Sarah Hanson-Young (SA, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today with a heart full of sadness that we are speaking to the condolence motion of the late Malcolm Fraser. Malcolm and I share more in common than our commitment to refugees and human rights. Malcolm was elected to this place at the age of 25; I was elected to this place at the age of 25. While I was only two years old at the time when his reign as Prime Minister of this country ended, my commitment to and passion for immigration policy in this country taught me from my university days that it was the leadership of Malcolm Fraser that allowed our nation to open our doors to those most in need following the Vietnam War. But more important than that was the practical implementation of the end of the White Australia policy. While Gough Whitlam took great steps to end the White Australia policy, the practical implementation came from Fraser opening our doors to our regional neighbours, encouraging Asian migration, and offering a helping hand and a hand of compassion to those on our doorstep.

Malcolm Fraser was a rare combination of exceptional strengths and abilities. He was strong in conviction but humble in person. He was able to recognise mistakes and correct them, and recognise when his view had changed—skills that are in desperately short supply, I believe, in today's politics. He was a man who could accept change and understand that mistakes had happened but was never a hypocrite in doing so. He was determined and consistent, without being stubborn, and he was fiercely intelligent, as we all know. This is a rare combination of attributes, and it was this combination that turned Mr Fraser into a genuine politician of principle. He was, by all marks, a leader of compassion.

I was lucky, in the final years of Malcolm's life, to get to know him, to become his friend and to have him as a mentor. I always remember his strength of character, his quiet but very sharp wit, and that he was always a gentleman. He has been a mentor and a great friend—especially, I must say, in the darkest times. In the almost seven years that I have been in this place, there have been many political debates, particularly around asylum seekers and refugees, where the political tempo gets so heated and emotions are raw. I have always been very humbled to have Malcolm on the other end of the phone for advice or sometimes just for me to vent my frustration with the current policies. He always showed me that it is possible to be both strong and compassionate, and that showing compassion to people is not a sign of weakness. No-one would argue that Malcolm Fraser was a weak man, yet many, many people in this country are saddened today because we have a lost a man of great compassion and empathy.

He was resolute in his commitment to human rights and treating people with dignity and respect. Particularly at the time of welcoming tens of thousands of Vietnamese refugees to this country, he was never irresolute. He would never waiver in his commitment to allowing those tens of thousands of refugees into this country. He was resolute in his commitment to allowing them in and to welcoming them. It was not enough for him to just open doors. He wanted them to feel part of the Australian family. He wanted everyone in Australia from our Indigenous people in communities through to our recent arrivals and new migrants to feel part of the Australian family. This is what his big commitment to creating the SBS was all about—allowing people to feel part of their community and for them to tell their stories to the rest of the Australian community. He wanted people to feel proud, secure and happy in the big Australian family.

Over the last few days since his passing, there has been increasing debate—a debate which has been bubbling along for some time—about whether it was Malcolm or the Liberal Party who had changed. I for one believe it was probably a little bit of both. Obviously, his resolute attitude towards immigration was always there. His commitment to human rights was always there. But I must say: how can you change your country if you cannot change yourself? I think that is the principle by which I will always remember Malcolm Fraser. He could recognise when things were wrong and recognise where things needed to change, whether in his own country, his party's policies or, indeed, himself.

He struck a chord in later years amongst those of us who have been staunchly opposed to the current Liberal Party policy and, admittedly, the policy of the Labor Party, on asylum seekers. I do not think one could criticise Mr Fraser of not standing up against both parties on their weakening of the rights and protections of refugees. He carried his commitment on these issues right to the day of his passing. One of the organisations who are grieving at the moment more than any other is the Asylum Resource Centre in Melbourne. I have a statement from them that I would like to read, because Malcolm's commitment to working with people in the local community never weakened, even in his later years, whether it was through the books that he wrote, the newspaper articles that he contributed, the speeches that he made at dinners or the statesman-like role that he fulfilled. He never forgot that in order to change things for the better you have to involve those on the ground—your campaigners, the volunteers and the people.

The last time I saw Malcolm was at the end of last year, in December. We both attended the opening of the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre's new offices in Melbourne. It was such an honour to stand in that place, in a new building, full of vibrancy and hope and to hear stories from all over the world from people who have come to Australia by not the easiest of means, who took courage to leave their countries because of oppression, abuse and torture and who found their home in Melbourne. Malcolm Fraser stood on the stage, telling the crowd—there were about 1,200 people; it was at midday on a Thursday—how saddened he was about the current government's policies, but that the people there could not give up. There is a famous quote from Mr Fraser about optimism that I think sums up very well how he kept the fire in his belly. He said:

You have to be an optimist … Why involve yourself in issues of public policy unless you are?.

As an eternal optimist myself, I am really struck by that. He never wavered. He was resolute in his convictions, but he was optimistic about the change that he could create.

I want to read a little statement from the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre as their tribute to Malcolm.

The Asylum Seeker Resource Centre has lost not only a fellow advocate but a true friend.

Someone whose involvement with the centre extended far beyond the purely professional to a warm and very personal friendship.

Mr Fraser's involvement with the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre began in April 2010, at the launch of his biography at Melbourne University.

