Fraser weighs in on Indian race debate

The former PM declared in 1980 that the battle for multiculturalism had been won.

He says the attacks were not entirely race-based.

"I think they [the attacks] might be more a sign of the way the overseas education industry has grown and how some institutions have become very dependent on full fee paying overseas students, (and how it) has been extraordinarily badly managed,' Mr Fraser says.

The comments come as the former Liberal Party leader releases a book on his life.

Mr Fraser was Prime Minister from 1975 to 1983, making him one of the longest-serving leaders in Australia's history.