Event: Dangerous Allies - Malcolm Fraser & Michael Fullilove on Australian Foreign Policy

Australia has always been reliant on 'great and powerful friends' for its sense of national security and for direction on its foreign policy—first on the British Empire and now on the United States. But has the time come for Australia to adopt a greater degree of independence in its foreign policy? Join us on 9 July for a provocative exploration of this question by former Australian prime minister Rt Hon. Malcolm Fraser in conversation with the Lowy Institute’s Executive Director, Dr Michael Fullilove.

Malcolm Fraser served as Australia's 22nd Prime Minister from 1975 until he resigned from federal politics in 1983 after 28 years as the Federal Member for Wannon. He held several ministries during his time in Parliament, including Minister for the Army, Minister of State for Defence and Minister for Education and Science.

Since leaving government Mr Fraser has played a distinguished role in international relations. He was Co-chairman of the Commonwealth Committee of Eminent Persons in 1986, formed to encourage reform in South Africa. He served as Chairman of CARE Australia from 1987 until 2001, and President of CARE International from 1990 to 1995. He was a foundation Board Member of the International Crisis Group from 1996 to 2000 and has served as a Senior Advisor there since. In 2011 he became a member of the Asia-Pacific Leadership Network for Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament.

Mr Fraser has been appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia and received the President's Gold Medal for Humanitarian Service from B'nai B'rith International, as well as the Australian Human Rights Medal from the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission. In March 2010 Malcolm Fraser: The Political Memoirs by Malcolm Fraser and Margaret Simons, was published by The Miegunyah Press.

Dangerous Allies by Malcolm Fraser with Cain Roberts, was published by Melbourne University Publishing Ltd in May this year.

Michael Fullilove is the Executive Director of the Lowy Institute.

Dr Fullilove has been associated with the Lowy Institute since its establishment. He wrote the feasibility study for the Institute in 2002 and has served as the Director of its Global Issues Program since 2003. He has also worked as a Visiting Fellow in Foreign Policy at the Brookings Institution in Washington, DC, an adviser to Prime Minister Paul Keating, and a lawyer. He remains a Nonresident Senior Fellow at Brookings.

Dr Fullilove writes widely on Australian foreign policy, US foreign policy and global issues in publications including The New York Times, Financial Times, The Washington Post, The National Interest and Foreign Affairs, as well as the Australian press. He is a sought-after media commentator and speaker in Australia and abroad, appearing on programs such as Radio National Breakfast, Lateline and the Charlie Rose Show. He graduated in arts and law from the Universities of Sydney and New South Wales, with dual university medals. He also studied as a Rhodes Scholar at the University of Oxford, where he took a master's degree and a doctorate in international relations.

Dr Fullilove's new book, Rendezvous with Destiny: How Franklin D. Roosevelt and Five Extraordinary Men Took America into the War and into the World, was published in Australia and the United States in 2013.