John Malcolm Fraser AC,
CHThe Order of the Companions of Honour is an order of the Commonwealth realms. It was founded by King George V in June 1917, as a reward for outstanding achievements in the arts, literature, music, science, politics, industry or religion....
, GCL,
PCHer Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, usually known simply as the Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the Sovereign in the United Kingdom...
(ˈfreɪzə; born 21 May 1930) is a former Australian
Liberal PartyThe Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office...
politician who was the 22nd
Prime Minister of AustraliaThe Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Australia is the highest minister of the Crown, leader of the Cabinet and Head of Her Majesty's Australian Government, holding office on commission from the Governor-General of Australia. The office of Prime Minister is, in practice, the most powerful...
. He came to power in the
1975 electionFederal elections were held in Australia on 13 December 1975. All 127 seats in the House of Representatives, and all 64 seats in the Senate were up for election following a double dissolution of both Houses....
following the dismissal of the
WhitlamEdward Gough Whitlam, AC, QC , known as Gough Whitlam , served as the 21st Prime Minister of Australia. Whitlam led the Australian Labor Party to power at the 1972 election and retained government at the 1974 election, before being dismissed by Governor-General Sir John Kerr at the climax of the...
Labor government, in which he played a key role. After three election victories, he was defeated by
Bob HawkeRobert James Lee "Bob" Hawke AC GCL was the 23rd Prime Minister of Australia from March 1983 to December 1991 and therefore longest serving Australian Labor Party Prime Minister....
in the
1983 electionFederal elections were held in Australia on 5 March 1983. All 125 seats in the House of Representatives, and all 64 seats in the Senate, were up for election, following a double dissolution...
and ended his career alienated from his own party.
Early life
Malcolm Fraser was born in
ToorakToorak is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 5 km south-east from Melbourne's central business district located on a rise on the south side of a bend in the Yarra River. Its Local Government Area is the City of Stonnington...
to a family with a history of involvement in politics and the pastoral/grazing industry. His grandfather,
Simon FraserSir Simon Fraser , Australian politician, was a member of the Australian Senate and the grandfather of Malcolm Fraser, Prime Minister of Australia from 1975 to 1983....
, emigrated from
Nova ScotiaNova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...
in 1853, becoming a successful pastoralist and speculator, as well as a member of the
Victorian ParliamentThe Parliament of Victoria is the bicameral legislature of the Australian state of Victoria. It follows a Westminster-derived parliamentary system and consists of The Queen, represented by the Governor of Victoria; the Legislative Council ; and the Legislative Assembly...
, the Federation Conventions of 1897–98 and the
Australian SenateThe Senate is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the House of Representatives. Senators are popularly elected under a system of proportional representation. Senators are elected for a term that is usually six years; after a double dissolution, however,...
. Malcolm Fraser's father, John Neville Fraser, was a pastoralist at
DeniliquinDeniliquin, known locally as "Deni", is a town in the Riverina region of New South Wales close to the border with Victoria.Deniliquin is located at the intersection of the Riverina and Cobb Highway approximately south west of the state capital, Sydney and north of Melbourne...
in the
RiverinaThe Riverina is an agricultural region of south-western New South Wales , Australia. The Riverina is distinguished from other Australian regions by the combination of flat plains, warm to hot climate and an ample supply of water for irrigation. This combination has allowed the Riverina to develop...
region of New South Wales and later at a property called "Nareen", near
HamiltonHamilton is a city in western Victoria, Australia. It is located at the intersection of the Glenelg Highway and the Henty Highway...
in the Western District of Victoria. Malcolm Fraser's mother, Una Woolf, was of Jewish descent on her own father's side.
He grew up on the family's pastoral properties and was educated at Glamorgan (now part of
Geelong Grammar SchoolGeelong Grammar School is an independent, Anglican, co-educational, boarding and day school. The school's main campus is located at Corio, on the northern outskirts of Geelong, Victoria, Australia, overlooking Corio Bay and Limeburners Bay....
) and
Melbourne Grammar SchoolMelbourne Grammar School is an independent, Anglican, day and boarding school predominantly for boys, located in South Yarra and Caulfield, suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia....
, before completing a degree in philosophy, politics and economics ("Modern Greats") at
Magdalen College, OxfordMagdalen College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. As of 2006 the college had an estimated financial endowment of £153 million. Magdalen is currently top of the Norrington Table after over half of its 2010 finalists received first-class degrees, a record...
in 1952.
