Alexander John Fraser (22 August 1892 – 9 July 1965) was an Australian politician. Fraser was educated at Kyneton College in

Kyneton Kyneton ( ) is a town in the Macedon Ranges region of Victoria, Australia. The Calder Freeway bypasses Kyneton to the north and east. Kyneton is on Dja Dja Wurrung, Taungurung and Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung country. The town has four main streets: ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

, before becoming a company manager. He was a good enough

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

er to play ten games for

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

in the 1914 and 1915

Victorian Football League The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football league in Australia serving as one of the second-tier regional semi-professional competitions which sit underneath the fully professional Australian Football League (AFL). It ...

seasons. In May 1919, an unidentified former Melbourne footballer, wrote to the football correspondent of ''The Argus'' as follows: ::"In 1914 the Melbourne football team, after its junction with the University, was a fine team, and succeeded in reaching the semi-finals.
Out of this combination the following players enlisted and served at the front:—
C. Lilley (seriously wounded), J. Hassett, H. Tomkins (severely wounded), J. Evans (seriously wounded), W. Hendrie, R. L. Park, J. Doubleday (died), A. Best, C. Burge (killed), C. (viz., A.) Williamson (killed), J. Brake, R. Lowell, E. Parsons (seriously wounded), A. M. Pearce (killed), F. Lugton (killed), A. George, C. Armstrong, P. Rodriguez (killed), J. Cannole (viz., Connole), A. Fraser (seriously wounded), T. Collins.
These are all players of note, and in themselves would have formed a very fine side, but there is only one of them playing at the present time, viz., C. Lilley, who, as a matter of fact, takes the field under some disability owing to severe wounds which he received on service." — ''The Argus'', 16 May 1919. He served in the

First Australian Imperial Force The First Australian Imperial Force (1st AIF) was the main expeditionary force of the Australian Army during the First World War. It was formed as the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) following Britain's declaration of war on Germany on 15 Aug ...

, 10th Machine Gun Company from 1915 to 1919 with the rank of

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...

. He was awarded a

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC i ...

and wounded three times. He was an organiser with the Australian Producers' Wholesale Federation from 1937 to 1946. From 1946 to 1948 he was Secretary of the United Country Party of Victoria, and also served as chairman of government advisory bodies. On 15 May 1946, he was appointed to the

Australian Senate The Senate is the upper house of the Bicameralism, bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the House of Representatives (Australia), House of Representatives. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Chapter ...

as a Country Party Senator for Victoria, filling the vacancy caused by the death of

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the la ...

Senator

Richard Keane Richard Valentine Keane (14 February 1881 – 26 April 1946) was an Australian politician and trade unionist. He was a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and served as Minister for Trade and Customs from 1941 until his death in 1946. H ...

. He was defeated at the 1946 election, but in 1950 entered the

Victorian Legislative Assembly The Victorian Legislative Assembly is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria in Australia; the upper house being the Victorian Legislative Council. Both houses sit at Parliament House in Spring Street, Melbourne. The presiding ...

as the member for

Grant Grant or Grants may refer to: Places *Grant County (disambiguation) Australia * Grant, Queensland, a locality in the Barcaldine Region, Queensland, Australia United Kingdom *Castle Grant United States * Grant, Alabama *Grant, Inyo County, C ...

. He left the Assembly in 1952, but returned in 1955 as the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

member for

Caulfield East Caulfield East is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, 14 km south-east of Melbourne's Melbourne central business district, Central Business District, located within the City of Glen Eira Local government areas ...

, transferring to Caulfield in 1958. He was Minister for State Development in 1959 and Minister for Forests 1959–1961. Fraser died in 1965.

References

1892 births 20th-century Australian politicians National Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Victoria Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Victoria National Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian Senate for Victoria Members of the Australian Senate Members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly Australian sportsperson-politicians Australian rules footballers from Melbourne Melbourne Football Club players People from Kyneton Australian military personnel of World War I Australian recipients of the Military Cross 1965 deaths People from Fairfield, Victoria Military personnel from Melbourne Politicians from Melbourne University of Melbourne alumni {{Australia-National-politician-stub