Australia mourns loss of a ‘political giant’

The former Liberal prime minister and federal education minister Malcolm Fraser has died at the age of 84, after a short illness.

An online obituary published by Fairfax media on 20 March described him as a humanitarian and “a political giant” who bridged the divide between Australia’s major parties.

The former Victorian western district pastoralist is also remembered for his stand against South Africa’s race discrimination laws in the 1980s, describing apartheid as “repugnant to the whole human race.”