David Lowe on the 75th Anniversary of the Colombo Plan: ”Opened a lot of Australian eyes”

How did Australia develop its reputation as an exporter of higher education?

On Afternoon Light #187 Georgina Downer speaks with David Lowe to mark 75 years since the meeting that spawned the Colombo Plan. An innovative and enduring foreign aid program that helped our 'near north' neighbours to economically develop, winning 'hearts and minds' during the Cold War and inadvertently shifting Australian hearts and minds against the White Australia Policy.

David Lowe is the Chair in Contemporary History at Deakin University and has extensively published on Australia's involvement in wars, including its role during the Cold War, as well as aspects of Australia's foreign policies in the 1940s and 1950s. His notable works include Menzies and the 'Great World Struggle': Australia's Cold War 1948-1954 (UNSW Press, 1999), Ministers, Mandarins and Diplomats: Australian Foreign Policy Making 1941-1969 (co-authored with Joan Beaumont, Chris Waters, and Garry Woodard, MUP, 2003), Australia Between Empires: The Life of Percy Spender (Pickering and Chatto, 2010), and Remembering the Cold War (co-authored with Tony Joel, Routledge, 2013).