Fraser contested the seat of
WannonThe Division of Wannon is an Australian Electoral Division in the state of Victoria. It is located in the south-west of the state, and encompasses most of the Western Region of the state. It adjoins the South Australian border in the west, and the Bass Strait coast in the south. The Division...
, in Victoria's Western District, in
1954Federal elections were held in Australia on 29 May 1954. All 121 seats in the House of Representatives were up for election, no Senate election took place...
for the
Liberal PartyThe Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office...
, losing by 17 votes. The
following yearFederal elections were held in Australia on 10 December 1955. All 122 seats in the House of Representatives, and 30 of the 60 seats in the Senate were up for election. The incumbent Liberal Party of Australia led by Prime Minister of Australia Robert Menzies with coalition partner the Country Party...
, however, he won the seat with a majority of more than five thousand, becoming the youngest member of the
House of RepresentativesThe House of Representatives is one of the two houses of the Parliament of Australia; it is the lower house; the upper house is the Senate. Members of Parliament serve for terms of approximately three years....
, and continued to represent Wannon until his retirement. In 1956, Fraser married
Tamara "Tamie" BeggsTamie Fraser AO is the wife of Malcolm Fraser, who held office as Prime Minister of Australia between 1975 and 1983. -Early life:...
, a grazier's daughter. The couple have four children. Tamie Fraser professed to have no interest in politics.
Rise to leadership
Fraser developed an early reputation as an
Australian liberalLiberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...
, and he had a long wait for ministerial preferment. He was finally appointed
Minister for the ArmyThe Minister for Defence of Australia administers his portfolio through the Australian Defence Organisation, which comprises the Department of Defence and the Australian Defence Force. Stephen Smith is the current Minister.-Ministers for Defence:...
by
Harold HoltHarold Edward Holt, CH was an Australian politician and the 17th Prime Minister of Australia.His term as Prime Minister was brought to an early and dramatic end in December 1967 when he disappeared while swimming at Cheviot Beach near Portsea, Victoria, and was presumed drowned.Holt spent 32 years...
in 1966, in which he presided over the controversial Vietnam war conscription. Under
John GortonSir John Grey Gorton, GCMG, AC, CH , Australian politician, was the 19th Prime Minister of Australia.-Early life:...
he became Minister for Education and Science, and in 1969 he was made
Minister for DefenceThe Minister for Defence of Australia administers his portfolio through the Australian Defence Organisation, which comprises the Department of Defence and the Australian Defence Force. Stephen Smith is the current Minister.-Ministers for Defence:...
: a challenging post at the height of Australia's involvement in the
Vietnam WarThe Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
and the protests against it.
In March 1971 Fraser resigned abruptly in protest at what he said was Gorton's interference in his ministerial responsibilities. This led to the downfall of Gorton and his replacement by
William McMahonSir William "Billy" McMahon, GCMG, CH , was an Australian Liberal politician and the 20th Prime Minister of Australia...
. Under McMahon, Fraser once again became Minister for Education and Science. When the Liberals were defeated at the
1972 electionFederal elections were held in Australia on 2 December 1972. All 125 seats in the House of Representatives were up for election. The Liberal Party of Australia had been in power since 1949, under Prime Minister of Australia William McMahon since March 1971 with coalition partner the Country Party...
by the
Labor PartyThe Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...
under
Gough WhitlamEdward Gough Whitlam, AC, QC , known as Gough Whitlam , served as the 21st Prime Minister of Australia. Whitlam led the Australian Labor Party to power at the 1972 election and retained government at the 1974 election, before being dismissed by Governor-General Sir John Kerr at the climax of the...
, he became a member of the opposition front bench under
Billy SneddenSir Billy Mackie Snedden, KCMG, QC was an Australian politician representing the Liberal Party. He was Leader of the Opposition at the 1974 federal election, failing to defeat the Labor incumbent Gough Whitlam.-Early life:...
's leadership.
