BREAKING - Former Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser has died this morning aged 84, his office has confirmed. 

Mr Fraser became Prime Minister after the dismissal of the Whitlam government in 1975, leading the Liberal Party to a massive landslide win, which was consolidated with a second term starting in 1977.

This morning his office issued the following statement: ““It is with deep sadness that we inform you that after a brief illness John Malcolm Fraser died peacefully in the early hours of the morning of 20 March 2015,” Mr Fraser’s office said in a statement this morning.

“We appreciate that this will be a shock to all who knew and loved him, but ask that the family be left in peace at this difficult time.”

Mr Fraser is survived by his wife Tamie and four children.