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{{Short description|1942 speech by Australian politician Robert Menzies}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2016}}
{{Use Australian English|date=January 2016}}
[[File:Portrait Menzies 1950s.jpg|150px|thumb|[[Robert Menzies]], founder of the [[Liberal Party of Australia]] and [[Prime Minister of Australia]] 1939–41 ([[United Australia Party|UAP]]) and 1949–66 (Liberal)]]
{{Robert Menzies sidebar}}

"'''The Forgotten People'''" is a 1942 Australian political speech<ref name=autogenerated1>{{cite web
|url=http://www.liberals.net/theforgottenpeople.htm
|title=The Forgotten People – Speech by Robert Menzies on 22 May 1942. Liberals.Net: Liberal Party of Australia
|publisher=Liberals.net|date=22 May 1942|accessdate=2011-11-04
|archive-date=19 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190819221826/http://www.liberals.net/theforgottenpeople.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> and campaign slogan by [[Robert Menzies]], an Australian politician who was [[Prime Minister of Australia]] 1939–1941 and again 1949–1966. It sought to emphasise his links to ordinary citizens and distance himself from [[elitism]].<ref>Judith Brett, ''Robert Menzies' Forgotten People'' (2007)</ref>

==Overview==
The speech, delivered on 22 May 1942, defines and exalts Australia's middle class, which Menzies termed "the forgotten people". Menzies used the speech to outline the values and constituency that would form the basis of the [[Liberal Party of Australia]]. Menzies had previously been  Prime Minister, as leader of the [[United Australia Party]] from 1939–1941.<ref name="abd">{{Cite book
|url=http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A150416b.htm?hilite=menzies
|title=Australian Dictionary of Biography
|chapter=Menzies, Sir Robert Gordon (Bob) (1894–1978)
|publisher=National Centre of Biography, Australian National University}}
</ref> From 1942 onward, Menzies had maintained his public profile with his series of "Forgotten People" radio talks, similar to [[Franklin Roosevelt]]'s "[[fireside chats]]" of the 1930s, in which he spoke of the middle class as the "backbone of Australia" but as nevertheless having been "taken for granted" by political parties and of being effectively powerless because of lack of wealth on the one hand, and lack of organisation on the other.<ref>{{Cite web
|url=http://dl.nfsa.gov.au/module/1750/
|title=Screen Australia Digital Learning - Menzies' Forgotten People Speech (2008) |access-date=22 March 2011
|archive-date=7 March 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200307155507/https://dl.nfsa.gov.au/module/1750/|url-status=live}}
</ref><ref name=autogenerated1/><ref name="abd"/>

==Cultural legacy==
Contemporary Australian politicians continue to invoke Menzies' sentiments.

Labor leader [[Kevin Rudd]] made reference to the phrase and to Menzies in the lead-up to the [[2007 Australian federal election|2007 federal election]] for a perceived current generation of "Forgotten People".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.theage.com.au/news/National/Howard-forgetting-the-battlers-Rudd/2007/08/01/1185647962218.html |title=Howard forgetting the battlers: Rudd - Breaking News - Nationals |website=Theage.com.au |date=2007-08-01 |accessdate=2010-04-25}}</ref>

Liberal Opposition Leader [[Tony Abbott]] echoed the Menzian rhetoric in his first budget-reply speech to the [[Gillard government]] in May 2011, addressing his remarks to the "forgotten families" of Australia.<ref>http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/special-reports/federal-budget-2011/story-fn8melax-1226054908287 {{dead link|date=November 2021}}</ref>

After the Coalition lost the 2022 federal election and [[Peter Dutton]] became the Leader of the Opposition, he referred to this speech.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Wright |first1=Tony |title=Peter Dutton's Forgotten People took the money and ran |url=https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/peter-dutton-s-forgotten-people-took-the-money-and-ran-20220601-p5aqa7.html |access-date=3 June 2022 |work=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=3 June 2022 |language=en}}</ref>

==See also==
{{wikisource|Robert Menzies' Forgotten People}}

*"[[The light on the hill]]"
*[[Forgotten man]], American concept
*[[The quiet Australians]]
*[[Battler (underdog)]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://australianpolitics.com/1942/05/22/the-forgotten-people-robert-menzies.html Text of the speech at Australianpolitics.com]

{{Liberal Party of Australia}}

{{Politics of Australia}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Forgotten people}}
[[Category:Liberal Party of Australia]]
[[Category:Robert Menzies]]
[[Category:1942 in Australia]]
[[Category:1942 in politics]]
[[Category:Australian political catchphrases]]
[[Category:1942 speeches]]
[[Category:Speeches by politicians]]


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