Almost 60 years ago, Australia’s prime minister vanished while swimming off the coast of Victoria. Harold Holt was elected to office just 22 months before his disappearance in December 1967. This gave rise to a raft of conspiracy theories, with some bordering on the absurd.
A popular, charismatic politician as well as a polished media performer, Holt was an MP for 32 years and held several senior ministerial posts before assuming the premiership. He was deputy leader of his party from 1956 and served as treasurer (finance minister) in the Liberal Party-Country Party coalition government for seven years before taking the top job.
Holt also served as leader of the house for that period, where he was in charge of the management of government business in the House of Representatives. When he took the reins of power in January 1966, Australia’s population was just shy of 11.6 million.
He took over from the long-serving prime minister Robert Menzies, who had been in charge for the previous 16 years. By 1966, the postwar boom that Australia had enjoyed was waning. Holt had to contend with a recession brought on by drought, rising prices and a fall in wool production.
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Another contentious national issue that Holt had to grapple with upon taking up office was the country’s role in Vietnam. Australia had been sending military advisers to the southeast Asian country to train and assist South Vietnamese forces since 1962. In April 1965, the Australian government decided to send combat troops to Vietnam, a move that was not universally popular among the Australian public.
The timeline of Holt’s disappearance is as follows. In the afternoon of Sunday, December 17th, 1967, he went swimming in heavy surf at Cheviot Beach near Portsea, Victoria. He had a holiday house in Portsea, which is about 115km from Melbourne.
Accompanied at the beach by four friends, Holt was an experienced swimmer and a keen snorkel diver but he disappeared in rough seas. Waves of up to 4.5m (15ft) were reported.
The search operation was initially hampered by heavy rain and pounding seas. Holt was presumed dead and the day after his disappearance, Australia’s governor general terminated Holt’s commission. On December 19th, John McEwan was sworn in as prime minister.
A memorial service was held at St Paul’s Anglican Cathedral in Melbourne on December 22nd. With the attendance of Britain’s prince Charles, prime minister Harold Wilson and US president Lyndon Johnson, as well as many Asian leaders, it was the largest gathering of world leaders in the country’s history.
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Meanwhile in Dublin, a memorial service was held in St Patrick’s Cathedral and a memorial Mass was celebrated by the apostolic nuncio in University Church on St Stephen’s Green. Taoiseach Jack Lynch attended the Mass, along with members of the judiciary, the diplomatic corps and representatives of civil society organisations. The taoiseach was represented at the service in St Patrick’s Cathedral by his aide-de-camp.
Holt was Australia’s 17th prime minister and he was the third holder of that position to die in office, the others being Joseph Lyons in 1939 and John Curtin in 1945.
Coincidentally, both Lyons and Curtin were of Irish descent, with Lyons’ mother coming from Co Kildare and Curtin’s parents hailing from Co Cork.
Despite an extensive search involving police divers and helicopters that lasted for three weeks, Holt’s body was never found. The police investigation into his disappearance concluded that “there has been no indication that the disappearance of the late Mr Holt was anything other than accidental”.
No inquest was held at the time due to the prevailing state laws that stipulated the remains must be recovered first before the process could begin. The Melbourne coroner highlighted his powerlessness to act in the case, stating he had “no jurisdiction unless there is a body”.
Because of the sudden nature of Holt’s disappearance and due to the fact his body was never found, a raft of conspiracy theories developed over the case. One hypothesis was that Holt took his own life. A second theory put forward was that he was assassinated, while another was that he was attacked by a shark.
A more far-fetched theory was that he was a spy and was taken on-board a Chinese submarine.
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A shark was found during the search operation for Holt. It was caught and opened up. No body was found inside the poor fish. The submarine theory was discounted as the waters around Cheviot Beach were too shallow to accommodate such a watercraft.
A definitive verdict on the disappearance of the prime minister was reached in 2005. A Victorian coronial inquest into his disappearance found that he had accidentally drowned while swimming in rough conditions. Today, access to Cheviot Beach is restricted and swimming there is prohibited due to the strong rip currents.
