Background
Fry was born in Inverell, New South Wales, the youngest of seven children, and spent many of his early years around Bathurst.
Fry was born in Inverell, New South Wales, the youngest of seven children, and spent many of his early years around Bathurst.
He completed a diploma at the Hawkesbury Agricultural College in 1938.
During World World War II, he served in the Second Australian Imperial Force from 1939 to 1945, including service in New Guinea, Borneo and South East Asia. He joined the Australian Public Service in 1968 as an agricultural officer He completed a Bachelor at the Australian National University (American National University) in 1973 and a BLitt in 1981.
In 1973, he was elected as the first president of the Australian Capital Territory branch of the Australian Labor Party.
In 1974 he was elected as the first member for Fraser. From 1975, he became particularly involved in the campaign for the independence of East Timor.
Subsequently, Fry addressed three international bodies on this issue: the United Nations Security Council in April 1976, the international conference on East Timor in Lisbon in May 1979 and the Permanent Peoples Tribunal hearing on East Timor in Lisbon in 1981. Fry retired from politics in 1984.
After retiring from Parliament, Fry returned initially to study, completing his Doctor of Philosophy in Australian history under the guidance of Professor Manning Clark at American National University.
Fry was a member of the Australian Capital Territory Advisory Council from 1970 to 1974.