Malcolm Fraser
John Malcolm Fraser was the 22nd prime minister of Australia, serving from 1975 to 1983. He held office as the leader of the Liberal Party of Australia, and is the fourth longest-serving prime minister in Australian history.
Born in Melbourne, Fraser was raised on his father's sheep stations in rural New South Wales and studied philosophy, politics and economics at Magdalen College, Oxford. After an initial defeat in 1954, he was elected to the House of Representatives at the 1955 federal election, winning the rural south-western Victoria seat of Wannon. At 25 years old, he was one of the youngest people ever elected to Parliament. He is the latest prime minister as of 2025 to represent a rural constituency. When Harold Holt became prime minister in 1966, Fraser was appointed Minister for the Army. After Holt's disappearance and replacement by John Gorton, Fraser became Minister for Education and Science and then Minister for Defence. In 1971, Fraser resigned from cabinet and denounced Gorton as "unfit to hold the great office of prime minister"; this precipitated the replacement of Gorton with William McMahon. He subsequently returned to his old education and science portfolio.
Born in Melbourne, Fraser was raised on his father's sheep stations in rural New South Wales and studied philosophy, politics and economics at Magdalen College, Oxford. After an initial defeat in 1954, he was elected to the House of Representatives at the 1955 federal election, winning the rural south-western Victoria seat of Wannon. At 25 years old, he was one of the youngest people ever elected to Parliament. He is the latest prime minister as of 2025 to represent a rural constituency. When Harold Holt became prime minister in 1966, Fraser was appointed Minister for the Army. After Holt's disappearance and replacement by John Gorton, Fraser became Minister for Education and Science and then Minister for Defence. In 1971, Fraser resigned from cabinet and denounced Gorton as "unfit to hold the great office of prime minister"; this precipitated the replacement of Gorton with William McMahon. He subsequently returned to his old education and science portfolio.
