Title: Holt,Harold 12/17/67
Description: Portsea, Victoria Australia
Description: Portsea, Victoria Australia
monkalup - July 26, 2006 09:40 PM (GMT)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_Holt
Harold Holt
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Rt Hon Harold Holt
Prime Minister of Australia
In office
26 January 1966 – 19 December 1967
Preceded by Robert Menzies
Succeeded by John McEwen
Born 5 August 1908
Sydney, New South Wales
Died 17 December 1967
Point Nepean, Victoria
Political party Liberal
Harold Edward Holt CH (5 August 1908–17 December 1967) was an Australian politician and the 17th Prime Minister of Australia, now best remembered for the bizarre circumstances of his death.
He was born in Sydney, the son of Tom Holt, a well-known theatre director, but he was educated at Wesley College in Melbourne and at the University of Melbourne, where he graduated in law. He practised briefly as a solicitor before being elected to the House of Representatives for the United Australia Party in 1935.
[edit]
Early career
At 27 Holt was one of the youngest members of the House, but his obvious ability brought him rapid promotion to the ministry in 1939. In 1940 he joined the Army, without resigning his seat. Shortly afterwards three Cabinet ministers were killed in an air disaster at Canberra, and the Prime Minister, Robert Menzies, recalled Holt from the Army to become Minister for Labour and National Service. This earned him the ironic nickname "Gunner Holt."
Holt had a reputation as a high-living playboy, but in 1947 he married Zara Fell, a fashion designer, and adopted her three young sons from her first marriage. After eight years in opposition from 1941 to 1949, Holt returned to office in Menzies's new Liberal government in 1949 as Minister for Labour and National Service and Minister for Immigration. In this position he continued and expanded the massive immigration program begun by his Labor predecessor, Arthur Calwell.
In 1956 Holt became Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party and thus Menzies' heir apparent. In 1958, when Sir Arthur Fadden retired, Holt succeeded him as Treasurer. His career was nearly derailed in 1961 when his economic policies caused a recession which came close to losing the 1961 election for the Liberals. But his stocks, like the economy, soon recovered, and in January 1966 he finally succeeded Menzies as Prime Minister. He had been an MP for almost 31 years - the longest wait of any non-caretaker Australian Prime Minister.
[edit]
Prime Minister
Holt's major challenge in office was the Vietnam War, to which Menzies had committed Australian troops in support of the United States. In October 1966 US President Lyndon B. Johnson toured Australia at Holt's invitation, and in December Holt called an election on the slogan "All the Way with LBJ." Holt had an enormous victory over Labor, whose leader, Arthur Calwell, bitterly opposed the war.
In 1967, however, Gough Whitlam succeeded Calwell as Labor leader and proved a much more effective opponent. At the 1967 half-Senate elections, the Liberals lost a number of seats. Some Liberals, free of the strict discipline of the Menzies years, began to plot against what they saw as Holt's weak leadership.
[edit]
Disappearance
Harold Holt collecting snorkelling paraphernalia from his car at Portsea, Victoria, 1966.On 17 December 1967, Holt went swimming at Cheviot Beach on Point Nepean near the holiday resort of Portsea, south of Melbourne. Apparently seeking to impress his friends, Holt, who was 59 and had had a recent shoulder injury, 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.
Holt was an affable and well-liked figure in politics, and Australians of all political views were saddened by his death. US President Lyndon B. Johnson returned to Melbourne for his memorial service.
There were many rumours about Holt's death, such as that he had committed suicide or faked his own death in order to run away with his mistress. In 1983, British journalist Anthony Grey published a book in which he claimed that Holt had been an agent for the People's Republic of China 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 swept out to sea.
No inquest was held at the time because Victorian law did not provide any mechanism for reporting presumed or suspected deaths to the Victorian Coroner. The law was changed in 1985, and in 2003 the Victoria Police Missing Persons Unit formally reopened 161 pre-1985 cases where drowning was suspected but no body was found. Holt's stepson Nicholas Holt said that after 37 years there were few surviving witnesses and no new evidence would be presented. On 2 September 2005, the Coroner's finding was that Holt had drowned in accidental circumstances on 17 December 1967.
After Harold Holt's death, his widow Zara was made a Dame Commander of the British Empire (DBE), becoming Dame Zara Holt. She later married for a third time, to a Liberal party colleague of Holt's, Jeff Bate, becoming Dame Zara Bate.
The United States Navy Knox class frigate USS Harold E. Holt (FF-1074) was named in his honour. He is also commemorated by the Harold Holt Memorial Swimming Centre, a swimming pool complex in the Melbourne suburb of Malvern. (The complex was already under construction at the time of Holt's death, and since he was Malvern's local member it was named in his memory; the irony of commemorating him with a swimming pool has been the source of much amusement to Australians.) Several other memorials also exist.
Harold Holt
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Rt Hon Harold Holt
Prime Minister of Australia
In office
26 January 1966 – 19 December 1967
Preceded by Robert Menzies
Succeeded by John McEwen
Born 5 August 1908
Sydney, New South Wales
Died 17 December 1967
Point Nepean, Victoria
Political party Liberal
Harold Edward Holt CH (5 August 1908–17 December 1967) was an Australian politician and the 17th Prime Minister of Australia, now best remembered for the bizarre circumstances of his death.
