So the great tradition is not dead, even if Britain's politicians still have much to learn to reach the standards of Australia, where a future prime minister, Paul Keating, told an incumbent one, Malcolm Fraser, that he looked like an Easter Island statue with an arse full of razor blades.

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He got more resourceful and somehow landed a meeting with then Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser, where he asked if the Australian government might fund the project.

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The former Tory Scottish Secretary, Sir Malcolm Rifkind, described Mr Fraser's plans as "healthy" and "refreshing" and said his ideas should be given "serious consideration".

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