Malcolm Fraser's contribution to ongoing debates over immigration and multiculturalism will be forever remembered at Old Parliament House, a building in which he spent his entire political career.
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The Museum of Australian Democracy's senior historian Libby Stewart said public perceptions of the former Prime Minister, who passed away on Friday morning, had changed over generations and may continue to do so.
"He was incredibly strong on human rights and very ethical man, but sometimes that didn't quite come through and he was seen as arrogant and out of touch," she said.
"Sure, he was a tough fairly traditional and conservative economic manager but in other areas of his life he was quite progressive, and nothing shows that more than his influence on refugee policy in 1975."
"His image soften greatly in his post political life."
Ms Stewart said Fraser's decision to welcome around 56,000 refugees after the Vietnam War was one of the defining decisions of his political career, and one that represented his views later in life.
"It was one of the first things he had to confront as a Prime Minister and I think that is often forgotten by those who were opposed to him at the time," she said.
"It opened up the doors for discussion in a way we hadn't really had before," she said.
A condolence book was opened in the foyer of Old Parliament House on Friday morning, a short distance from a large portrait in the halls he once passed through.
In 1978, Malcolm Fraser released plans to build the current Parliament House in 1978 and put an end to working conditions criticised as cramped and uncomfortable by politicians and staffers.
"When he was Prime Minister he had a certain persona and the way he was perceived by the public was not necessarily the way he was," Ms Stewart said.
"People who didn't experience Fraser first-hand would have a different impression to those who remember the elder statesman that he became, speaking out on behalf of refugees and human rights generally."
Ms Stewart said Mr Fraser was often seen as someone who stepped away from the party he led as Prime Minister by quitting the Liberal Party in 2010.
"It is funny that so many people are remembering him as someone who really shifted away from the Liberal party in his later years," she said.
"It's not so much that he changed but that the Liberal party changed over time.
"His views were very consistent over the years and the party had changed too much for him, which is why he could no longer support them."
Ms Stewart said the former Prime Minister would have worked in a number of offices in Old Parliament House and his legacy was "stamped on the building".
