A Twitter tribute as @malcolmfraser12 falls silent: Vale Malcolm Fraser

*Updated 22 March with additional responses and reflections

Much is being written and broadcast about the life of former Liberal Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser after his death earlier today – which came as a shock for many, despite his advancing age, given how energetic and engaged he remained to the end in public life.

This post seeks just to reflect some of the responses from diverse groups to his life and death via Twitter, to which he took with gusto in recent years and from which he will be sorely missed.

Here’s a sample of his tweets from The Advertiser, and this article on how his Twitter connection came about, via journalist Asher Wolf (@Asher_Wolf).

The Australian has compiled all the formal tributes from PM Tony Abbott and ex PMs. Here’s a taste from Paul Keating:

“His public life also enshrined other important principles: no truck with race or colour and no tolerance for whispered notions of exclusivity tinged by race. These principles applied throughout his political life.”

See also this comprehensive analysis from The Conversation of Fraser’s legacy across policy areas, from immigration and the economy to health, where the verdict was “not as strong as it is in other areas”.

Margaret Simons also considers his legacy in light of their conversations too, as they worked together on Malcolm Fraser: The Political Memoirs.

And from reflections from Fraser’s former colleagues Ian Macphee, Fred Chaney, John Menadue, and this Guardian piece by Robert Manne, which closes:

“We will not see his like again.”