10 December 2000
Human Rights Medal and Awards 2000
Medal Winner
Rt Hon Malcolm Fraser AC CH
Former Australian Prime Minister the Rt Hon Malcolm Fraser AC CH has been awarded the 2000 Human Rights Medal for his contribution to the advancement of human rights in Australia and internationally.
Mr Fraser was Prime Minister from 1975 -1983. He established the original Human Rights Commission in 1981 under the Human Rights Commission Act, giving effect to five international human rights instruments.
As co-chair of the Commonwealth Group of Eminent Persons, he successfully promoted dialogue aimed at ending apartheid in South Africa. He has been Chairman of the Australian non-government international humanitarian aid organisation CARE Australia since its formation in 1987 and President of CARE International from 1990-1995.
The judges said Mr Fraser had provided national leadership in the pursuit of human rights over a long period, including consistent support for reconciliation between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australians and his leadership in the fight against racism nationally and internationally. They cited his recent Vincent Lingiari Memorial Lecture in Darwin on Indigenous social justice as an example of his engagement with issues of national importance.
In a piece written in May 1999 for the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation, Mr Fraser said: "Many Australians, especially of my generation, find it difficult to accept this picture of our past because it is so contrary to everything we have been taught. Recognition of the past, facing the past with honesty and openness is essential to the whole process. And that begins to point the way to what should be done."
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