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July 3, 2026
Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy sparked chaos in federal parliament on Thursday after branding Liberal Party founder Sir Robert Menzies a "Nazi appeaser" to burnish his claim that "only Labor can be trusted with our national security".
Mr Conroy lashed the conservative icon who took Australia into World War II, telling the National Press Club that Labor's defence commitments were grounded in an ethos of "progressive patriotism".
"My great hero is John Curtin," he said. "I consume his biographies. I'm very interested in disclosing what really happened before World War II and during World War II, where it was a choice between John Curtin and Nazi-appeaser Robert Gordon Menzies.
"This is really important stuff that the Left needs to embrace more fully."
The attack prompted a furious response from the Liberal Party hours later in the House of Representatives, where Manager of Opposition Business Dan Tehan was twice hit with gag motions as he sought to censure Mr Conroy over the comment.
Amid the uproar, Labor member for Gellibrand Tim Watts branded Menzies a "coward" a comment he later withdrew following an opposition request.
As Mr Tehan and Leader of the House Tony Burke argued over the censure motion, Mr Conroy was standing ready to table a letter from Menzies to Australia's high commissioner in London mulling over negotiations with Adolf Hitler just eight days after committing Australia to war.
The September 11, 1939, letter, which was marked "Secret", was first released in 2001 and has formed the basis for the "appeaser" claim, a matter that is challenged by conservatives.
In it, Menzies said he was confident "Hitler has no desire for a first class war" and "it is really quite indefensible for us to be dictating to the German people what sort of government they shall have".
He said when the Nazi leader offered to negotiate, "we will have a choice: we can either say 'Yes' or we can say 'No'.
"If we say 'No', we must settle down to a war in which Germany's defensive position is incredibly strong, in which, in the long run, millions of British and French lives will be lost, and in which the economic force which will be our ultimate weapon will tend to affect us almost as severely as it does Germany."
A post on the Robert Menzies Institute website says Menzies "was essentially thinking out loud to a friend, but this aspect of the letter was inevitably downplayed by those who wished to claim its significance".
Opposition defence spokesman James Paterson called on Mr Conroy to apologise for what he branded a "baseless and grubby smear".
"As prime minister between 1939 and 1941, Menzies prepared Australia for war and did not hesitate to join the fight against the Nazis on September 3, 1939, the same day the UK did so," Senator Paterson said.
"In opposition, he loyally supported the Curtin government in Australia's fight against fascism.
"A minister in the defence portfolio should never engage in partisan historical revisionism, no matter how desperate they are to distract from their own failings."
A spokesman for Mr Conroy said he would not be apologising and would continue to argue the point.
In the same Press Club address, Mr Conroy mistakenly referred to Labor's "Chris Fisher" rather than Andrew Fisher, as the founder of the Royal Australian Navy, but said that as a "bipartisan sort of dude" he was happy to acknowledge the role of Liberal prime minister Alfred Deakin, who laid the groundwork with Britain to establish the fleet.
The Albanese government is seeking to stamp out criticism of AUKUS within its own ranks and believes it has headed off a revolt over the $368bn submarine program at the upcoming ALP national conference.
It has also sought to discredit those who argue its defence budget is insufficient to deliver on its capability ambitions.
Mr Conroy spruiked a suite of reforms, including stripping the Defence Department of responsibility for procurement and maintenance through the creation of a new Defence Delivery Group, and making Vice-Chief of the Defence Force Robert Chipman responsible for capability development.
He said the changes would ensure "accountability will be king", revealing at least $29bn had been wasted over the past decade including four years under Laborbecause the department's systems were "not fit for purpose".
"These reforms are essential, and show that only Labor can be trusted with our national security," he said.