Mr Fraser spoke about his long-held views about immigration and multi-culturalism as being integral to our nation—and he bemoaned the resurgence of harsh, punitive policies and attitudes towards asylum seekers and refugees, considering it a return to the ugliest side of the days of the White Australia Policy.

The ASRC took the opportunity to introduce him to their organisation and asked for his support. After a brief sizing up, he asked: 'What do you want and when do you need it by?' I must say that that has always been how it was in my dealings with Mr Fraser. He was always willing to help, always willing to stand up and do whatever was needed but he just wanted to know when it had to be done by. This was a man who operated on time frames; he was not one for faffing around.

He had not heard of the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre at that time, but his ready agreement to be involved in it was driven by his strong personal beliefs that people in distress, people who have fled tyranny and oppression in their own lands should be welcomed by Australia with warmth, generosity and compassion. This was the start of a beautiful and strong friendship and a productive relationship. On one of Mr Fraser's first visits to this organisation, which is run primarily by volunteers, he was talking to people when he had an encounter with one of the volunteers. She said that, when he had been Prime Minister, she had pinned a picture of him to a dart board and had thrown darts at it. While everyone there who witnessed the exchange held their breath Mr Fraser simply replied, 'If you used to throw darts at me then it is you who has changed, not me, because my policies on this issue have always been the same.' Perhaps she was not throwing darts at Mr Fraser for his immigration policies—I am not sure—but the humble nature of that exchange says a lot.

For Mr Fraser, this was not just about a humane policy; it was about people, themselves, and what it means for our nation, what it says about the spirit of our people as a community and what it is that we are prepared to stand for and fight for. His commitment to multiculturalism and antiracism in this country is unchallenged from political leadership. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind about that. He is a hero of compassion. He is a hero of multiculturalism. No matter what side of politics you may belong to, that is the best foundation for tolerance and stability, for the safety of our nation and, particularly, for security in our region.

One of the things I would like to add about Mr Fraser's relationship with the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre—many people would not know this, particularly the newspaper editors and publishers—is that whenever a newspaper paid him a fee for writing on the topic of asylum seekers and refugees he sent that cheque directly to the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre. That was his way, in addition to his very public advocacy, of being true to his commitment on this issue. Everybody at the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre is mourning the loss of not only a powerful ally but an unwavering and a true friend.

As said, I think Malcolm Fraser in his later years engaged a new generation of people who want and are desperate for a caring community and for a country that stands for compassion and does not waver in the wind, even when the politics is not easy. Illustrative of his engagement with the new generation was how he was welcomed with open arms from the Twittersphere. When Malcolm Fraser first came onto Twitter—it was 2013, from memory—he was sitting in my office. He had his iPad, and I thought, 'Gee, this is a funny sight,' seeing the towering figure of Malcolm Fraser in his suit jacket and waistcoat sitting back with his iPad trying to work out how to send his first tweet. It went off. People were asking whether he really was MalcolmFraser12, which was his handle, because he was at least 12 Malcolm Frasers behind on Twitter. He did not mind. He just stuck the 12 on the end. But he became engaged in the political debate online as much as he had always been part of the political debate in the traditional news sense. He was tweeting right up until only a few days before his passing. Malcolm did not pull any punches, in person or online. I will read just a handful of them. On 25 February, he tweeted:

Alarm over Abbott's view on Islam. Abbott dangerous to harmony, peace, a destroyer of wisdom.

That is from a man who does not mind whether his view is going to be unpopular. Another tweet:

Four reasons to raise women’s pay that should make men happy.

That of course was about equal opportunity in the workplace and trying to ensure that more women are executives running companies, because studies show that will lift profits.

Abbott government considers axing the Australian census to save money … Gov has no idea of what a Nation should be.

This was a man who continued to participate in the political debate right up until he died.

On Friday morning, when the news spread that Malcolm had passed away, there was an outpouring of sadness and loss, not just in the traditional means, but also in the Twittersphere. One person tweeted:

I kind of expected Malcolm Fraser to continue sending wonderful, compassionate tweets for forever. May he rest in peace.

Another tweeted:

Sad to hear of Malcolm Fraser's passing. A true Liberal and force for a fairer, more cosmopolitan Australia.

And another tweet:

The loss of Malcolm Fraser so soon after the death of Gough Whitlam is a double blow to Australia and its politics. Both giants among men.

Malcolm was a true leader of compassion, a man of conviction who did not mind that, when he spoke, people might not like what he said. He never wavered in what he thought was right, but he was always willing to listen if his view was wrong.

It strikes me that in the words of Malcolm Fraser over the years and the political courage he has shown there is a lot that we in this place and the other could all learn. Yes, there is a debate about whether he left the Liberal Party or they left him. I do not think that really matters. I think that history will remember Malcolm Fraser as a great man, a man of conviction, a towering figure in the life of our nation who remained unwavering to the last possible opportunity in championing the protection and the dignity of the most vulnerable, both here and abroad. He wanted a nation that continued to change and continued to grow. He gave it absolutely everything that he had. I would like to thank him for that.

Just in summary, I would also like to thank his family—Tamie, his children and his grandchildren—for sharing their husband, their dad and their grandfather with our nation. Malcolm Fraser says that life is not meant to be easy. Politics is not easy. This is a man who gave great sacrifices for building our country and making it a much better place. Thank you.