Today marks 75 years since the Liberal Party was formed in Canberra.

On this day, then-Opposition leader and leader of the United Australia Party and Opposition Robert Menzies called a meeting to form a new party.

80 men and women from 18 non-Labor political parties came together for the very first conference in 1944.

By May 1949, membership of the Liberal Party had swelled to 40,000.

Former prime minister John Howard joined Alan Jones to recognise the anniversary and discuss the legacy of founder, Sir Robert Menzies.

“He was that remarkable combination of superb advocacy and a powerful idea,” says Mr Howard.

“And he grabbed that as an illustration that if you continued with the Labor Party, under its socialist bent, you would end up with a vastly different Australia.”

Mr Howard says he “remains very devoted” to the Liberal Party, despite “all its faults and mistakes” but has warned those in charge not to take the party’s success for granted.

“It’s been a very successful political movement but we should always remember that following success in politics is often a bit of doom and disaster around the corner.

“You’ve always got to keep that in mind because you can suddenly career off the road and hit a big tree. That can happen to everybody.”

Click PLAY below to hear the full interview

Image: Getty/Mark Metcalfe