Clive Palmer (Fairfax, Palmer United Party) Share this | Hansard source

Before the last election Malcolm Fraser and I had lunch in Melbourne. When I met him on that cold Melbourne morning he was in high spirits, eager to engage in debate about important issues affecting Australia's future. High on his mind on that cold Melbourne morning and over lunch was the threat to the world and Australia of war. He stated that the world had been at war for over 50 years in different parts of the globe and he wondered when it would all end, when it would all stop. He was a strong supporter of development and sustainable growth and said as Prime Minister:

Development requires modification and transformation of the environment … The planet's capacity to support its people is being irreversibly reduced by the destruction and degradation of the biosphere and the need to understand the problem and take corrective action is becoming urgent.

He saw the dangers to our planet far before others had and thought about the issue. In his travels around Australia as Prime Minister he touched the people and they touched him. He valued our democracy and reminded us in 1980 as Prime Minister that secrecy is completely inadequate for a democracy but totally appropriate for tyranny.

As Malcolm Fraser once said when referring to Nelson Mandela:

If there were six Mandelas around today, a couple in Europe, one in America and in a couple of other places, there wouldn’t be any wars.

The truth is that, if today there were six Malcolm Frasers around—a couple in Europe, one in America and a couple in other places, there would not be any wars. Like many world leaders, he helped Nelson Mandela on his long walk to freedom. He supported the South African people in their struggle for human rights and self-determination.

No greater accolade, no greater title or acknowledgement can be given to any man than that of peacemaker. Malcolm Fraser believed in the reconciliation of man. He sought refuge for the stateless. He saw injustice and he tried to stop it. He saw division in this country and he tried to heal it. He devoted his life to those less fortunate than himself. Gifted and intelligent, he perceived and saw what others could not see. He saw an Australia where all Australian children could join hands and take a long walk together into the future. He saw an Australia where all cultures of the world could be united in one country, valuing their heritage and embracing each other in one nation.

His words in 1981 during his inaugural address to the Institute of Multicultural Affairs are equally true today. He said:

… multiculturalism speaks to us forcefully and directly … It is not an abstract or alien notion, not a blueprint holding out utopian promises, but a set of guidelines for action which grows directly out of our society's aspirations and experiences.

While understated and modest in his manner, he was strong on courage and commitment. One of the rarest commodities in political life is courage—political courage, the ability to do what is right regardless of the cost, regardless of admonishment by your peers, to go forward where others would not go. He showed us the way, and we must follow his example and cherish the gifts that he has left for us as citizens of this great country.

I remember back in the early 1980s when no state in the Commonwealth was interested in hosting Expo. It was Malcolm Fraser who had the persistence to stay with it, to go the course, to continue the fight for Expo to be held in Australia. And then the Queensland Premier, Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen, agreed with the Prime Minister to hold Expo in Queensland. Without Malcolm Fraser's persistence the people of Brisbane would not have Brisbane's Southbank today and Australians would not have enjoyed Expo 88.

I remember another time when Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen's staff flew back to Queensland after a premiers' conference and left the Queensland Premier asleep in the Lakeside Hotel. They go to the Queensland border when they remembered that they had left the Premier in Canberra and they contacted the Prime Minister, who never hesitated in offering the Queensland Premier the hospitality of the Lodge. As Sir Joh told me, when he arrived at the Lodge the Prime Minister even offered him his pair of pyjamas. Malcolm Fraser was quite a bit taller than Sir Joh, and Sir Joh said that as he walked around he had to hold up his pyjama pants so they would not fall off and his feet only went down to where Malcolm's knees were. During the night, Sir John went to the kitchen to get a drink and opened the fridge. The light came on, at which time security challenged him. He held up his arms and remarked to me that security got quite a surprise! Sir Joh Remarked to me that there were not many people that would give their own pyjamas in a time of need for a friend, but Malcolm Fraser would.

For Malcolm Fraser life was not meant to be easy, but for Malcolm Fraser it could have been. He chose his own way freely. He chose a life of service. He chose the hard way, the more difficult road. He should not become greater at this time than he was in life—an Australian that was prepared to give all in the service of his country, to weather the storm no matter how difficult, no matter how hard, without complaint. His integrity was beyond question and, as he said himself:

Flexibility in pursuit of the nation's interests must never be allowed to degenerate into expediency.

His humility moved those who came to know him in his life. He believed in our people and all the people of the region and the world. He brought peace and fought for those who have suffered under the yoke of racism.

In my discussion with him it was clear he had a pure mind, but more importantly he had a pure heart. I extend my sincere condolences to his family. The world is so much better because of Malcolm Fraser. He was a citizen of the world who cared. As it has been said: 'He will stand to those of us who are left as an incarnation of the spirit of the land he loved'. One of the people I discussed Malcolm Fraser with in the last couple of days said he was a big man—with his six-foot-plus frame—for people who had never met him before. He was a big man, bigger than many realised. All of our lives are enriched for having lived on this earth in the time of Malcolm Fraser.

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