Harold Holt

As a parliamentarian, Cabinet minister and then prime minister, Harold Holt had a long career of over 30 years. A transitional prime minister, he was in office for less than two years and saw the glory years of the Liberal Party slip away as the political landscape of Australia began to change rapidly. He took office in 1966 but is best known for being only the third Prime Minister to die in office and the one who met his end in the most unusual circumstances, going missing while swimming off the Victorian coast at Christmas 1967.

Holt won his first seat in Parliament in 1935 and became Australia's youngest minister in 1939 under Menzies. For a majority of his time in Parliament he served on the government front benches. Holt held the senior portfolios of Immigration and of Labour and National Service in the 1950s, and became Treasurer in 1958. Holt became leader of the Liberal Party and Prime Minister after Menzies retired from the position and from Parliament in 1966.

The major challenge facing Holt during his time in office was the war in Vietnam and Australia's continued involvement in the conflict. In October of 1966 US Lyndon B. Johnson, then President of the United States, came to Australia at Holt's invitation. In December of that year Holt campaigned at the federal election on the slogan 'All the Way with LBJ', indicating his unreserved support for US foreign policy. See image 1

At that election Holt secured a landslide victory over the Labor Party, whose leader, Arthur Calwell, was strongly opposed to the Vietnam War. However, as Holt's term continued, he found himself in a difficult time politically. The end of the Menzies reign had a destabilising effect on the Liberal Party and the changing nature of society at home and overseas in the 1960s meant that the electorate was more difficult to please than in previous years.

In 1967 Gough Whitlam took over from Calwell as Opposition Leader and proved to be a much more difficult opponent for Holt. After some Senate seats were lost at a half-term election, Liberal insiders began to lose confidence in Holt's leadership, plotting to replace him.

On 17 December 1967, Holt went swimming at Cheviot Beach near the holiday resort of Portsea, south of Melbourne. Apparently seeking to impress his friends, Holt, at 59 and with an injured shoulder, plunged into the surf. He disappeared from view and was never seen again. Despite an extensive search, his remains were never found. He was officially presumed dead on 19 December 1967, only the third Australian Prime Minister to die in office.

Holt was well-liked across the political spectrum in Australia, and the country was saddened by his death. President Johnson travelled to Melbourne to attend the memorial service. Many rumours surrounded Holt's disappearance, such as that he had committed suicide or faked his own death for various reasons. In 1983, the British journalist Anthony Grey claimed in a book that Holt had been a Chinese spy and had been picked up by a Chinese submarine off Portsea and taken to China. Another theory is that he was assassinated by the CIA. Most likely, however, Holt was caught in the strong undertow off the beach and drowned with no suspicious circumstances. The case was officially reopened in 2003 and in September of 2005, the Victorian State Coroner found that Holt had drowned in accidental circumstances.

The death of the nation's 17th prime minister overshadowed his time in office and the drama of Holt's disappearance is in contrast to his rather ordinary Prime Ministership. Along with Bill McMahon, Holt is considered one of the least significant modern Prime Ministers, but in his short time he made some important achievements.

Holt was seen to take the first and most important steps to eliminating the White Australia Policy, and he promoted Australia's positive (as against military) engagement with Asia. He is well regarded for his running of the immigration portfolio and his attitude to Aboriginal affairs, and he oversaw the 1967 referendum which gave the Commonwealth the power to make special legislation for Aboriginal people and communities. But his middle of the road style, which some saw as a strength, was a weakness in political terms. He was an unsuccessful leader and unable to control the internal mavericks in the Liberal Party.

A US Navy frigate, the USS Harold E. Holt, is named in his honour, and he is also commemorated by the Harold Holt Memorial Swimming Centre, a swimming pool complex in Melbourne, which was already under construction at the time of his death. The irony of commemorating Holt with a swimming pool has been the source of much amusement to Australians. Several other memorials also exist.