Martin Tracey: Obituaries — Rt Hon Malcolm Fraser AC CH GCL Hon Lee Kuan Yew GCMG CHText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeMartin Tracey: Obituaries — Rt Hon Malcolm Fraser AC CH GCL Hon Lee Kuan Yew GCMG CH[Sitting date: 24 March 2015. Volume:704;Page:2481. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]TRACEY MARTIN (Deputy Leader—NZ First): Kia ora Mr Speaker. I rise on behalf of New Zealand First to support the motion. It would appear that we are marking the end of the generation of Western political leaders from the 1970s. Malcolm Fraser’s death follows that of the other two major players in Australia’s biggest ever political crisis. [Interruption]Mr SPEAKER: Order!TRACEY MARTIN: It is a respectful motion for a man who was important in politics. It is a shame that some members of the House do not feel that way but New Zealand First does and does not take this lightly. Mr Fraser is one of the last political players in what was Australia’s biggest ever political crisis with Gough Whitlam passing last year and Sir John Kerr passing in 1991.Malcolm Fraser’s most famous quote is considered by some to be: “Life is not meant to be easy.” One might say that this encapsulates his belief in self-discipline and individual sacrifice and that it sums up nicely the event that will for ever dominate his legacy as a master of detail. In 1975 the Liberal majority in the Australian Senate refused to pass Labor Prime Minister Gough Whitlam’s money bill. This paralysed Australia’s Government. The tipping point came when Whitlam refused to resign or to call a general election which saw the Governor-General Sir John Kerr exercise his rarely used reserve powers to dismiss Whitlam’s Labor Government. Malcom Fraser became caretaker Prime Minister that day 11 November 1975 which is of course Armistice Day. A general election was called for 13 December of that year and despite the controversy of Whitlam’s dismissal Fraser led the Liberal - Country Party coalition to the largest victory in Australian history taking 30 seats off Labor to secure a 55-seat majority.While Fraser repudiated some of Whitlam’s initiatives; he extended others—confounding his opponents and their perception of him as an aloof landed grazier. As we have already heard from 1975 until his 1993 defeat by Labor’s Bob Hawke he established the Australian Family Court and the Federal Court of Australia. He also gave the Northern Territory self-government and passed Aboriginal land rights. He followed our much earlier lead in New Zealand by creating federal ombudsmen. He also ended the mining of mineral sands from Fraser Island and declared 36000 square kilometres of the Great Barrier Reef off Cairns as a marine park. Yet he was also not scared to use mineral extraction where it made sense and these resources boomed under his leadership helping to propel the Australian economy.Malcolm Fraser was touched by the plight of Vietnamese refugees and made great efforts to expand that refugee programme—something he continued with after leaving office. Socially he introduced family allowances paid to mothers and oversaw the decision to build a new Parliament House in Canberra. Internationally he supported anti-apartheid boycotts against South Africa and given the state of global farming in the 1970s he also called for a global common fund to stabilise commodity prices. Fraser was an economic traditionalist yet together with that other giant of politics Sir Robert Muldoon they negotiated and agreed closer economic relations between our two countries. This remains our most important trade agreement proving that sensible trade agreements based on common sense do work.Malcolm Fraser was born in 1930 in Melbourne and grew up on the family farm. He graduated from Oxford University in 1952 working as a grazier before becoming in 1955 at the age of 25 the youngest federal member of Parliament. He would serve for 28 years. An imposingly tall figure at 6 feet 4 inches in 1956 he married Tamara Beggs who survives him and together they had four children—Mark Angela Hugh and Phoebe. Our sympathies go to them their families and the Australian people.