Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Finance) Share this | Hansard source

It is with some sadness, obviously, that I stand to speak on the condolence motion on the Right Honourable John Malcolm Fraser and with considerable sadness for those Liberal members of the Riverina electorate.

Malcolm Fraser was the Prime Minister who came to Wagga Wagga—and we did not have a lot of visits by prime ministers. He came in January 1977 to address the Young Liberals and he spoke eloquently of the social reform agenda that he and his government wanted to get on with. Obviously, when he came to power in 1975, under the controversial Dismissal circumstances, it was a time of great social upheaval—we had the end of the Vietnam War, attitudes in society were changing and divorce laws were changing.

Malcolm Fraser was what the people of the Australia wanted at that time, although Labor were seen as the great social reformers and this side of politics were not. Malcolm Fraser certainly brought a lot of social change and reform—and good changes—to the position of Prime Minister and to the parliament of Australia.

I know growing up in a conservative household—the member for Cunningham probably finds that hard to believe—that Malcolm Fraser was certainly very, very highly regarded as was the Liberal member for Farrer and later for Hume, Wal Fife. No-one spoke ill of either Malcolm Fraser or Wal Fife in my house.

Looking down, my late father might think, 'Gee, Michael is in the National Party.' My father had a great fondness for the Liberal Party and, obviously, the values that were espoused by the Liberal Party in concert with the Country Party at the time were very strongly held in our household.

Those values also forged a great connection. The values and the respect that Malcolm Fraser, as Prime Minister, had for the Country Party have continued. They were obviously in existence before Mr Fraser but they have continued. His great relationship with Peter Nixon, Doug Anthony and Ian Sinclair forged that great coalition relationship which the country has come to depend on for solidarity, reliability and probably, best of all, stability. In the coalition, the Australian people know that all those attributes are at the forefront.

When Malcolm Fraser came to Wagga in January 0n 7 January 1977, he spoke to the Ninth National Convention of the Young Liberal Movement at the Riverina College of Advanced Education. The RCAE is now proudly the Charles Sturt University—a vision of Wal Fife's, somebody who in conjunction with the Liberal government of the day helped to turn the RCAE into the RMIHE, the Riverina-Murray Institute of Higher Education, and then into Charles Sturt University. We are very proud to have a great university doing wonderful things in Wagga Wagga. Obviously, successive governments have helped forge those great tertiary links in this important regional capital.

Mr Fraser told the Young Liberals that he could not pretend that changes to his government already would resolve all the problems in social areas. He said:

But they are an important beginning and we will do more.

Mr Fraser said that income security and care of the aged were two areas in which the government intended to act in the future—of course they did act in the future.

The government also intended to introduce freedom of information legislation in the next sitting of parliament. Of course we all know now that that FOI legislation is so very important in helping journalists do their jobs—it was great to see Peter Greste in the public gallery today; if ever there was a beacon of light, a beacon of hope, for freedom of the press, it is Peter Greste. It was great to see him get the acknowledgment that he deserved. It is not very often that somebody can get a clap in the parliament with the endorsement of the Speaker, but Peter Greste certainly did. The freedom of information legislation that the Liberal Party-Country Party government passed was so important to journalists' ability to do their work. I say that as a former journalist and a former newspaper editor.

Mr Fraser added that his government's economic policy was an intrinsic part of its approach to social reform. He said:

The ability to carry through social reform cannot be separated from a government's capacity to provide the nation with responsible economic management.

The Fraser government, when it came to power in 1975, had a set of economic figures. It had supply problems and a chaotic dysfunctional government to follow on from. It did just that, which is what good coalition governments do. Mr Fraser told the Young Liberal's convention in Wagga Wagga:

Reducing inflation is central to our ability as a nation and as a government to assist those who are disadvantaged or living in poverty.

He said the poorest people in society were harmed most by the erosion of living standards brought about by inflation and by unemployment which inevitably followed inflation. He continued:

In this situation the government had to give priority to righting the economy and defeating inflation.

We have pursued a consistent economic strategy directed at achieving this goal.

Although there is still a long way to go, at the end of our first year in office, we have made substantial progress towards dealing with Australia's economic problems.