Role in "the dismissal"
Fraser responded to Snedden's defeat at the
1974 electionFederal elections were held in Australia on 18 May 1974. All 127 seats in the House of Representatives, and all 60 seats in the Senate were up for election, due to a double dissolution...
by successfully challenging for the opposition leadership in March 1975. Later that year, in the context of a series of ministerial scandals that were rocking the Whitlam government, Fraser opted to use the Coalition opposition Senate numbers to delay the government's budget bills with the objective of achieving an early election (see 1975 Australian constitutional crisis). After several months of deadlock, during which the government secretly explored methods of obtaining supply funding outside the Parliament, Governor-General Sir John Kerr intervened and revoked Whitlam's commission on 11 November 1975. Fraser was immediately sworn in as
caretakerCaretaker government is a type of government that rules temporarily. A caretaker government is often set up following a war until stable democratic rule can be restored, or installed, in which case it is often referred to as a provisional government...
prime minister on condition that he give the Governor-General immediate advice to
dissolve both HousesA double dissolution is a procedure permitted under the Australian Constitution to resolve deadlocks between the House of Representatives and the Senate....
and issue writs for an election for both Houses.
Malcolm Fraser's role in Whitlam's dismissal remains one of the most passionately debated subjects in Australian political history.
Prime minister
At the
December 1975 electionFederal elections were held in Australia on 13 December 1975. All 127 seats in the House of Representatives, and all 64 seats in the Senate were up for election following a double dissolution of both Houses....
, the Liberal-Country Party coalition won a landslide victory with the support of media, notably the
MurdochKeith Rupert Murdoch, AC, KSG is an Australian-American business magnate. He is the founder and Chairman and CEO of , the world's second-largest media conglomerate....
press, which had previously supported the ALP. Fraser came into office with a 55-seat majority, the largest in Australian history. The Coalition won a second term nearly as easily in
1977Federal elections were held in Australia on 10 December 1977. All 124 seats in the House of Representatives, and 34 of the 64 seats in the Senate, were up for election....
. The Liberals won a majority in their own right in both elections; there being no need to have a coalition with the Country Party, there was considerable speculation whether the Liberals would govern alone, however the coalition was retained.
Fraser quickly dismantled some of the programs of the Labor government, such as the Ministry of the Media, and he made major changes to the universal health insurance system Medibank. He initially maintained Whitlam's real level of tax and spending, but real per-person tax and spending soon began to increase. He did manage to rein in inflation which had soared under Whitlam. Although his so-called "Razor Gang" implemented stringent budget cuts across many areas of the Commonwealth Public Sector, including the
ABCThe Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...
, the Fraser government did not carry out the radically conservative program that his political enemies had predicted, and that some of his followers wanted. He in fact proved surprisingly moderate in office, to the frustration of his Treasurer,
John HowardJohn Winston Howard AC, SSI, was the 25th Prime Minister of Australia, from 11 March 1996 to 3 December 2007. He was the second-longest serving Australian Prime Minister after Sir Robert Menzies....
, and other pro-
ThatcheriteThatcherism describes the conviction politics, economic and social policy, and political style of the British Conservative politician Margaret Thatcher, who was leader of her party from 1975 to 1990...
ministers, who were strong adherents of
free market economicsA free market is a competitive market where prices are determined by supply and demand. However, the term is also commonly used for markets in which economic intervention and regulation by the state is limited to tax collection, and enforcement of private ownership and contracts...
(see
New RightNew Right is used in several countries as a descriptive term for various policies or groups that are right-wing. It has also been used to describe the emergence of Eastern European parties after the collapse of communism.-Australia:...
). Fraser's economic record was marred by rising unemployment, which reached record levels under his administration, caused in part by the ongoing effects of the
1973 oil crisisThe 1973 oil crisis started in October 1973, when the members of Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries or the OAPEC proclaimed an oil embargo. This was "in response to the U.S. decision to re-supply the Israeli military" during the Yom Kippur war. It lasted until March 1974. With the...
.
Fraser was active in foreign policy. He supported the
CommonwealthThe Commonwealth of Nations, normally referred to as the Commonwealth and formerly known as the British Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organisation of fifty-four independent member states...
in campaigning to abolish apartheid in South Africa, and refused permission for the aircraft carrying the
SpringBokThe South African national rugby union team are 2009 British and Irish Lions Series winners. They are currently ranked as the fourth best team in the IRB World Rankings and were named 2008 World Team of the Year at the prestigious Laureus World Sports Awards.Although South Africa was instrumental...
rugby team to refuel on Australian territory en route to their controversial 1981 tour of New Zealand. However, an earlier tour by the South African Ski Boat Angling Team was allowed to pass through Australia on the way to New Zealand in 1977, and the transit records were suppressed by Cabinet order.
