THE RT HON MALCOLM FRASER AC, CH,GCL

 

Labor salutes the life of former Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser, who passed peacefully today at the age of 84.

 

As the Member for Wannon, a Minister, Prime Minister and elder statesmen, Malcolm Fraser gave six decades of tireless service to our nation.

 

As Prime Minister, Malcolm Fraser showed international leadership of great integrity in condemning the evil of Apartheid.

 

He immeasurably enriched Australia’s multicultural society, offering refuge to tens of thousands of vulnerable people driven from Vietnam by the horror of war.

 

He maintained the Whitlam Government’s commitment to the cause of reconciliation and recognising the land rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

 

In the long third act of his public life, Malcolm won many new admirers as a powerful voice for human rights and reconciliation and a deep thinker regarding Australia’s place in the world.

 

Famously, he and Gough made their peace in these later days too.

 

The friendship that grew between these two titans was more than just an act of personal forgiveness, it was a symbol of national healing.

 

The sight of Fraser and Whitlam campaigning together for a Republic and standing together at the National Apology warmed our hearts and showed how far we had all travelled since the torrid acrimony of the Dismissal.

 

We offer Malcolm’s family our deepest sympathies and we respect their call for privacy in their grief.

 

May he rest in eternal peace.

 

FRIDAY, 20 MARCH 2015

 

MEDIA CONTACT: LEADER’S OFFICE MEDIA UNIT 02 6277 4053