However, Mr Fraser warned that it should be equally recognised that economic management alone is not enough. He said that all the social reforms Australia needed would not inevitably flow from economic recovery. He said:

Beating inflation is and must be the dominant objective of this government and is not and cannot be the sole objective of a responsible government While we have been unrelenting in the fight against inflation, we have also been carrying through the commitment which all of us here share among the Liberals—to achieving major social reforms.

Mr Fraser told the convention that Australia needed imaginative proposals for reform which avoided the cliches and posturing which had done Australia so much harm in the recent past. He said:

The Labor experience has shown us that one of the greatest traps that a government can fall into is to attempt to win political kudos by dressing up ill-considered change in reform.

It is almost a flashback. Reading those words of Malcolm Fraser in Wagga Wagga in 1977 takes us back to a time and place which is being replicated now. The Labor experience has shown us that one of the greatest traps a government can fall into is to attempt to win political kudos by dressing up ill-considered change as reform. We heard the member for Page, in the matter of public importance debate, talking about the fatal flaws of populism. Government should not be about populism. I appreciate that we all try to win political points, but, overall, we have to make the hard decisions. We have to take the tough road.

Malcolm Fraser and his government—the Liberals in conjunction with the Country Party—certainly took that tough road. They did not always win points for it; they were not always popular because of it; but, certainly, they took the tough road and they got this country back on track. They got this country back to where it needed to be. Mr Fraser said that his government's reform had recognised that radical action was necessary in some areas, that experimental approaches were necessary in others and that constant attention must be paid to the consequences of policies and to the administrative machineries capable of implementing programs. He said that 1976 could be considered a year in which the Commonwealth government carried through some of its most significant reforms since Federation. He said:

But these reforms can only be a beginning …

The Prime Minister was well received. As I said before, it was a time when we did not see a lot of prime ministers in Wagga Wagga. Bob Menzies came to the races, would you believe, the Murrumbidgee Turf Club races, in the fifties and sixties. Good old Gough Whitlam turned up to Wagga in 1974 to do a number of things, including opening the rugby league grandstand—the Schnelle Harmon grandstand at the Eric Weissel Oval. It was around Christmas time and, as I told the chamber in the condolence motion for Gough Whitlam, Whitlam remarked that he was 'so pleased that there were all the decorations and bunting in the main street for me; but then I realised it was for Christmas, not for me.' That was Gough—ever the humourist. It was good.

It is the great Australian way that, after the tumult of 1975, Gough and Malcolm were able to get together. Arm-in-arm they went for a republic and they did a lot of things that they believed in. Malcolm Fraser certainly changed his tune on a few things, but it was great that he and Gough put aside their differences. I think that says a lot about Australia. We do not have fisticuffs in this parliament. We might have an exchange of words; there is always a contest of ideas. I think sometimes the Australian public does not appreciate the fact that there are good friendships formed across the chamber. Imagine Mr Whitlam, losing the highest position in this country, that of Prime Minister, with the man who replaced him in such controversial, history-changing circumstances. He did not forget but he certainly forgave, and the two of them were able to form a strong bond—one could almost say a friendship, and no doubt it was. You can probably imagine that they are up there now looking down: Malcolm would be frowning in his own austere way, and Gough would be saying, 'We were much better in our day.' That is the great thing about Australian politics.

Malcolm Fraser will be very, very missed. I know that certainly in Wagga Wagga, where the Liberals have held sway since 1957, there are a lot of people—and even, dare I suggest, a lot of Labor people, too—who will mourn his passing, who will thank him for the social reform that he brought and who will always remember the circumstances around 1975 but who will say, 'There was a great man. There was somebody who did wonderful things in public life for Australia. '

That was a great speech from the member for Wannon, who talked about Malcolm Fraser's love of camellia growing and the fact that he once had 26 beers as he went from pub to pub to try and get more votes. But, at the end of the day, Malcolm Fraser was a farmer who got into the Lodge. I must say, whenever there is a farmer in the Lodge, it has to be a good thing because farmers are the true conservationists; farmers are the real workers of this country; farmers are the ones who grow food and fibre to help this nation. Malcolm Fraser was one of those great farmers. He brought a lot to the life of this parliament. He brought a lot to the life of this country. I pay my deepest respects on behalf of the people of the Riverina—those who voted for him, as well as those who rallied against him but who now remember with great fondness the great contribution that he made to public life in this nation. Malcolm Fraser, rest in peace.

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