Malcolm Fraser Research Grant scholars re-examine a prime minister’s foreign policy legacy
The inaugural Malcolm Fraser Research Grant, offered by Archives and Special Collections, has awarded two scholars the opportunity to undertake funded research within the Malcolm Fraser Collection at the University of Melbourne Archives. Dr Athanasios Antonopoulos and Professor Derek McDougall’s work contributes to advancing contemporary scholarship on liberal traditions in Australia.
For more than 20 years, the Malcolm Fraser Collection has been built and carefully preserved at the University of Melbourne Archives. Gifted to the University by the Right Honourable Malcolm Fraser, the collection spans over 200 meters of records. It is one of the largest prime ministerial collections in Australia documenting both his personal life and his political career.
Acting University Archivist Katie Wood said the Malcolm Fraser Research Grant empowers scholars to unlock the archival records of a hugely significant collection.
“I’m proud that the University of Melbourne Archives can support exceptional research that brings unique perspectives to Fraser’s political record and its contemporary relevance.”
Dr Athanasios Antonopoulos is a Historian of international history, specialising in US foreign relations during the Cold War, with a particular focus on US-Australian relations in the 1970s. His project will examine Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser’s distinctive liberalism by analysing his active, multidimensional foreign policy during 1975–1983. His research will offer an empirical assessment, arguing that Fraser’s middle‑power strategy combined ambitious international initiatives addressing economic anxieties and populist threats.
“I am very excited and grateful to have been awarded the Malcolm Fraser Research Grant. The grant gives me the opportunity to undertake in-depth research in the Malcolm Fraser Collection at the University of Melbourne Archives - an invaluable primary resource for understanding how liberalism shaped Fraser’s worldview and foreign policy,” Dr Antonopoulos said.
Professor Derek McDougall is an Honorary Professorial Fellow in the School of Social and Political Science within the Faculty of Arts. His main field of interest is Asia-Pacific international politics, with reference to Australian engagement.
“The Malcolm Fraser Collection at the University of Melbourne Archives is unique collection, a valuable source of Commonwealth and Australian foreign policy history from a personal viewpoint,” Professor McDougall said.
“I appreciate the opportunity to explore the collection in detail, and its relationship with international collections.”
The grant will support Professor McDougall’s research into Fraser’s contribution as co-chair of the Commonwealth Eminent Persons’ Group (EPG) on Southern Africa in 1985-1986, which contributed to the abolition of apartheid in South Africa. It will support Professor McDougall’s research on the papers held in the University’s collection and combine these with insights gleaned from related collections at the Commonwealth Secretariat and UK National Archives.
Both grant awardees will communicate their research through a series of articles, public commentaries and events. The Malcolm Fraser Research Grant will be open for applications again in mid-2027. To stay in touch with news from the University’s Archives & Special Collections, sign up to the newsletter.