Fraser opposed white minority rule in
RhodesiaRhodesia , officially the Republic of Rhodesia from 1970, was an unrecognised state located in southern Africa that existed between 1965 and 1979 following its Unilateral Declaration of Independence from the United Kingdom on 11 November 1965...
. During the 1979 Commonwealth Conference, Fraser, together with his Nigerian counterpart, convinced newly-elected
British Prime MinisterThe Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...
Margaret ThatcherMargaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
to withhold recognition of the internal settlement
Zimbabwe RhodesiaZimbabwe Rhodesia , officially the Republic of Zimbabwe Rhodesia, was an unrecognized state that existed from 1 June 1979 to 12 December 1979...
government (Thatcher had earlier promised to recognise it). Subsequently, the
Lancaster House talksThe negotiations which led to the Lancaster House Agreement brought independence to Rhodesia following Ian Smith’s Unilateral Declaration of Independence in 1965. The Agreement covered the Independence Constitution, pre-independence arrangements, and a ceasefire...
were held and
Robert MugabeRobert Gabriel Mugabe is the President of Zimbabwe. As one of the leaders of the liberation movement against white-minority rule, he was elected into power in 1980...
was elected leader of an independent
ZimbabweZimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...
at the inaugural
1980 electionGeneral elections were held in Southern Rhodesia in February 1980 in order to elect a government which would govern the country after it was granted independence as Zimbabwe, in accordance with the conclusions of the Lancaster House Agreement...
. A former deputy secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has stated that Fraser was 'the principal architect' in the installation of Robert Mugabe. Tanzanian president
Julius NyerereJulius Kambarage Nyerere was a Tanzanian politician who served as the first President of Tanzania and previously Tanganyika, from the country's founding in 1961 until his retirement in 1985....
said he considered Fraser's role "crucial in many parts", and Zambian president
Kenneth KaundaKenneth David Kaunda, known as KK, served as the first President of Zambia, from 1964 to 1991.-Early life:Kaunda was the youngest of eight children. He was born at Lubwa Mission in Chinsali, Northern Province of Northern Rhodesia, now Zambia...
called it "vital".
Under his government, Australia also recognised
IndonesiaIndonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
's annexation of
East TimorThe Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, commonly known as East Timor , is a state in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the nearby islands of Atauro and Jaco, and Oecusse, an exclave on the northwestern side of the island, within Indonesian West Timor...
, although many East Timorese refugees were granted asylum in Australia. Fraser was a strong supporter of the United States and supported the boycott of the
1980 Summer OlympicsThe 1980 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event celebrated in Moscow in the Soviet Union. In addition, the yachting events were held in Tallinn, and some of the preliminary matches and the quarter-finals of the football tournament...
in Moscow. But, although he persuaded some sporting bodies not to compete, Fraser did not try to the prevent the
Australian Olympic CommitteeThe Australian Olympic Committee is the National Olympic Committee in Australia for the Olympic Games movement. It is a non-profit organisation that selects teams, and raises funds to send Australian competitors to Olympic events organised by the International Olympic Committee .-Background:The...
sending a team to the Moscow games.
Fraser also surprised his critics in immigration policy. According to 1977 cabinet documents, the Fraser government adopted a formal policy for "a humanitarian commitment to admit refugees for resettlement". Fraser expanded immigration from Asian countries and allowed more refugees to enter Australia.
Fraser supported
multiculturalismMulticulturalism is the appreciation, acceptance or promotion of multiple cultures, applied to the demographic make-up of a specific place, usually at the organizational level, e.g...
and established a government-funded multilingual radio and television network, the
Special Broadcasting ServiceThe Special Broadcasting Service is a hybrid-funded Australian public broadcasting radio and television network. The stated purpose of SBS is "to provide multilingual and multicultural radio and television services that inform, educate and entertain all Australians and, in doing so, reflect...
(SBS), though their first radio stations were established under the Whitlam government.
Despite his support for SBS, the Fraser government imposed stringent budget cuts on the national broadcaster, the
ABCThe Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...
