FRASER, JOHN MALCOLM (AUSTRALIA)

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: FOIA Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 06893596
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: March 9, 2023
• Document Release Date: August 26, 2021
• Case Number: F-2020-01826
• Publication Date: May 26, 1977

Approved for Release: 2021/08/25 C06893596
C AAA- / .- 1.1.73/ f
(John) Malcolm FRASER AUSTRALIA
Prime Minister
(since December 1975)
Addressed as:
Mr. Prime Minister
Leader of the Lib-
eral Party, Malcolm
Fraser stands well to
the right of most members
of his basically conser-
vative party and is
determined to move
Australian politics in
that direction. He has
taken direct personal
control of his government in an effort to cut spending,
restore more powers to state governments, and give the
average man greater "economic independence." His top
priority has been to control inflation, but both
inflation and unemployment remain unsolved problems
that threaten his government no less seriously than
they did its predecessor. He visited Washington
most recently in July 1976.
The dominant voice in Australian foreign policy,
Fraser believes in facing fundamental policy issues
squarely.
In his first major foreign policy speech
to Parliament, in June 1976, he strongly endorsed
the US-Australian alliance; expressed the hope that
"good working relations" with the People's Republic
of China would continue; and demanded that the
Soviet Union prove its commitment to world peace by
restraining. its military expansionism. Fraser has
a strong bias against the USSR and is concerned that
Western nations are being duped by the Soviets in
disarmament talks. He also has strong doubts about
the determination of the West to resist what he
believes to be the constant and unchanging Soviet
effort to dominate Western Europe.
(cont.)
CR M 77 12731
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Personal Data
Born in Melbourne, Fraser, 47, is the son of a
wealthy grazier (cattle farmer). He attended the
prestigious Melbourne Grammar School and received a
master's degree-in--philosophy-, political science and
economics from Magdalen College, Oxford.
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A wealthy man, Fraser maintains a house in one of
Canberra's fashionable districts as well as an 8,000-
acre estate in Victoria, where he raises cattle and
sheep. He lists his leisure interests as fishing and
photography, but he can be roused to real enthusiasm
when talking about his motorcycle. Frasermarried Tamara
Beggs in 1956, and the couple has two sons and two
daughters. Mrs. Fraserl
Career Highlights
1955 Elected to the House of
Representatives
1966-68 Minister for the Army
1968-69; 1971-72 Minister for Education and
Science
1969-71 Minister for Defense
Jan-Aug 1973 Shadow Minister for Primary
Industry
1973-75 Shadow Minister for Labor
Mar 1975-date Leader of the Liberal Party
Dec 1975-date Prime Minister
26 May 1977
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Approved for Release: 2021/08/25 C06893596