Malcolm Fraser AC CH PC (1930-2015) was prime minister of Australia from 1975 to 1983. A grazier, Fraser was educated at Melbourne Grammar School and Oxford University before entering Federal politics in 1955. Proving a skilled political tactician, he came to power following the dismissal of the Whitlam government after the opposition-controlled Senate refused to pass supply. Fraser won the ensuing election in a massive landslide, with a 55-seat majority in the House of Representatives (the biggest margin since Federation). In office Fraser made cuts to public sector spending, undoing many of Whitlam’s reforms, yet in retirement, as the Liberal Party increasingly pursued economic rationalism, he called for a balance between national needs and market demands. After leaving politics in 1983 Fraser was active and outspoken on the subjects of human rights and international aid agencies. He gave up his Liberal Party membership in 2009, stating that the party was no longer liberal, but conservative.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Enid Hawkins 2003
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
© Enid Hawkins (nee Hinder)
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