Mitch Fifield (Victoria, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Social Services) Share this | Hansard source

For someone of my age, Malcolm Fraser looms large in the formation of one's political consciousness. He was the pre-eminent political fact for the best part of a decade. He was the largest and most dominant political figure at a time in the seventies and eighties when there were many big and robust figures, such as Anthony, Sinclair and Nixon, to name a few.

He was elected at the age of 25, which was an achievement in itself, but he was certainly no overnight success. He served on the backbench for more than a decade, but was always working and preparing. I think you could perhaps describe his disposition as that of coiled patience. Ultimately, a promotion came. He became a minister and then a shadow opposition leader. It was the events leading up to November 1975 that demonstrated his ceaseless, relentlessness and his purposefulness. He, at the time, was the embodiment of leadership. The pressure on Mr Fraser at that time can only be imagined. He was an outstandingly successful opposition leader. His role in seeing off the Whitlam government earned him an eternal place in the hearts of all Liberals. His tenure as the Prime Minister at the time was seen as cut short; but he is in fact the fourth longest-serving Prime Minister and was the second longest-serving Prime Minister at the time that he lost office. He spent seven years and four months as Prime Minister. He won three elections. These are significant achievements in and of themselves.

Much has been said about whether or not the Fraser government fulfilled its potential. As John Howard said over the weekend, 'In policy, context is everything.' A government must be judged according to its time. Mr Fraser certainly possessed insight about the changing world and the changing economic environment that he straddled. Dr David Kemp has recounted a discussion with Mr Fraser where, in the context of great change during his tenure, Mr Fraser described his as a 'transitional' Prime Ministership.

Mr Fraser perhaps suffered the fate that often befalls Liberal heads of government. He was put in place by the public as an administrator of sorts in the wake of the Whitlam government. When the job is seen to be done, the public sometimes decides that it is time to remove the administrator. I think Mr Kennett had a similar experience and served a similar time in office. Mr Fraser, a man often likened to the statuesque figures of Easter Island, wore his heart on his sleeve on election night in 1993. In his post-political life, he showed more of himself.

Mr Fraser's post-political life was full. The nation often does not know quite what to do with its former Prime Ministers—all the more so with one who was so young; he was in his early 50s when he left office. But Mr Fraser had his own answers for how former Prime Ministers should deploy their time and skills. In his post-political life, as in his period in office, he did do things his own way. Liberals such as myself were sometimes a little confused and perplexed by positions that he took on issues later in life. I think it is fair to say that all of us in this chamber are a little bit guilty of a certain selectivity in relation to Mr Fraser's views. Let me be no exception to that.

I refer to a speech that Mr Fraser gave to the 1982 Australian Liberal Students' Federation conference on 10 May 1982. He said:

One of the great causes for which the ALSF has fought and for which it continues-to fight is voluntary student unionism. You have fought for the right of students to choose freely whether or not they wish to belong to a union. Whether or not they wish to pay student union fees without fearing that their student status will be threatened.

In this campaign, especially in relation to eliminating the diversion of compulsory fees for socio-political activities you have the full support of the Federal Government.

Well said, Mr Fraser. Mr Fraser often disagreed with those of us who followed and we often disagreed with him. But none of that should detract from his service as opposition leader, his service as Prime Minister, his patriotism or his commitment to the causes in which he believed.

I did not know Mr Fraser well, having only met him on a handful of occasions. Someone who did know Mr Fraser well is former cabinet minister Dr David Kemp, who served as the director of Mr Fraser's office. I will conclude with Dr Kemp's words from a tribute that he wrote in the weekend Financial Review:

In today's world, Fraser's liberalism, civility, deep personal interest in policy, complete rejection of the politics of personal abuse and his love of debate, combined with political skill, remain qualities for which our political system has a deep need.

Mr Fraser's was a significant life. He was one of the most substantial figures in Australian politics. He was a Liberal Prime Minister who did much good for the country, and we do right to remember him well.