Disarmament

Fraser’s attitude to nuclear weapons in his early career was determined by his understanding of Australia’s role in the Cold War, and later by the issue of uranium mining in the Northern Territory. At the beginning of the Cold War, Australia’s allies the US and Britain supported disarmament moves in the UN and others, but also saw the possession of nuclear weapons as the main deterrent. Fraser was of the same opinion, stating in 1962, “The United Kingdom, the United States, we in Australia and others know that until there is controlled disarmament we cannot afford to be weak.”

There was even some discussion following Fraser’s visit to the US in 1964 about whether Fraser had advocated for the US to use “tactical” nuclear weapons in Vietnam. In his memoirs, Fraser states that his position was that a country at war should not signal to the enemy that is would not use its full arsenal if necessary.

The post-parliamentary records show just how much Fraser’s attitude on the question shifted over the decades. By the turn of the twenty-first century, Fraser was in contact with anti-nuclear advocates, spoke at disarmament conferences, and steered the InterAction Council towards strong advocacy for disarmament.

Radio talks

UMA-ITE-2007002300349, The problems of disarmament, 1957

UMA-ITE-2007002300404, Comments on nuclear weapons, 1958

UMA-ITE-2007002300388, Disarmament, 1958

UMA-ITE-2007002300075, Disarmament, 1962

UMA-ITE-2007002300119, French bomb tests, 1963

Other speeches

Abolishing All Nuclear Weapons: Necessary, Feasible and Increasingly Urgent (PDF 109KB)
Dr John Gee Memorial Lecture, presented by the ANU Strategic and Defence Studies Centre and the Lowy Institute for International Policy, 28 October 2009, Canberra

Eliminating Nuclear Weapons: No Longer The Impossible Dream (PDF 85KB)
National Consultative Committee on Disarmament, Legislative Council Chamber and Grand Hall Parliament Sunday 24 May 2009, Wellington

Correspondence and subject files

UMA-ITE-2007002300607, Defence - Nuclear free zones, 1959-1964

UMA-ITE-2007001900221, Nuclear power - Nuclear tests, 1972-1974

UMA-ITE-2007001900333, E G (Gough) Whitlam - French nuclear tests, 1973

UMA-ITE-2007001300137, Research files, Nuclear testing, 1974-1976

UMA-ITE-2006001500051, Correspondence W, includes report on the Nuclear Non- Proliferation Treaty Review Conference Geneve 1975

UMA-ITE-2011006800082, D McCracken - B J McGrath, representations relating to family allowance, invalid pension, hearing aids, nuclear disarmament, immigration, sales tax on newspapers, magazines and books etc, 1979-1982

UMA-IT-000000115, Peter Collins MP statement on Wran Government's Ban on Nuclear Ships, 2006

UMA-IT-000000937, New Zealand, Disarmament Conference, 2009

UMA-IT-000001312, Asia Pacific Leadership Network for Nuclear Non Proliferation & Disarmament, undated

UMA-IT-000001069, Nuclear Disarmament Group, 2009-2013

UMA-IT-000001070, Nuclear Disarmament Group, 2011-2012

UMA-ITE-2015016500166, The illegality of Nuclear Weapons, ICAN /Australia Red Cross, Melbourne, 2011

InterAction Council

UMA-ITE-2020004700539, EG [expert group] report -Disarmament, 2005

UMA-ITE-2020004700405, Keynote speech – Fraser, 2001

UMA-ITE-2020004700767, Keynote speech – Fraser, 2010