Malcolm Fraser Slams Bob Carr on Asylum Seekers Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young says she's "humbled" by Mr Fraser's support. Photo: Craig Abraham Former Liberal prime minister Malcolm Fraser has labelled Foreign Minister Bob Carr's claim that a growing number of boat arrivals in Australia are economic refugees, not asylum seekers, as a "total nonsense" and "fantasy." Mr Fraser, who has been a vocal critic of the asylum seeker policies of both major parties, said that Senator Carr had no evidence for his claim. "I think a lot of people [who] might have felt maybe some relief that Kevin Rudd was back in charge will now have that very heavily tempered by Senator Carr's most intemperate remarks," Mr Fraser told Fairfax Media on Wednesday. What evidence does he have for this? What he said was a total nonsense. A total fantasy. Mr Fraser noted that until asylum seeker processing was stopped last August, some 90 per cent of claims were found to be valid. Senator Carr last week flagged a tightening of the way asylum seekers are assessed in Australia, amid fresh political sparring on the sensitive topic between newly reinstated Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and the Coalition. The Foreign Minister has said many or even most people arriving by boat were "economic migrants," not refugees, particularly middle-class Iranians, who were "increasingly not people fleeing persecution." Human Rights Commissioner Gillian Triggs has already cast doubt on the claim, while the former head of the government's own refugee tribunal has dismissed the Foreign Minister's comments that a flood of "economic migrants" have been wrongly classed as refugees because the system is too soft. Mr Fraser, who quit the Liberal Party in 2009, saying it had become too conservative, said that Senator Carr had "totally failed to recognise" that there had been an enormous increase in the number of asylum seekers in recent years. "If the government had wanted Australians to understand the nature of the issue they would also have tried to explain why there has been this growth worldwide in the number of asylum seekers," he said. This weekend, Mr Fraser will support the re-election of Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young at a public forum in Adelaide, attending a free "conversation" and Q&A session with the Greens senator about "why humanity matters in politics." Mr Fraser explained that Senator Hanson had for a long time "been a voice of sanity and common sense in relation to asylum seekers in the Senate." The former prime minister stressed that his support was personal to Senator Hanson-Young and that he was not campaigning for the Greens. But he said that he also wanted to support the Greens immigration spokeswoman to try and ensure that neither of the major parties gained control of the Senate. "I don't think the policies of either party from the way the parties have performed leads to the idea that they could be trusted with authority or majority in both houses," he said. Senator Hanson-Young has a fight on her hands at the upcoming federal election where she is up against the Liberal Party for the sixth and last Senate spot in South Australia. The Greens are battling to maintain the balance of power in the Senate and are warning that the Coalition may dominate both houses. Senator Hanson-Young met Mr Fraser a year ago to talk about how his government managed the influx of refugees after the Vietnam War. I'm humbled by Mr Fraser's choice to support my campaign. He is a great Australian and it is very encouraging to receive the backing of a leader who I admire for speaking out for decency and a fair go," Senator Hanson-Young said on Wednesday. Having Mr Fraser come to South Australia gives people from the conservative side of politics the opportunity to see that there still is a voice for decency out there. Mr Fraser, who was prime minister from 1975 to 1983, enjoyed a majority in the Senate for five years of his prime ministership but said it was "quite a different kind of majority." It was a very different Liberal Party. It was a Liberal Party and not a conservative party. He said that Liberal senators recognised they had a role to review "and they weren't going to be pushed around." Mr Fraser said that given that parties now had such tight control over pre-selections, many MPs were frightened to exercise their own judgment. "In my day, if I'd tried to say that an issue of gay marriage, for example, was not a conscience issue, people would have said 'Look, my conscience is my affair ...'," he said. South Australian Liberal frontbencher Jamie Briggs dismissed suggestions Mr Fraser's actions - and his views on asylum seekers - were damaging for the Coalition. "It's not surprising," Mr Briggs told Sky News. Malcolm Fraser has made his views known on these issues for a very long time. Mr Briggs said the former prime minister was entitled as a citizen to his views. We don't agree with them. With David Wroe, AAP