 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (October 2021) |
Malcolm Fraser | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Official portrait, 1977 | |
| 22nd Prime Minister of Australia | |
| In office 11 November 1975 – 11 March 1983 | |
| Monarch | Elizabeth II |
| Governors‑General | |
| Deputy | Doug Anthony |
| Preceded by | Gough Whitlam |
| Succeeded by | Bob Hawke |
| Leader of the Liberal Party | |
| In office 21 March 1975 – 11 March 1983 | |
| Deputy | |
| Preceded by | Billy Snedden |
| Succeeded by | Andrew Peacock |
| Leader of the Opposition | |
| In office 21 March 1975 – 11 November 1975 | |
| Prime Minister | Gough Whitlam |
| Deputy | Phillip Lynch |
| Preceded by | Billy Snedden |
| Succeeded by | Gough Whitlam |
| Minister for Education and Science | |
| In office 20 August 1971 – 5 December 1972 | |
| Prime Minister | William McMahon |
| Preceded by | David Fairbairn |
| Succeeded by | Gough Whitlam |
| In office 28 February 1968 – 12 November 1969 | |
| Prime Minister | John Gorton |
| Preceded by | John Gorton |
| Succeeded by | Nigel Bowen |
| Minister for Defence | |
| In office 12 November 1969 – 8 March 1971 | |
| Prime Minister | John Gorton |
| Preceded by | Allen Fairhall |
| Succeeded by | John Gorton |
| Minister for the Army | |
| In office 26 January 1966 – 28 February 1968 | |
| Prime Minister |
|
| Preceded by | Jim Forbes |
| Succeeded by | Phillip Lynch |
| Father of the House | |
| In office 5 January 1982 – 31 March 1983 | |
| Preceded by | Sir William McMahon |
| Succeeded by | Sir James Killen |
| Member of the Australian Parliament for Wannon | |
| In office 10 December 1955 – 31 March 1983 | |
| Preceded by | Don McLeod |
| Succeeded by | David Hawker |
| Personal details | |
| Born | John Malcolm Fraser 21 May 1930 Melbourne, Victoria, Australia |
| Died | 20 March 2015 (aged 84) Melbourne, Victoria, Australia |
| Resting place | Melbourne General Cemetery |
| Political party | Liberal (1952–2009) |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 4 |
| Relatives |
|
| Education | |
| Alma mater | Magdalen College, Oxford |
| Occupation | Pastoral farmer |
| Signature |  |
John Malcolm Fraser AC CH GCL PC (/ˈfreɪzər/; 21 May 1930 – 20 March 2015) was an Australian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Australia from 1975 to 1983. He held office as the leader of the Liberal Party of Australia.
Fraser was raised on his father's sheep stations, and after studying at Magdalen College, Oxford, returned to Australia to take over the family property in the Western District of Victoria. After an initial defeat in 1954, he was elected to the Australian House of Representatives at the 1955 federal election, as a member of parliament (MP) for the division of Wannon. He was 25 at the time, making him one of the youngest people ever elected to parliament. He is the latest Prime Minister to date who represented a rural constituency. When Harold Holt became prime minister in 1966, Fraser was appointed Minister for the Army. After Holt's disappearance and replacement by John Gorton, Fraser became Minister for Education and Science (1968–1969) and then Minister for Defence (1969–1971). In 1971, Fraser resigned from cabinet and denounced Gorton as "unfit to hold the great office of prime minister"; this precipitated the replacement of Gorton with William McMahon. He subsequently returned to his old education and science portfolio.
After the Liberal-National Coalition was defeated at the 1972 election, Fraser unsuccessfully stood for the Liberal leadership, losing to Billy Snedden. When the party lost the 1974 election, he began to move against Snedden, eventually mounting a successful challenge in March 1975. As Leader of the Opposition, Fraser used the Coalition's control of the Australian Senate to block supply to the Whitlam government, precipitating the 1975 Australian constitutional crisis. This culminated with Gough Whitlam being dismissed as prime minister by the governor-general, Sir John Kerr, a unique occurrence in Australian history. The correctness of Fraser's actions in the crisis and the exact nature of his involvement in Kerr's decision have since been a topic of debate. Fraser remains the only Australian prime minister to ascend to the position upon the dismissal of his predecessor.
After Whitlam's dismissal, Fraser was sworn in as prime minister on an initial caretaker basis. The Coalition won a landslide victory at the 1975 election, and was re-elected in 1977 and 1980. Fraser took a keen interest in foreign affairs as prime minister, and was more active in the international sphere than many of his predecessors. He was a strong supporter of multiculturalism, and during his term in office Australia admitted significant numbers of non-white immigrants (including Vietnamese boat people) for the first time, effectively ending the White Australia policy. His government also established the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS). Particularly in his final years in office, Fraser came into conflict with the "dry" economic rationalist and fiscal conservative faction of his party. His government made few major changes to economic policy.
After losing the 1983 election, Fraser retired from politics. In his post-political career, he held advisory positions with the United Nations (UN) and the Commonwealth of Nations, and was president of the aid agency CARE from 1990 to 1995. He resigned his membership of the Liberal Party in 2009 after the election of Tony Abbott as leader, Fraser having been a critic of the Liberals’ policy direction for a number of years. Evaluations of Fraser's prime ministership have been mixed. He is generally credited with restoring stability to the country after a series of short-term leaders and has been praised for his commitment to multiculturalism and opposition to apartheid in South Africa, but the circumstances of his entry to office remains controversial and many have viewed his government as a lost opportunity for economic reform. His seven and a half-year tenure as prime minister is the fourth longest in Australian history, only surpassed by Bob Hawke, John Howard and Robert Menzies.