace the remarkable series of contingent events that helped the Institute to grow into the great success that it is today. In celebrating this occasion, and the contingent events leading to today, we must certainly start the story with Menzies’ birth in 1894, in Jeparit in the Wimmera District of Victoria. Robert Menzies was lucky enough to have his talent recognised by his primary school teachers and parents. He went on to scholarships and academic success at Wesley College and the University of Melbourne, and graduated in law with first class honours in 1916.

Menzies’ talent, coupled with his communication skills and long hours of work, established him as a highly successful barrister. He was elected to the Victorian Legislative Council in 1928, and to the federal electorate of Kooyong in 1934 – the seat which he was to hold until his retirement in 1966. He became leader of the United Australia Party and then Prime Minister in April 1939 on the eve of World War 2. He joined Churchill’s war cabinet while visiting UK for 3 months in 1941, although he had little real influence on Churchill’s plans for the Australian army divisions. Soon after Menzies returned to Australia from UK, he had to resign as PM and the Labor party formed government, with Curtin and then Chifley serving as our war-time Prime Ministers.

Menzies stayed in the federal parliament, but lost the 1946 election, his first as leader of the Liberal party. He won the 1949 election, in part because of his skill in using the radio to speak to the “forgotten people” of Australia, and held office as Prime Minister until 1966, in a period of remarkable immigration, growth and change in Australian society. His long term in office was helped by public concerns about the threat from Communism in an era marked by the Korean War, the Petrov defections, the DLP split in the Labour party vote, and then the Vietnam war.

Yet Menzies’ most memorable achievements are not to be measured against the political spectrum of right versus left. He was a firm believer in the transformative power of educational opportunity, marked by his establishment of the University Grants Commission following the Murray Committee report of 1956. As a result of that, and the

The Menzies Research Institute, Hobart 21st Anniversary Symposium, December 2009

A MENZIES FOUNDATION PERSPECTIVE from Professor John Mathews, Executive Director

Commonwealth Scholarships Scheme, people of my generation had access to a university education when that might otherwise have been impossible.

Menzies’ government also supported science and medical research, and he had a great respect for what it could achieve. Yet in the Cold War era, when the clouds of impending nuclear war still loomed large, and before the DNA revolution had even been thought of, Menzies also said that:

“As an instrument, science can achieve either good or ill. That will depend upon the minds and spirits of those who use the instrument. Our natural and acquired capacity for extravagance, skilfully played upon by the sensationalists of the fleeting day, can too easily lead us to believe that the need for more scientists is such that all other higher studies should be subordinate; that the study of physical nature is the only thing that greatly matters; that if knowledge comes, wisdom will not linger. Believing as I do that science and wisdom have no necessary connection, and that scientific study and achievement are not ends but means, I am driven to the conclusion that what the scientists do or will do will put into our hands discoveries which can be the means of destruction or of a new and complicated form of technological slavery, but which, wisely used, can be the means of human salvation. The answer will depend upon our character, our broad intelligence, and our wise and understanding judgment.”

Although Sir Robert Menzies’ words might now seem a little antiquated in a world accustomed to political spin, we can certainly still treasure his liberal philosophy, and his optimistic view that character, intelligence and judgment can protect us from all, or least most, of our human follies.

During his long period as Prime Minister, Menzies had great influence on the colleagues with whom he worked. In an era when being a public servant meant just that, and when frank and fearless advice was not only accepted, but also expected, he worked with and inspired men of the stature of Sir John Bunting, long time secretary to his Cabinet, and Sir William Refshauge, Director General of Health.

"When you

look around,

you will like

me be over-

whelmed by

what can be

achieved by a

good idea,

backed by

good people, a

little money,

and a lot of

hard work.”

Sir William Refshauge


- 6 -

After Sir Robert Menzies’ death in 1978, Sir John took a lead in raising money to establish the Menzies Trust and the Menzies Foundation, working with Sir William Vines, ESR Hughes, Refshauge and other “Menzies men”.

What then has the Foundation achieved since 1978 in the name of Robert Menzies?

We have a wonderful home in Clarendon Terrace, East Melbourne – a historic and statuesque building, owned by the National Trust, but restored and maintained by the Foundation.

We have awarded 107 scholarships to outstanding young Australians for post-graduate study in law, engineering, medical research, and allied health – many of our alumni, including some in this room, are now highly respected as leaders in their professions in Australia or overseas.

We also award an annual prize to the top student at Dimboola Secondary College in memory of Sir Robert Menzies’ schooldays at nearby Jeparit – this prize helps to ensure that the winner can go on to tertiary education.

The Menzies Foundation has also provided regular leadership in exploring new ideas in the national interest – for example through select national workshops and conferences to discuss topical issues such as the future of population health research, the ozone layer, climate change, or more recently research in allied health.

However, the outstanding achievements of the Foundation, when the late Eric Wigglesworth was Executive Director, were to provide leadership and seed-funding to help establish the health research institutes in Darwin and here in Hobart.

When you look around, you will like me be overwhelmed by what can be achieved by a good idea, backed by good people, a little money, and a lot of hard work.

How did this great initiative in Hobart come about? How did the chain of contingent events continue? From the earliest days of the Menzies State Committee in Tasmania, led by Dr Peter Braithwaite, there were suggestions about the value of creating a centre for epidemiological research in Tasmania. Through Prof Ian

Lewis, a proposal was made to establish a Centre for Population Health Research, and a planning workshop was held here in Hobart in 1987, attended by Dame Pattie Menzies, and many others.

Support came through the Governor of Tasmania, Sir James Plimsoll, through Sir William Refshauge for the Menzies Foundation and through Sir Guy Green as Chancellor of the University. Sir Richard Doll from Oxford and others provided strong academic advice and leadership.

Through its Board and its executive director Eric Wigglesworth, the Menzies Foundation provided a substantial intellectual contribution to the planning workshop, and very practical help with the organisation through Ms Sandra Mackenzie. The Foundation also contributed $100,000 per annum to the costs of establishing the Centre, which helped to leverage additional funding from the Tasmanian Government, from the private sector, and from the University. Thus the new research centre in Tasmania became a going concern in 1988 with Prof Terry Dwyer as the Foundation Director.

The phenomenal success and growth of the Menzies Centre, recently renamed as the Menzies Research Institute, has been assured through the dedication of Prof Dwyer, Prof Simon Foote, the high quality staff that they have attracted and mentored, and the quality of their research.

On behalf of the Menzies Foundation, may I congratulate the Menzies Institute on reaching

its 21st birthday, and in more than vindicating the vision of those who worked to establish the centre in those early days. The Foundation is pleased to have played a key part, at a critical early stage, in the Institute’s development. Like many a wise parent, it is now pleased to stand back, and to bask in the reflected glory of its offspring’s achievements.

If Sir Robert Menzies were here today, he would be very pleased to see what has been achieved in his name through character, intelligence, and wise and understanding judgment.

Thank you. Professor John Mathews

Prof Terry Dwyer, Dame Pattie Menzies and Prof Ian Lewis

Eric Wigglesworth and Sir Richard Doll

Sir Guy Green

President: Dr Marie Estcourt Secretary/Treasurer: Dr Liisa Laakso

Clarendon Terrace 210 Clarendon Street East Melbourne Vic 3002

Phone: 03 9419 5699 Fax: 03 9417 7049 Email: [email protected]

www.menziesfoundation.org.au www.menziesvirtualmuseum.org.au


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