, which came under repeated attack from the Coalition for its supposed left-wing bias and for allegedly "unfair" or critical coverage on TV programs including
This Day TonightThis Day Tonight was an Australian Broadcasting Corporation current affairs program of the late 1960s and early 1970s.- Overview :...
and
Four Corners, and on the ABC's new youth-oriented radio station
Double Jaytriple j is a nationally networked Australian radio station intended to appeal to listeners between the ages of 18 and 30. The government-funded station is a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation...
(2JJ). One of the results of the cuts was the plan to establish a national youth radio network, of which Double Jay was the first station. The network was delayed for many years, and did not come to fruition until the 1990s.
Fraser also legislated to give
Indigenous AustraliansIndigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands. The Aboriginal Indigenous Australians migrated from the Indian continent around 75,000 to 100,000 years ago....
control of their traditional lands in the
Northern TerritoryThe Northern Territory is a federal territory of Australia, occupying much of the centre of the mainland continent, as well as the central northern regions...
, but would not impose land rights laws on the conservative governments in the states.
Decline and fall
At the
1980 electionFederal elections were held in Australia on 18 October 1980. All 125 seats in the House of Representatives, and 34 of the 64 seats in the Senate, were up for election. The incumbent Liberal Party of Australia led by Malcolm Fraser with coalition partner the National Country Party led by Doug...
, Fraser saw his majority sharply reduced and his coalition lose control of the Senate. Fraser was convinced, however, that he had the measure of the Labor leader,
Bill HaydenWilliam George "Bill" Hayden AC was the 21st Governor-General of Australia. Prior to this, he represented the Australian Labor Party in parliament; he was a minister in the government of Gough Whitlam, and later became Leader of the Opposition, narrowly losing the 1980 federal election to the...
. But in 1982 the economy experienced a sharp recession; and also a protracted scandal over tax-avoidance schemes run by prominent Liberals plagued the government. A popular minister,
Andrew PeacockAndrew Sharp Peacock AC, GCL , is a former Australian Liberal politician. He was a minister in the Gorton, McMahon and Fraser governments, and was federal leader of the Liberal Party of Australia 1983–1985 and 1989–1990...
, resigned from Cabinet and challenged Fraser's leadership. Although Fraser won, these events left him politically weakened.
By the end of 1982 it was obvious that the popular former trade union leader
Bob HawkeRobert James Lee "Bob" Hawke AC GCL was the 23rd Prime Minister of Australia from March 1983 to December 1991 and therefore longest serving Australian Labor Party Prime Minister....
was going to replace Hayden as Labor leader. On 3 February 1983, Fraser called a
double dissolutionA double dissolution is a procedure permitted under the Australian Constitution to resolve deadlocks between the House of Representatives and the Senate....
election for 5 MarchFederal elections were held in Australia on 5 March 1983. All 125 seats in the House of Representatives, and all 64 seats in the Senate, were up for election, following a double dissolution...
, several months before it was due. He'd done so believing he'd caught Labor before it could replace Hayden with Hawke. Fraser was also emboldened by a swing to the coalition in a by-election for the
Division of FlindersThe Division of Flinders is an Australian Electoral Division in Victoria. The division was one of the original 75 divisions contested at the first federal election...
. However, Fraser made his run too late. Unknown to Fraser, Hayden had resigned in favour of Hawke that morning—literally hours before the writ was dropped. In the election, the Coalition was heavily defeated, suffering a 24-seat swing—the worst defeat of a non-Labor government since Federation. Fraser was the only Prime Minister whose term was marked by double dissolutions at both the beginning and the end.
Fraser immediately resigned from Parliament. Over the 13 years that the Liberals then spent in opposition until 1996, they tended to blame the "wasted opportunities" of the Fraser years for their problems, and Fraser grew resentful of this and distanced himself from his old party. The Hawke government supported his bid to become Secretary-General of the
Commonwealth of NationsThe Commonwealth of Nations, normally referred to as the Commonwealth and formerly known as the British Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organisation of fifty-four independent member states...
, but it proved unsuccessful.
