Considering the Prime Ministers who have followed him I suppose Fraser does stand out favourably.

In a room full of political pygmies even a person of very average stature will stand out.

Thank You so much for this book review.

William Shakespeare wrote:

"Be not afraid of greatness,
Some are born great,
Some achieve greatness,
And some have greatness thrust upon them."
(Twelfth Night, II.v. 156-159).

I guess that I'll have to read the book to
find out which of these (perhaps all?),
apply to Malcolm Fraser.

I suspect that it could well be at least two
of them! Men of his calibre are few in today's
Liberal or I should say "Conservative" Party.
There's nothing Liberal about them.

So, the reason he has become a silly old fart, is because he was a silly young fart, & just got old.

Of course, as his ambition exceeded his courage, he kept his true ideas hidden as much as possible. Disgusting man.

Agree Hasbeen;

For me personally- and maybe its because I'm more a fan of grassroots politicians with records of honesty;
But I just don't see what's so lovely about a nasty, vengeful, bigoted and incredibly greedy and self-entitled individual who seems to treat the average joe as an object obligated to perform whatever his political views demand- and not to mention maintain his pampered lifestyle; who isn't a very strong supporter of free speech or democratic public rights but a strong supporter of forcing people to join the army to kill people with political views Mal doesn't like (read his recent speeches- particularly on conscription and the Vietnam war), and is perfectly happy to see dishonest measures taken to skew democratic processes to fit into his own viewpoints (lobbying for parties he doesn't like- (eg One Nation)- to be put at bottom of ballot papers for donkey voters)..

I think I'll pass on his book- he has never said anything particularly insightful as much as superficial in the past, and quite frankly I'm giving him enough of my money already.

Hazza and Hasbeen have said it all.

Have I been sucked into some sort of spin? Mal has not become mellow with age? Prepared to speak out, whereas he was prevented in the past due to political affiliation? I like a lot of what he has said in recent years; speaking out against Howard's Pacific Solution, human rights and so on.

I still hold the belief that the Liberal Party did change with the leadership of Howard and truly embraced a conservatism that had been held in check by people like Gorton. But then my knowledge of political history only really began with the Hawke/Keating era so maybe I am clueless (wouldn't be the first time).

However, I can sit and listen to this man, something I can't do with Howard - even now he's gone and I'm safe (from Howard). Fraser's voice has that deep patriarchal inflection that is reassuring.

Besides, I believe in redemption and I believe that Fraser is a better man than he was as PM. But I'll get his book from the library.

:)