The Fraser Government refers to the federal Executive Government of Australia led by Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser. It was made up of members of a Liberal Party of Australia-Country Party of Australia coalition in the Australian Parliament from November 1975 to March 1983. Initially appointed as a "caretaker" government following the Dismissal of the Whitlam Government, Fraser won in a landslide at the resulting 1975 Australian Federal Election, and won sustantial majorities at the subsequent 1977 and 1980 elections, before losing to the Bob Hawke led Australian Labor Party in the 1983 election.
Contents |
| The Right Honourable Malcolm Fraser AC, CH, GCL, PC |
|
|---|---|
| Fraser in 1982 | |
| 22nd Prime Minister of Australia Elections: 1975, 1977, 1980, 1983 |
|
| In office 11 November 1975 – 11 March 1983 |
|
| Monarch | Elizabeth II |
| Governor General | John Kerr Zelman Cowen Ninian Stephen |
| Deputy | Doug Anthony (1975-1983) |
| Preceded by | Gough Whitlam |
| Succeeded by | Bob Hawke |
Billy Snedden led the Liberal-National Coalition in the 1974 Australian Federal Election which saw Whitlam Labor Government re-elected with a decreased majority in the House of Representatives. Malcolm Fraser unsuccessfully challenged for the leadership of the Liberal Party in November 1974, then on 21 March 1975, defeated Snedden, with Phillip Lynch remaining Deputy Leader.
Following the 1974–75 Loans Affair in which Whitlam Government Minister Rex Connor had conducted secret discussions with a loan broker from Pakistan, and the Treasurer, Jim Cairns, had misled parliament over the issue, Fraser told Parliament that the government was incompetent and the opposition Liberal-Country Party Coalition delayed passage of the government’s money bills in the Senate, with the intenton of forcing the government to an election.[1] Prime Minister Whitlam refused to call an election. The deadlock came to an end when Whitlam was dismissed by the Governor General, John Kerr on 11 November 1975 and Fraser was installed as caretaker Prime Minister, pending an election. At elections held in December 1975, Malcolm Fraser and the Coalition were elected in a landslide victory.[2]
The 1975 double dissolution election which followed the Dismissal of the Whitlam Government saw the Liberal Party win 68 seats to Labor’s 36, with the newly renamed National Country Party winning 23 seats in the House of Representatives. In the Senate, 64 seats were contested and 27 Liberal, 27 Labor and 7 National Party Senators were elected, together with 1 Independent and 1 each from the Liberal Movement and the Country Liberal Party. After winning the 1975 election, Fraser won two subsequent elections: with further substantial majorities in 1977 (67 seats to the Labor Party’s 38, with 19 seats going to the National Country Party) and 1980 (Liberals 54 and National Country Party 20 to Labor's 51).[3]
Fraser maintained some of the social reforms of the Whitlam era, while seeking increased fiscal restraint. His government included the first Aboriginal federal parliamentarian, Neville Bonner, and in in 1976, Parliament passed the Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1976, which, while limited to the Northern Territory, affirmed "inalienable" freehold title to some traditional lands. Fraser established the multicultural broadcaster SBS, welcomed Vietnamese boat people refugees, opposed minority white rule in Apartheid South Africa and Rhodesia and opposed Soviet expansionism.
John Howard served as Fraser's Treasurer from November 1977 and presented five federal budgets. During the 1970s Howard shifted from a protectionist to a free trade position – in the new ‘economic rationalist’ mould. He argued unsuccessfully for the introduction of a broad indirect tax, and in 1982 with an election looming, Howard disagreed with his leader's push for an expansionary budget, while the economy was worsening.[4] The Fraser Government sought to reduce expenditure and streamline the public service, but a significant program of economic reform was not pursued. By 1983, the Australian economy was in recession, amidst the effects of a severe drought.[5]
Fraser had promoted "states’ rights" and his government refused to use Commonwealth powers to stop the construction of the Franklin Dam in Tasmania in 1982.[6] A Liberal minister, Don Chipp had split off from the party to form a new social liberal party, the Australian Democrats in 1977 and the Franklin Dam proposal contributed to the emergence of an influential Environmental movement in Australia.
Fraser sought a double dissolution of parliament and called the federal election for 5 March 1983, expecting to face Labor leader Bill Hayden. The Labor party moved to replace Hayden with Bob Hawke however, who went on to lead Labor to victory at the 1983 election.[7]
|
|||||