Retirement
In retirement Fraser served as Chairman of the UN Panel of Eminent Persons on the Role of Transnational Corporations in South Africa 1985, as Co-Chairman of the Commonwealth Group of Eminent Persons on South Africa in 1985–86, and as Chairman of the UN Secretary-General's Expert Group on African Commodity Issues in 1989–90. He was a distinguished international fellow at the
American Enterprise InstituteThe American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research is a conservative think tank founded in 1943. Its stated mission is "to defend the principles and improve the institutions of American freedom and democratic capitalism—limited government, private enterprise, individual liberty and...
from 1984 to 1986. Fraser became president of the foreign aid group Care International in 1991, and worked with a number of other charitable organisations. In 2006, he was appointed Professorial Fellow at the Asia Pacific Centre for Military Law, and in October 2007 he presented his inaugural professorial lecture, "Finding Security in Terrorism’s Shadow: The importance of the rule of law".
Memphis trousers affair
On 14 October 1986, Fraser, then the Chairman of the
Commonwealth Eminent Persons GroupSeveral Eminent Persons Groups, abbreviated to EPG, have been founded by Commonwealth of Nations.An EPG was established at the 1985 CHOGM to investigate apartheid in South Africa, and reported ahead of the special 1986 CHOGM: recommending economic sanctions against South Africa.The latest was...
, was found in the foyer of the Admiral Benbow Inn, a seedy
MemphisMemphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
hotel, wearing nothing but a towel and confused as to where his trousers were. The hotel was an establishment popular with prostitutes and drug dealers. Though it was rumoured at the time that the former Prime Minister had been with a prostitute, his wife believes it more likely that he was the victim of a practical joke by his fellow delegates. Fraser himself refuses to comment on the matter.
The mysterious loss of his trousers resulted in national amusement and is still exploited for humorous effect.
Estrangement from the Liberal Party
After 1996, Fraser was critical of the
Howard Coalition governmentThe Howard Government refers to the federal Executive Government of Australia led by Prime Minister John Howard. It was made up of members of the Liberal–National Coalition, which won a majority of seats in the Australian House of Representatives at four successive elections. The Howard Government...
over foreign policy issues (particularly Howard's alignment with the foreign policy of the
BushGeorge Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
administration, which Fraser saw as damaging Australian relationships in Asia). He opposed Howard's policy on
asylum-seekersA refugee is a person who outside her country of origin or habitual residence because she has suffered persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or because she is a member of a persecuted 'social group'. Such a person may be referred to as an 'asylum seeker' until...
, campaigned in support of an
Australian RepublicRepublicanism in Australia is a movement to change Australia's status as a constitutional monarchy to a republican form of government. Such sentiments have been expressed in Australia from before federation onward to the present...
and attacked what he perceived as a lack of integrity in Australian politics, together with former Labor prime minister
Gough WhitlamEdward Gough Whitlam, AC, QC , known as Gough Whitlam , served as the 21st Prime Minister of Australia. Whitlam led the Australian Labor Party to power at the 1972 election and retained government at the 1974 election, before being dismissed by Governor-General Sir John Kerr at the climax of the...
, finding much common ground with his predecessor.
The 2001 election completed Fraser's estrangement from the Liberal Party. Many Liberals criticised the Fraser years as "a decade of lost opportunity," on deregulation of the Australian economy and other issues. In early 2004, a
Young LiberalThe Young Liberal Movement is the youth division of the Liberal Party of Australia, and membership is open to those between 16 and 30 years of age. Members of Young Liberals have full party-membership, and have the choice of which part they join...
convention in Hobart called for Fraser's life membership of the Liberal Party to be ended.
In 2006, Fraser launched a "scathing attack" on the
HowardJohn Winston Howard AC, SSI, was the 25th Prime Minister of Australia, from 11 March 1996 to 3 December 2007. He was the second-longest serving Australian Prime Minister after Sir Robert Menzies....
LiberalThe Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office...
government, attacking their policies on areas such as refugees, terrorism and civil liberties, and that "if Australia continues to follow United States policies, it runs the risk of being embroiled in the conflict in Iraq for decades, and a fear of
IslamIslam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
in the Australian community will take years to eradicate". Fraser also said the way the Howard government handled the
David HicksDavid Matthew Hicks is an Australian who was convicted by the United States of America Guantanamo Military Commission under the Military Commissions Act of 2006, on charges of providing material support for terrorism...
