Wyatt Roy (Longman, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

It is with a heavy heart that I rise to talk on the condolence motion for our former Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser. Mr Deputy Speaker Ewen Jones, I had the great pleasure of meeting Malcolm Fraser once and having quite a long conversation with him, in one of the first sitting weeks after both you and I were elected in 2010. He was staying in the same hotel as me, and the member for Ryan and I spotted him in the hotel bar. I said to Jane, 'Malcolm Fraser's been saying some unkind things on TV about young people being elected to parliament, and I wouldn't mind having a chat to him.' But I was too nervous to go and talk to this person who I had only seen on TV, and I said, 'Can you introduce me?' She said, 'Of course,' and Jane and I went over and we sat down and started having a few drinks with Malcolm Fraser and Tamie Fraser.

It was one of the most amazing conversations I have had in my political career. I might come back to a bit of it, but the piece of that conversation that stuck with me was this. I said to him, 'Mr Fraser, what's your biggest regret?' He thought about it, and Tamie cut him off and put her arm across his chest and said, 'He was the sod that turned the sod on that building.' Of course, they were referring to the building of this building, the new Parliament House. I said, 'What do you mean?' 'That building is lacking soul,' is what he said. Of course, in old Parliament House all the members of parliament had to work together; they had to sit together; they were in the same room together. While politics was fought in a very aggressive way, they were able to leave that at the door and still have a drink in the bar in the old building. And, as we all know, Gough Whitlam and Malcolm Fraser later on in life became great friends. It was a better type of politics, a better discussion. I think that is really the legacy that he leaves us here in his place: how can we breathe a soul into our political discussion; how can we have some civility in our political discourse? This building, while it is completely beautiful, in many ways takes that away. The legacy that I think Malcolm Fraser leaves so many of us is that our politics can always be better. To have a soul in this discussion—to have a sense of purpose in the discussion about what our country can be—surely must be the lasting legacy of Malcolm Fraser.

Of course, as has been mentioned in a few of the speeches in this place, the other thing that we discussed was young people going into politics. Malcolm Fraser in the TV interview I was referring to said some unkind things about young people going into politics—he said they should not be doing it—but, of course, as Tamie pointed out that conversation, Malcolm was 25 when he was elected. He was the youngest member of the parliament and, as has been pointed out, the tallest. I am happy to admit that I am the youngest and the shortest, but he was a young person coming into this place, which presents many unique challenges.

In having that discussion with him and pushing this a little further, I said to him, 'Why do you think it is a bad thing that young people come into politics? What is the reason that this isn't okay?' The point that he was making, which is a point I completely, 100 per cent agree with, is that, when we are elected to parliament, we have to be here for a reason. We have to have a purpose for being in political life. To have a political career that is founded purely on being here for the sake of being here has no reason to it. It has no ability to change the country; it is just self-preservation. Malcolm Fraser pointed out, 'Of course, I could have always gone back to the farm and had a job.' I said, 'Well, I actually come from the farm too, and in every conversation I have with Dad he says, "Come back to the farm and get out of politics."' But what is so important for us in this place, regardless of our background, regardless of our age and regardless of our gender, ethnicity or professional background, is that when we serve in public life we are trying to change the country for the better—that we are serving a purpose in our representation of the people who elect us. That is, again, the legacy that Malcolm Fraser leaves behind.

I would say to all students of history but, I think more importantly, to Tamie and the Fraser family: they should be incredibly proud of what their father achieved—because, love him or hate him, he changed this country. The one thing that Malcolm Fraser always wanted us to be as a nation is proud and independent. That is such a lasting legacy. There is something in the Australian psyche where we almost like to knock ourselves down and say that we cannot be this great nation, but he was an absolutely true patriot in the sense that he believed incredibly strongly that we should be proud of the fact that we are Australians; that we should be an independent nation capable of making its own decisions and planning its own course in the modern world. I think that is something we should be proud of. That is a patriotic position to take. He is somebody who understood also that our country is stronger when we have diversity. Diversity is something that should be celebrated and embraced and that contributes to our society rather than takes away from our society and our culture.

So I would say, when history writes the story of Malcolm Fraser, I think it will be far kinder than many of his critics today on both sides of the political aisle. We should all be proud of the contribution that he has made. As he goes off to another place, his family, and particularly Tamie, can rest easy knowing that they were part of something that changed this country for the better. With those words, may he rest in peace.

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