Fraser Government

The Fraser Government was the federal executive government of Australia led by Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser. It was made up of members of a Liberal-Country party 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 substantial majorities at the subsequent 1977 and 1980 elections, before losing to the Bob Hawke-led Australian Labor Party in the 1983 election. 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. 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 the Whitlam Government operated outside the Loan Council and authorised Minerals and Energy Minister Rex Connor to conduct secret discussions with a loan broker from Pakistan to secure a $US4 billion loan, 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 intention of forcing the government to an election. 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, Fraser and the Coalition were elected in a landslide victory. 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. The election result placed the Liberal Party in a position to govern in its own right, however Fraser maintained the Coalition and Nationals leader Doug Anthony became deputy prime minister. 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). Australia had entered recession and faced high inflation under the later period of the Whitlam Government. Fraser maintained that reducing inflation should take priority over reducing unemployment and believed that the economy would benefit from a transfer of resources from the public sector to the private sector. In its early years, the Fraser government sought to address the economic situation by providing businesses with an investment allowance and reduced taxation on mining and on private companies, while it cutting expenditure on a range of government services, public service salaries and the arts. Fraser persuaded his first Treasurer, Phillip Lynch, to resign in 1977 and promoted the young John Howard to the portfolio. Howard also replaced Lynch as deputy leader of the party in 1982. 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. Howard 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 suffering from the early 1980s recession. 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. The Fraser Government maintained many of the social reforms of the Whitlam era, but sought to introduce increased fiscal restraint. It passed the Human Rights Commission Act 1981, which established the Human Rights Commission and gave effect to five international human rights instruments. This government also established the position of Commonwealth Ombudsman in 1977 and introduced Australia's first freedom of information law.