,
Cornelia RauCornelia Rau is a German citizen and Australian permanent resident who was unlawfully detained for a period of ten months in 2004 and 2005 as part of the Australian Government's mandatory detention program.- Overview :...
and
Vivian SolonVivian Alvarez Solon is an Australian who was unlawfully removed to the Philippines by the Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs in July 2001. In May 2005, it became public knowledge that she had been deported, although DIMIA knew of its mistake in 2003...
cases was questionable. On 20 July 2007, Fraser sent an open letter to members of the large activist group
GetUp!GetUp! is a left-leaning Australian activist group that campaigns on issues important to its members. It was launched in August 2005, the week that the Coalition took control of the Australian Senate....
, encouraging members to support GetUp's campaign for a change in policy on Iraq including a clearly defined exit strategy. Fraser stated: "One of the things we should say to the Americans, quite simply, is that if the United States is not prepared to involve itself in high-level diplomacy concerning Iraq and other Middle East questions, our forces will be withdrawn before Christmas."
After the defeat of the Howard government at the 2007 federal election, Fraser claimed Howard approached him in a corridor, following a cabinet meeting in May 1977 regarding
VietnameseThe Vietnamese people are an ethnic group originating from present-day northern Vietnam and southern China. They are the majority ethnic group of Vietnam, comprising 86% of the population as of the 1999 census, and are officially known as Kinh to distinguish them from other ethnic groups in Vietnam...
refugeeA refugee is a person who outside her country of origin or habitual residence because she has suffered persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or because she is a member of a persecuted 'social group'. Such a person may be referred to as an 'asylum seeker' until...
s, and said: "We don't want too many of these people. We're doing this just for show, aren't we?" The claims were made by Fraser in an interview to mark the release of the 1977 cabinet papers. Howard, through a spokesman, denied making the comment.
In January 2008, Liberal MP
Sophie MirabellaSophie Mirabella is an Australian federal politician. She has been a Liberal member of the Australian House of Representatives since 2001, representing the Division of Indi, Victoria...
launched an attack on Fraser, after a speech he gave at Melbourne University on "the Bush Administration (reversing) 60 years of progress in establishing a law-based international system", claiming errors and "either intellectual sloppiness or deliberate dishonesty", and that he tacitly supports Islamic fundamentalism, should have no influence on foreign policy, and that his stance on the
war on terrorThe War on Terror is a term commonly applied to an international military campaign led by the United States and the United Kingdom with the support of other North Atlantic Treaty Organisation as well as non-NATO countries...
has left him open to caricature as a "frothing-at-the-mouth leftie".
In December 2009, shortly after the election of
Tony AbbottAnthony John "Tony" Abbott is the Leader of the Opposition in the Australian House of Representatives and federal leader of the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. Abbott has represented the seat of Warringah since the 1994 by-election...
to the Liberal Party leadership, Fraser resigned from the Liberal Party. Fraser said "the party was no longer a liberal party but a conservative party".
Malcolm Fraser Collection at the University of Melbourne
In 2004, Fraser designated the
University of MelbourneThe University of Melbourne is a public university located in Melbourne, Victoria. Founded in 1853, it is the second oldest university in Australia and the oldest in Victoria...
the official custodian of his personal papers and library to create the Malcolm Fraser Collection at the University of Melbourne.
Honours
Fraser was made a Privy Councillor in 1976, a
Companion of HonourThe Order of the Companions of Honour is an order of the Commonwealth realms. It was founded by King George V in June 1917, as a reward for outstanding achievements in the arts, literature, music, science, politics, industry or religion....
in 1977 and a
Companion of the Order of AustraliaThe Order of Australia is an order of chivalry established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, "for the purpose of according recognition to Australian citizens and other persons for achievement or for meritorious service"...
in 1988. In 2000 he was awarded the
Human Rights MedalThe Human Rights Medal is awarded by the Australian Human Rights Commission each year. It was established in 1987 by the then Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission to recognise the "contribution to Australian society of a wide variety of men and women committed to issues of human rights,...
. He received the Grand Cordon of the
Order of the Rising SunThe is a Japanese order, established in 1875 by Emperor Meiji of Japan. The Order was the first national decoration awarded by the Japanese Government, created on April 10, 1875 by decree of the Council of State. The badge features rays of sunlight from the rising sun...
from the
Emperor of JapanThe Emperor of Japan is, according to the 1947 Constitution of Japan, "the symbol of the state and of the unity of the people." He is a ceremonial figurehead under a form of constitutional monarchy and is head of the Japanese Imperial Family with functions as head of state. He is also the highest...
in 2006. In 2009, he received the highest honour of
Papua New GuineaPapua New Guinea , officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands...
