Death of Malcom Fraser

Below is the text of a media release I put out on Friday 20 March on behalf of the Campaign for for an Iraw War Inquiry/Australians for War Powers Reform following the news of the death of former Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser.

Death of Rt. Hon. Malcolm Fraser AC CH

On this 12^th anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, Campaign for an Iraq War Inquiry/Australians for War Powers Reform expresses its deep sorrow at the news of the passing of Australia’s 22^nd Prime Minister, Rt. Hon. Malcolm Fraser AC CH.

Mr Fraser was a foundation member of our movement, having attended in early 2012 a meeting in Melbourne which convened to consider how we might best campaign for the establishment of an independent inquiry into the decision-making process that led to Australia’s participation in the 2003 invasion of Iraq, and the relocation of the so-called “war powers” from the Executive to the Parliament.

From that time forward he was effectively the movement’s Patron. Later in 2012, in Parliament House, Canberra, he launched our publication “Why Did We Go To War In Iraq?: A call for an Australian Inquiry”. He was a strong supporter of our movement and a ready source of guidance and wise counsel.

“His support for this cause was of a piece with his staunch opposition to apartheid as Prime Minister, his humane approach to Indo-Chinese asylum seekers during his time in office, his calls for a more humane approach to asylum seekers in the contemporary era and his respect for international institutions and international law”, said Paul Barratt, President of CIWI/AWPR.

At this time of faltering foreign policy and a too-ready willingness to commit the Australian Defence Force to overseas conflicts his wisdom and ideas will be missed more than ever. His stature will undoubtedly grow in coming decades.

Many of our members and longstanding supporters have known Mr Fraser both professionally and personally over a long period of time. We shall miss him both as a friend and as a colleague, and extend our condolences to Mrs Fraser and the family.

Paul Barratt

President

20 March 2015

Vale Ted Pocock AO, 1934-2013

Yesterday’s edition of The Sydney Morning Herald carries an obituary of my late friend and former colleague Ted Pocock, who died during the night of 28-29 March after a short illness.

Ted had a very distinguished diplomatic career, being posted successively as Australian Ambassador to the Republic of Korea, the Soviet Union, France & UNESCO, Pakistan and the European Union. His wife Meg, a University of New England graduate, has been a friend since university days; I first got to know Ted when he was Minister in the Australian Mission to the OECD, and I was one of the Australian delegates to the series of meetings convened in Paris by Henry Kissinger in 1976 to “bust OPEC” – the so-called Conference on International Economic Co-operation.

For the second of those meetings I was accompanied by my family and we enjoyed the generous hospitality of the Pococks as their house-guests in their apartment in the Rue du Boccador. In the course of that visit we spent a delightful weekend with them at Memillon, between Bonneval and Chateaudun, where I took this photo of Ted and his son Tig.

One permanent memorial to Ted is to be found on the school building at the iconic (to Australians) village of Villers-Bretonneux, where on Anzac Day 1988 Ted and French Defence Minister André Giraud unveiled a plaque to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the recapture of the village by Australian soldiers.

For the SMH obituary, written by Tim McDonald, see Diplomat reached out to dissidents. Ted was a consummate professional, and this obituary captures him nicely. He will be sadly missed by his many friends.