A tall, strapping Victorian millionaire farmer with a privileged upbringing and upper class accent, he defied the stereotype, by backing the environment, as well as policies to support families. At the same time, he implemented harsh budget cuts to the public sector.

After his landslide win in 1975 he became the co-villain of the left, for his role in the Remembrance Day dismissal of the Whitlam government by Sir John Kerr. On the tumultuous day Mr Whitlam called him "Kerr's cur". The two became old friends in later years, but the insult stuck.

He was mocked as "Big Mal the worker's pal". He became a target of Left Wing scorn and Liberal Party indifference. He later left the party. His government achieved results but not to the extent of a government that had won three elections, including two landslides.

His government introduced the family allowance, banned whaling in Australian waters, indexed pensions, and in Tasmania established the Australian Maritime College, the Antarctic Division and pursued World Heritage listing of South-West Tasmania.

While a strong humanitarian on the world stage, at home, Mr Fraser deferred needed reforms like financial deregulation, which had to be implemented by his Labor successor Bob Hawke.

"Big Mal" coined the phrase, "life wasn't meant to be easy".

He uncharacteristically wept during his election night concession speech in 1983.

We sniggered when he lost his trousers in a seedy Memphis hotel in 1986, as if it couldn't have happened to a more conservative member of the ruling gentry.

He refused to stop the Franklin Dam but offered compensation to defer it. Despite huge electoral success, he never enjoyed the Whitlam aura. Perhaps he was an outcast who squandered the spoils of victory in a vain bid for atonement.