Malcolm Fraser, Australia’s towering former conservative prime minister who came to power in 1975 in highly charged circumstances when his Labor predecessor was sacked by the governor-general has died at 84.
Mr Fraser, an Oxford graduate and wealthy sheep and cattle farmer based in Victoria, was an imposing presence who stood 6ft 4in (1.93m). He served as Australia’s Liberal prime minister from 1975 until losing office to the Labor party leader, Bob Hawke, in 1983.
He came to power at 45 when Sir John Kerr, the Australian governor-general, representative of the Queen, appointed him caretaker after sacking the Labor government of Gough Whitlam, another lofty figure who was slightly taller than Mr Fraser.
Mr Fraser went on to win a general election a month later