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Australia’s Missing Prime Minister
Rumors and conspiracy theories surround the disappearance of Harold Holt
A political achiever, Harold Holt, entered politics in 1935. During his career, Holt dipped his hand into many political arenas, including:
- The child endowment scheme;
- Changing the White Australia Policy, including abolishing the education test designed to eliminate immigrants from a non-European background;
- Introduction of decimal currency;
- Conscription and the Vietnam War;
- Changing the constitution to include Indigenous Australians.
Holt’s policies and achievements helped shape Australia into the nation it is today. But despite this legacy, Holt is best known as the Prime Minister who disappeared.
17 December 1967
A ladies' man who traveled without bodyguards (Australia’s answer to JFK), Holt drove to Cheviot Beach. Marjorie Gillespie and her daughter, Vyner, traveled with Holt. Gillespie was both a neighbor and a “close” friend whose presence excluded the Prime Minister’s bodyguards. Other friends in their party traveled by convoy in the car behind.
The agenda called for a lazy day with friends. At their first pit stop, they witnessed the arrival of British sailor Alec Rose at Port Phillip Bay. Next, Holt suggested a swim before lunch. Blustery conditions resulted in the closure of the patrolled beach, so Holt ushered his party towards Cheviot Beach.
The high tide and rough swell at Cheviot Beach did not deter Holt. A keen swimmer and diver who was fond of a spot of spearfishing, Holt claimed Cheviot Beach was as familiar to him as the “back of his hand” and strode into the surf for a quick dip.
Vyner’s boyfriend, Martin Simpson, followed Holt into the surf. When the water reached his knees, he changed his mind. Another man in the group, Alan Stewart, didn't feel comfortable with the dangerous turbulence in the water. He, too, made a hasty retreat from the water.
“There was a fairly strong undercurrent, so I just splashed around without going in too far.” — Martin Simpson
