Editing Malcolm Fraser (section)

=== Fiscal policy ===
[[File:Fraser - Ford - Peck.jpg|thumb|right|Fraser at a [[White House]] state dinner in 1976, being introduced to actor [[Gregory Peck]] by President [[Gerald Ford]]. Actress [[Shirley Temple]] can also be seen behind Ford.]]
Fraser quickly dismantled some of the programs of the Whitlam government, such as the Ministry of the Media, and made major changes to the universal health insurance system [[Medibank]]. He initially maintained Whitlam's levels of tax and spending, but real per-person tax and spending soon began to increase. He did manage to rein in inflation, which had soared after the [[1973 oil crisis]], when [[OPEC]] nations refused to sell oil to nations that supported Israel in the [[Yom Kippur War]]. His so-called "Razor Gang" implemented stringent budget cuts across many areas of the Commonwealth Public Sector, including the [[Australian Broadcasting Corporation]] (ABC).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2006/s1820146.htm |title=The 7:30 Report |publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation |access-date=25 April 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511192303/http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2006/s1820146.htm|archive-date=11 May 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Fraser practised [[Keynesian]] economics during his time as prime minister,<ref name="guides.naa.gov.au">{{cite web |url=http://guides.naa.gov.au/malcolm-fraser/chapter1/1.6.aspx |title=Prime Minister – Malcolm Fraser: Guide to Archives of Australia's Prime Ministers – National Archives of Australia |publisher=guides.naa.gov.au |access-date=14 June 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150324022530/http://guides.naa.gov.au/malcolm-fraser/chapter1/1.6.aspx |archive-date=24 March 2015 |url-status=dead }}</ref> in part demonstrated by running budget deficits throughout his term as prime minister.<ref name="news">{{cite web |url=http://resources1.news.com.au/images/2014/05/09/1226912/404693-327c265a-d683-11e3-8f0f-96eb1c5166a3.jpg |title=Federal government deficit and debt since federation: The Australian 10 May 2014 |publisher=resources1.news.com.au |access-date=14 June 2015 |archive-date=3 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210203134430/http://resources1.news.com.au/images/2014/05/09/1226912/404693-327c265a-d683-11e3-8f0f-96eb1c5166a3.jpg |url-status=dead }}</ref> He was the Liberal Party's last Keynesian Prime Minister. Though he had long been identified with the Liberal Party's right wing, he did not carry out the radically conservative program that his political enemies had predicted, and that some of his followers wanted. Fraser's relatively moderate policies particularly disappointed the [[Treasurer of Australia|Treasurer]], [[John Howard]], as well as other ministers who were strong adherents of [[fiscal conservatism]] and [[economic liberalism]],<ref name="guides.naa.gov.au" /> and therefore detractors of Keynesian economics. The government's economic record was marred by rising double-digit unemployment and double-digit inflation, creating "[[stagflation]]", caused in part by the ongoing effects of the [[1973 oil crisis]].