BOOK FIND IN TROPICAL BUBBLE

There  are  pleasing  surprises  for  book  addicts  in  North Queensland . For example ,  a   presentation  copy  to  a  former  Australian   Prime Minister , Malcolm Fraser ,  of   journalist  David  McNicoll's  1979  autobiography ,  Luck's  A  Fortune ,  bobbed up   early  in  the exploding  Canberra  Bubble  sex  allegations .

A former  war correspondent  and editor in chief of Frank Packer's Australian Consolidated Press  from 1953 to 1972 , McNicoll  was also a columnist with the Sydney  Bulletin .  It  is a most interesting read  and  contains an April 4, l974  , lengthy , forthright  , taped  interview  with  Sir Robert  Menzies  about  Australian  politics  and   key players  in  it , with some current relevance . 

Sir Robert  lamented the leadership of the  Liberal Party  at the time , saying Billy Snedden  was  hopeless, William McMahon was "that contemptible squirt" and  Jolly  John  Gorton  a  lightweight .  

Commenting  on  lawyers in politics, he said  that although he had encouraged  Garfied  Barwick ,who became the  Attorney-General, he had never been any good in parliament , a disappointing politician . Parliament   needed  first  class lawyers, it  had  too many  third-rate ones.  

 Malcolm Fraser, with a hint of statesmanship, he opined, had no hope of becoming  leader.   McNicoll  admitted  Fraser was " the  man  Frank ( Packer ) and I  are  for" .  There is  a  full page Ward O'Neill  caricature of Fraser, nicknamed  the Crazy  Grazier, in  the  book.  

Of course,  Fraser did  become the Liberal leader , threatened  to cut off Big Gough  Whitlam's supply, and the  tipsy  Governor-General  sacked  him in an outrageous  act  against   the  Australian democracy in  November l975 .

Fraser's appeal  to  voters is  clearly illustrated in the following  l983 photograph of him on the campaign  trail at  the Post Office Hotel, Brisbane 

In October 1986 ,Fraser  was the centre of a sensational  incident  in Memphis, Tennessee in which he lost  his trousers, a $10,000 Rolex watch ,$600 in cash and  his passport . Dazed, with a small towel covering his  southern comfort zone , he fronted the reception at the  Admiral Benbow Inn, where he had reportedly signed in as John  Jones from Victoria .

A kind cabbie supplied him with a pair of his own trousers , but said Fraser had not  thanked  him  for  the  tweeds. The Memphis Commercial Appeal newspaper  claimed    Fraser did not report  the robbery because: “I had a busy schedule to keep and chances of getting my stuff back seemed  pretty remote”.

 A  Packer publication claimed Fraser  said  he wished  he had never visited "bloody Memphis". A tattooed lady , it was reported , could have  doped him in a dark bar , a number of Memphis  businessmen  having  also  been   victims  in  the   past. 

The  dustjacket blurb on McNicoll's book highlights comments he made on subjects of interest, such as :* I have written editorials which I deeply regretted  next day. I have attacked people in print who did not deserve  to  be attacked. I have taken part in the manipulation of politicians .*Journalism is a profession where destinies are often decided at dinner tables, and where  true  worth  is  often  by-passed  for wrong reasons .