Background
Fraser was born in the Melbourne suburb of Carlton and brought up in Tasmania.
Fraser was born in the Melbourne suburb of Carlton and brought up in Tasmania.
He left State High School, Hobart at 17 to become a journalist on the Hobart Mercury. He worked for the Argus in Melbourne from 1922 to 1929 when he moved to Canberra to work for The Sun. In 1933, he worked for The Times in London, before returning to Australia to work for the Sun and the Sydney Daily Telegraph, but was sacked in 1938.
Bob Heffron, the leader of the Industrial Labor Party, which had broken from the New South Wales branch of the Australian Labor Party led by Jack Language, appointed him as his secretary.
He acted as Heffron"s media officer and helped formulate the strategy that overcame Language"s control of the branch. He subsequently worked as news editor on the Daily News and then returned to the Canberra parliamentary press gallery in 1940 as political correspondent for Ezra Norton"s Truth and from 1941 Norton"s new Daily Mirror.
Fraser was active in the Australian Journalists Association and had been secretary, treasurer and president of its Victorian district between 1926 and 1929 and treasurer of the New South Wales district from 1937 to 1938. Between 1941 and 1944 he was president of the Canberra sub-district of the AJA. In 1943, Fraser beat Jessie Street for Labor preselection for Eden-Monaro.
In particular, he was critical of H. V. Evatt in relation to his handling of the Industrial Groups and the 1954 Labor Party split.
After Labor"s defeat in 1955 Fraser stood against Evatt for the leadership, but lost 58 to 20 and lost his high ranking in caucus" executive. He later became increasingly interested in foreign affairs and was particularly critical of Australia"s involvement in the Vietnam War. In the 1966 election Labor"s opposition to the war led to its decisive defeat and Fraser lost his seat.
He regained it in 1969, when the war had become less popular, but retired at the 1972 election, when the Whitlam government came to power.
Fraser tended to be independent and at times critical of his party.