Got a heads up about this today. Check out this transcript for a moment:
TONY JONES: No, I want to see if there’s someone on the panel who might defend Sarah Palin, and let’s go to Malcolm Fraser, first of all.
MALCOLM FRASER: Well, could she become president, yes.
TONY JONES: Well, she could run against Obama and she could theoretically win.
MALCOLM FRASER: Look, European economies fall over the edge. That drags American down again. American economy is going worse, in spite of Obama’s - you know, I’d go to America and vote for him 1000 times and risk prosecution for voting too often to try and keep him there. But if the world economies really go down the hill...
TONY JONES: You didn’t do that when you were in government, did you?
MALCOLM FRASER: Well, it depends who you ask about. But the - it’s not impossible that the Republicans could win next time around. I would have thought that there is a 50 per cent change it should be the Republican nominee and I’m absolutely terrified at the thought.
TONY JONES: Peter Carey...
MALCOLM FRASER: It would be a madness for everyone.
Wow. I know people who swear they thought Malcolm Fraser was the devil and a fascist way back when he was in power, all over that 1975 Dismissal thing, but the same people are now shocked to hear how attuned Malcolm Fraser is to their current points of view. I know he'd mellowed and found himself at odds with John Howard, but this is quite a shock.
Then, there's this bit, which really had tongues wagging today:
TONY JONES: All right, let’s hear from Peter.
PETER CAREY: I keep on thinking about the role of the medial generally in this and how the media is always so continually hysterical about people lying and not telling the truth. And if I really think there’s a big problem in our society today, it’s that the media is not telling the truth to people and they know what it is. If you really want to know what’s happening the world, you go out and get drunk with journalists and they will tell you what isn’t in the papers. So they’re living - these guys are living every day with the reality of a proprietor, say, or a corporation who owns them will not permit them to tell what they know to be true. So, okay, this guy lied. He’s not a good person because he did it but I think the hysteria is about a bigger, bigger issue, which is we are not being honestly reported to. And if there was, you know, Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction but...
MALCOLM FRASER: But they knew he didn’t.
PETER CAREY: Yeah.
TONY JONES: They knew he didn’t, you say?
MALCOLM FRASER: Yes.
PETER CAREY: Yes.
TONY JONES: You mean the Howard Government knew he didn’t?
MALCOLM FRASER: It should have. I think the British Government did, the American Government did and the Australian Government should have.
TONY JONES: Okay. Well, I could pursue that for quite a while but we actually have a question in the audience. In fact, it’s directed specifically to Malcolm Turnbull(sic). It comes from Paul Sherrington. Malcolm Fraser, I beg your pardon. Did I say Malcolm Turnbull? I’m so sorry.
MALCOLM FRASER: You just took 30 years off my life.
You get the picture. Tony Jones was so flustered by the assertion by Malcolm Fraser that the Anglophone governments of USA, Britain and Australia knew there were no WMDs in Iraq prior to going in, that he called Fraser Turnbull - but think on that remark by Malcolm Fraser for a moment. No WMDs. John Howard knew, and in Malcolm Fraser's opinion, he should have known better. No WMDs.
UPDATE: Malcolm Fraser Quits Liberal Party
Over night, we find that Malcolm Fraser in fact quit the Liberal Party.
Former Liberal prime minister Malcolm Fraser has quit the party, allegedly over a belief it has tilted too far to the right.
Mr Fraser resigned in December, shortly after Malcolm Turnbull was turfed as opposition leader over his support for emissions trading, The Australian Financial Review reported.
He allegedly told friends his replacement, Tony Abbott, was "all over the place" on policy and disliked the racist overtones adopted by the party in the debate on immigration.
Mr Fraser, the prime minister from 1975 to 1983, confirmed his decision to quit yesterday, saying the party was no longer a liberal party but a conservative party.
Although he failed to elaborate, he has recently been critical of the coalition in the media, particularly over its stance on the Israeli passports affair.
He has previously criticised the Liberal party for becoming one of "fear and reaction" and says it is now unrecognisable as the party he joined more than 50 years ago.
The Australian Financial Review says his final decision to quit was made after he became increasingly concerned with the conservative direction of the party.
I'm still shocked, shocked I tell you! Isn't that like Ronald Reagan quitting the Republicans if only he were alive? Or Margaret Thatcher quitting the Conservatives if only she still had a mind? Jeebus Creepus. The Libs have tilted far to the right if Malcolm Fraser can't abide it any more.
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