Editing Malcolm Fraser (section)

==Early political career==
Fraser returned to Australia in mid-1952. He began attending meetings of the [[Young Liberals (Australia)|Young Liberals]] in [[Hamilton, Victoria|Hamilton]], and became acquainted with many of the local party officials. In November 1953, aged 23, Fraser unexpectedly won Liberal [[preselection]] for the [[Division of Wannon]], which covered most of Victoria's Western District. The previous Liberal member, [[Dan Mackinnon]], had been defeated in 1951 and moved to a different electorate. He was expected to be succeeded by [[Magnus Cormack]], who had recently lost his place in the Senate. Fraser had put his name forward as a way of building a profile for future candidacies, but mounted a strong campaign and in the end won a narrow victory.<ref>Ayres (1987), pp. 51–56.</ref> In January 1954, he made the first of a series of weekly radio broadcasts on [[3HA]] Hamilton and [[3YB]] Warrnambool, titled ''One Australia''. His program – consisting of a pre-recorded 15-minute monologue – covered a wide range of topics, and was often reprinted in newspapers. It continued more or less uninterrupted until his retirement from politics in 1983, and helped him build a substantial personal following in his electorate.<ref>Fraser & Simons (2011), pp. 76.</ref>

At the [[1954 Australian federal election|1954 election]], Fraser lost to the sitting [[Australian Labor Party|Labor]] member [[Don McLeod (politician)|Don McLeod]] by just 17 votes (out of over 37,000 cast).<ref>Ayres (1987), p. 61.</ref> However, he reprised his candidacy at the early [[1955 Australian federal election|1955 election]] after a [[Electoral redistribution|redistribution]] made Wannon notionally Liberal. McLeod concluded the reconfigured Wannon was unwinnable and retired. These factors, combined with the [[Australian Labor Party split of 1955|1955 Labor Party split]], allowed Fraser to win a landslide victory.<ref>Ayres (1987), p. 62.</ref>