Speech for the Launch of the Web Site for the Malcolm Fraser Collection at the University of Melbourne
Petro Georgiou MP
Tuesday 21 November 2006
Malcolm Fraser, Chancellor, Vice-Chancellor, members of the web site reference group, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen.
It is a very great privilege to be here to inaugurate the web site of the Malcolm Fraser Collection at the University of Melbourne.
When I first heard that Malcolm was taking a real interest in his history I thought fantastic - he is mellowing. It then registered that this was the second Fraser associated web site to be opened within a week - but I will come back to this later. This official site will be a superb resource for people seeking to get an insight into one of Australia’s outstanding Prime Ministers, the dilemmas that he was faced with, the principles that guided him, the expedients that were adopted, the victories that were won and the losses that were sustained.
The web site also addresses what has been something of a puzzle for many – did a tough political operator who won in a huge test of power and will in 1975 somehow become transmuted into a person newly concerned with substantial social issues after he left the parliament?
Those who have known Malcolm Fraser reasonably well understand that this is a totally false dichotomy. Throughout his career, in Parliament and outside it, Malcolm Fraser has been a person concerned with substantial social issues and a very tough operator. It was true in 1975 and it is true now.
Nonetheless it is perhaps serendipitous that one of the first documents displayed on the web site is his 1953 Wannon preselection speech. Made when he was only 23, and coincidentally dated the 11th November, this speech bears out the consistency of Malcolm’s moral and political compass. It sets out in a few paragraphs his view of liberalism - essentially it says that the contribution to social reform of the parties of the left in Australia and the UK had been substantial, but that those reforms had become subordinated to an unacceptable determination to impose state control. The role of liberalism was in Fraser’s view to be both reformist and free, and as Malcolm put it, 'not liberal overseas while tory at home'.
This road has always been the one that Malcolm Fraser has travelled, and the reforms that he brought about have been fundamental. Whether we think about the environment, indigenous affairs, multiculturalism, the battle against apartheid, the concern with the developing world and with poverty and oppression, a concern with these issues has been an enduring hallmark of Malcolm Fraser’s public career.
This will I believe, be reflected in the documents. At the same time, I would be astonished if they did not also reveal some warts.
After all, no person is a perfect reflection of their values and commitments, and politicians are more exposed to the need to deal with the realities of a difficult world than most other humans.
But this is all about the past and the one thing that has to be said of Malcolm Fraser is that while he has made a massive imprint on Australian politics and society, he is not just a historical figure. He is still a major contributor to Australia’s political evolution.
That is exemplified by his other venture into web sites - www.australiansall.com.au, which has the motto of 'Justice, Security, A Fair Go' emblazoned under its name and the promotion of multiculturalism, equal opportunity, rule of law and respect for difference as primary aspects of its Charter.
Some people think that former Prime Ministers should be seen and not heard - and some believe that they should be neither seen nor heard. The fact is that a cross-section of Australians has responded enthusiastically to Malcolm’s interventions on the issues with which he has been deeply concerned for decades. Not all of his views and opinions are universally agreed to - and that is putting it mildly. But we are a much richer nation because he raises his voice. It is a voice that is authentic, authoritative and experienced. It is a voice that keeps on making us think, and think again, about where we are going. And whether we should be going there.
Ladies and Gentlemen, it is most fitting that this collection is within the Archives collection of the University of Melbourne.
Malcolm Fraser has a deep connection with the University, particularly the Law Faculty, which has been enhanced with his recent appointment as Professorial Fellow, located within the Asia Pacific Centre for Military Law.
These archives will make a real contribution not just to our understanding of our past, but to our ability to shape a better future.
Some 31 years after joining a youthful leader of the Federal Parliamentary Liberal Party - Malcolm Fraser - as an impressionable and young staffer, I am proud to stand before him and you today and declare the web site for the Malcolm Fraser Collection at Melbourne University launched.
Thank you.