Presentation of the Fraser Collection
Ian Renard, Chancellor
Woodward Conference Centre - 5 May 2005
On behalf of the University, may I warmly welcome everyone here for this very special occasion. I am delighted to see so many of Malcolm and Tamie Fraser's family here, as well as many of their fiends from the Western District, including the Speaker of the House of Representatives and Malcolm's successor as Member for Wannon, David Hawker. We are grateful too that the US Consul-General, David Hopper, is with us, as well as Paul Santamaria and Paul Gibbs from National Archives.
There are many here too who worked closely with Malcolm Fraser during his time as Leader of the Opposition and Prime Minister - notably Dame Margaret GuilfoyIe and (on my count) no less than 10 members of his private staff from that period - Alister Drysdale, Petro Georgiou, Jack Hammond, David Kemp, Cathy Quealy, Professor John Rose, Stephen Vaughan, Dennis White, John Wilson - and myself. Even Mike Richards, former chief of staff of a Leader of the Opposition from the other side of politics, is here.
Senor representatives of the University are here in force too - the Vice-Chancellor, the University Librarian, the University Archivist, the Dean and Deputy Dean of Law and, importantly as we shall hear, the Director of the Australia-Pacific Centre for Military Law - the very centre where Malcolm's daughter Phoebe Wynn-Pope (who is also with us) is undertaking her doctorate.
The University is thrilled that Malcolm Fraser has decided that his personal papers will, progressively over time, be placed at the University. These 'papers' in fact comprise a library of books, many many files of correspondence, a unique photograph collection (some of which you saw displayed as you arrived here) and other items of ephemera such as gifts to him from foreign dignitaries and institutions he visited or received over the years. His Prime Ministerial papers reside at National Archives in Canberra, but I know discussions are well underway to ensure future researchers will have seamless access to the full collection of both sets of documents.
The library will be housed in a room in this building, near the Australia-Pacific Centre for Military Law. The room is being appropriately refurbished with floor-to-ceiling bookcases to house securely this collection, and if necessary any overflow may be shelved along the waIls of the corridor outside. Other items will be held by University Archives.
Malcolm Fraser has long displayed an interest in the rule of law in international affairs. If it was a strong interest of his during his Prime Ministership, it has become almost an obsession since when one views his activities with the Commonwealth, Eminent Persons Committees, his work with other former democratic leaders, and of course his notable contribution to Care International. Through this latter period, he has developed a close working relationship and friendship with Professor Tim McCormack who holds the Australian Red Cross Chair of International Humanitarian Law at the University of Melbourne Law School.
It is through that close working relationship that, I suspect, Malcolm ultimately decided that his papers should be housed here - but I hope we will hear more about that in a moment from Malcolm himself.
We do not underestimate the importance and generosity of this benefaction to the University, nor the responsibility it places upon us to look after this collection which will doubtless be a great source of material for researchers in the time ahead.
I now have great pleasure in inviting Hon. Malcolm Fraser to address us.