Malcolm Fraser

John Malcolm Fraser (born May 21, 1930) was the twenty-second Prime Minister of Australia (November 11, 1975 - March 11, 1983).

Born in Melbourne but growing up on a property near Deniliquin in western New South Wales, Fraser's family had a long history in politics with his grandfather, Simon Fraser, serving in the Victorian parliament and later in the Federal Senate. Malcolm was educated in a boarding primary school in Sydney and later Melbourne Grammar School, after Scotch College Victoria's most famous elite private school. He completed a degree in politics and economics from Oxford University in 1952. In just about every way, his upbringing was that of an Australian "gentleman farmer" descended from the wealthy squatters of the 19th century.

Elected Australia's then youngest member of Parliament in December 1955, he served as a minister from January 1966 under Harold Holt and John Gorton, holding portfolios including the junior non-cabinet post of Army Minister, the more senior outer ministry portfolio of Education and Science, and most prominently Defence Minister 1969 until 1971, at the height of Australia's involvement in the Vietnam War and protests against it. His resignation from the Defence Ministry in March 1971 contributed to Gorton's fall from power.

Elected leader of the Liberal Party (now in opposition) in March 1975, he replaced Labor leader Gough Whitlam as prime minister on the latter's controversial dismissal by Governor-General Sir John Kerr following obstruction of government supply Bills by the Liberal-dominated Senate (see Australian constitutional crisis of 1975).

For many Australians and indeed some of his own ministers would admit the same, a taint of illegitimacy due to the manner in which Fraser was elected hung over his time in office. Nevertheless, Fraser's government made some significant reforms, but is regarded as having delayed other necessary economic ones. Fraser's premiership was characterised by public spending cuts (under the stewardship of Treasurer John Howard), but saw considerably slower movement on economic deregulation than the economic neo-liberal "New Right" that later dominated the Liberal Party. Fraser's most pronounced reforms were in social issues, where his government allowed boat people from Vietnam to stay in Australia, and reformed policy towards Aboriginal people considerably.

Fraser was also active in foriegn policy, with relationships with Asia strengthened. His government was also active within the British Commonwealth in supporting an end to apartheid and white minority rule in Rhodesia (Zimbabwe).

A string of decisive Liberal-National Country Party general election victories (December 1975, December 1977 and October 1980) ended with the biggest Labor majority to date, whereupon Fraser resigned the Prime Ministership, the party leadership and his Parliamentary seat.

Fraser served with distinction as: Chairman, United Nations Panel of Eminent Persons on the Role of Transnational Corporations in South Africa 1985; Co-Chairman, Commonwealth Group of Eminent Persons on South Africa 1985-1986; Chairman, U.N. Secretary-General's Expert Group on African Commodity Issues 1989-1990;

Fraser has been President of Care International from 1991 until the present and worked with a number of other charitable organisations.

He has repeatedly criticised the current Howard government over foreign policy issues (particularly the focus on the military alliance with the United States, which Fraser sees as damaging Australian relationships in Asia), campaigned for the abolition of formal ties to the British monarchy, as well as the detention of asylum-seekers. Fraser's government, in turn, has been criticised heavily by many contemporary Liberal politicians as nearly a decade of lost opportunity to deregulate the Australian economy.

Fraser married Tamie Beggs, a grazier's daughter from a nearby property, in 1956. The couple had four children. Whilst claiming to dislike political campaigning, she was regarded by Liberal party election officials an effective advocate for her husband, and according to one political reporter "For a woman who has only a languid interest" in politics, Tamie Fraser wielded "a lot of power".

Preceded by: Gough Whitlam

Prime Ministers of Australia

Followed by: Bob Hawke