, the Grand Companion of the Order of Logohu.
He has been awarded honorary doctorates from
Deakin UniversityDeakin University is an Australian public university with nearly 40,000 higher education students in 2010. It receives more than A$600 million in operating revenue annually, and controls more than A$1.3 billion in assets. It received more than A$35 million in research income in 2009 and had 835...
,
Murdoch UniversityMurdoch University is a public university based in Perth, Australia. It began operations as the state's second university in 1973, and accepted its first students in 1975...
and the
University of South CarolinaThe University of South Carolina is a public, co-educational research university located in Columbia, South Carolina, United States, with 7 surrounding satellite campuses. Its historic campus covers over in downtown Columbia not far from the South Carolina State House...
, and is a Professorial Fellow at the Asia Pacific Centre for Military Law at the
University of MelbourneThe University of Melbourne is a public university located in Melbourne, Victoria. Founded in 1853, it is the second oldest university in Australia and the oldest in Victoria...
. He is a Vice-President of the
Royal Commonwealth SocietyThe Royal Commonwealth Society is an international educational charity and a private members' club. Its mission is to support and promote the modern Commonwealth, its culture and core values...
.
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See also
- First Fraser Ministry
The First Fraser Ministry was the fifty-first Australian Commonwealth ministry, and held office from 11 November 1975 to 22 December 1975.Liberal Party of Australia–National Country Party Coalition...
- Second Fraser Ministry
The Second Fraser Ministry was the fifty-second Australian Commonwealth ministry, and ran from 22 December 1975 to 20 December 1977.Liberal Party of Australia–National Country Party Coalition-Cabinet:*Rt Hon Malcolm Fraser, MP: Prime Minister...
- Third Fraser Ministry
The Third Fraser Ministry was the fifty-third Australian Commonwealth ministry, and ran from 20 December 1977 to 3 November 1980.Liberal Party of Australia–National Country Party Coalition-Cabinet:*Rt Hon Malcolm Fraser, MP: Prime Minister...
- Fourth Fraser Ministry
The Fourth Fraser Ministry was the fifty-fourth Australian Commonwealth ministry, and ran from 3 November 1980 to 11 March 1983.Liberal Party of Australia–National Country Party Coalition-Cabinet:*Rt Hon Malcolm Fraser, MP: Prime Minister...
Further reading
- Ayres, Philip (1987), Malcolm Fraser, a Biography, Heinemann, Richmond, Victoria. ISBN 0 85561 060 3
- Kelly, Paul (2000), Malcolm Fraser, in Michelle Grattan (ed.), Australian Prime Ministers, New Holland, Sydney, New South Wales. ISBN 1 86436 756 3
- Kerr, John (1978), Matters for Judgment. An Autobiography, Macmillan, South Melbourne, Victoria. ISBN 0 333 25212 8
- Lopez, Mark (2000),The Origins of Multiculturalism in Australian Politics 1945–1975, Melbourne University Press, Carlton South, Victoria. ISBN 0 52284895 8
- O'Brien, Patrick (1985), Factions, Feuds and Fancies. The Liberals, Viking, Ringwood, Victoria. ISBN 0 670 80893 8
- Reid, Alan (1971), The Gorton Experiment, Shakespeare Head Press, Sydney, New South Wales
- Reid, Alan (1976), The Whitlam Venture, Hill of Content, Melbourne, Victoria. ISBN 0 85572 079 4
- Schneider, Russell (1980), War Without Blood. Malcolm Fraser in Power, Angus and Robertson, Sydney, New South Wales. ISBN 0 207 14196 7
- Simons, Margaret with Fraser, Malcolm (2010), Malcolm Fraser: The Political Memoirs, Melbourne University Publishing Limited (Miegunyah Press), Melbourne, Victoria. ISBN 9780522855791
- Snedden, Billy Mackie and Schedvin, M. Bernie (1990), Billy Snedden. An Unlikely Liberal, Macmillan, South Melbourne, esp. Ch. XV and XVI. ISBN 0 333 50130 6
External links