He was born in Sydney, the son of Tom Holt, a well-known theatre director, but he was educated at Wesley College in Melbourne and at the University of Melbourne, where he graduated in law. He practised briefly as a solicitor before being elected to the House of Representatives for the United Australia Party in 1935.
[edit]
Early career
At 27 Holt was one of the youngest members of the House, but his obvious ability brought him rapid promotion to the ministry in 1939. In 1940 he joined the Army, without resigning his seat. Shortly afterwards three Cabinet ministers were killed in an air disaster at Canberra, and the Prime Minister, Robert Menzies, recalled Holt from the Army to become Minister for Labour and National Service. This earned him the ironic nickname "Gunner Holt."
Holt had a reputation as a high-living playboy, but in 1947 he married Zara Fell, a fashion designer, and adopted her three young sons from her first marriage. After eight years in opposition from 1941 to 1949, Holt returned to office in Menzies's new Liberal government in 1949 as Minister for Labour and National Service and Minister for Immigration. In this position he continued and expanded the massive immigration program begun by his Labor predecessor, Arthur Calwell.
In 1956 Holt became Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party and thus Menzies' heir apparent. In 1958, when Sir Arthur Fadden retired, Holt succeeded him as Treasurer. His career was nearly derailed in 1961 when his economic policies caused a recession which came close to losing the 1961 election for the Liberals. But his stocks, like the economy, soon recovered, and in January 1966 he finally succeeded Menzies as Prime Minister. He had been an MP for almost 31 years - the longest wait of any non-caretaker Australian Prime Minister.
[edit]
Prime Minister
Holt's major challenge in office was the Vietnam War, to which Menzies had committed Australian troops in support of the United States. In October 1966 US President Lyndon B. Johnson toured Australia at Holt's invitation, and in December Holt called an election on the slogan "All the Way with LBJ." Holt had an enormous victory over Labor, whose leader, Arthur Calwell, bitterly opposed the war.
In 1967, however, Gough Whitlam succeeded Calwell as Labor leader and proved a much more effective opponent. At the 1967 half-Senate elections, the Liberals lost a number of seats. Some Liberals, free of the strict discipline of the Menzies years, began to plot against what they saw as Holt's weak leadership.
[edit]
Disappearance
Harold Holt collecting snorkelling paraphernalia from his car at Portsea, Victoria, 1966.On 17 December 1967, Holt went swimming at Cheviot Beach on Point Nepean near the holiday resort of Portsea, south of Melbourne. Apparently seeking to impress his friends, Holt, who was 59 and had had a recent shoulder injury, 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.
Holt was an affable and well-liked figure in politics, and Australians of all political views were saddened by his death. US President Lyndon B. Johnson returned to Melbourne for his memorial service.
There were many rumours about Holt's death, such as that he had committed suicide or faked his own death in order to run away with his mistress. In 1983, British journalist Anthony Grey published a book in which he claimed that Holt had been an agent for the People's Republic of China 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 swept out to sea.
No inquest was held at the time because Victorian law did not provide any mechanism for reporting presumed or suspected deaths to the Victorian Coroner. The law was changed in 1985, and in 2003 the Victoria Police Missing Persons Unit formally reopened 161 pre-1985 cases where drowning was suspected but no body was found. Holt's stepson Nicholas Holt said that after 37 years there were few surviving witnesses and no new evidence would be presented. On 2 September 2005, the Coroner's finding was that Holt had drowned in accidental circumstances on 17 December 1967.
After Harold Holt's death, his widow Zara was made a Dame Commander of the British Empire (DBE), becoming Dame Zara Holt. She later married for a third time, to a Liberal party colleague of Holt's, Jeff Bate, becoming Dame Zara Bate.
The United States Navy Knox class frigate USS Harold E. Holt (FF-1074) was named in his honour. He is also commemorated by the Harold Holt Memorial Swimming Centre, a swimming pool complex in the Melbourne suburb of Malvern. (The complex was already under construction at the time of Holt's death, and since he was Malvern's local member it was named in his memory; the irony of commemorating him with a swimming pool has been the source of much amusement to Australians.) Several other memorials also exist.
monkalup - April 18, 2008 03:48 PM (GMT)
Article claims belief growing Holt killed himself
November 13, 2007 - 8:03PM
Former prime minister Harold Holt was deeply depressed two days before his disappearance, former colleague Doug Anthony says, lending new credence to theories he committed suicide.
Mr Holt disappeared - presumed drowned - in the ocean off Portsea, Victoria, on December 17, 1967, having been prime minister for less than two years.
An article published in the Bulletin magazine, ahead of the 40th anniversary of Mr Holt's disappearance, contends there is a growing belief he killed himself.
The Sydney Morning Herald
November 13, 2007 - 8:03PM
Former prime minister Harold Holt was deeply depressed two days before his disappearance, former colleague Doug Anthony says, lending new credence to theories he committed suicide.
Mr Holt disappeared - presumed drowned - in the ocean off Portsea, Victoria, on December 17, 1967, having been prime minister for less than two years.
An article published in the Bulletin magazine, ahead of the 40th anniversary of Mr Holt's disappearance, contends there is a growing belief he killed himself.
The Sydney Morning Herald
monkalup - April 18, 2008 03:48 PM (GMT)
Fraser challenges Holt suicide theory
Mark Dodd | November 15, 2007
FORMER prime minister Malcolm Fraser has dismissed fresh speculation that Harold Holt took his own life by diving into rough seas off Portsea almost 40 years ago.
Mr Fraser said yesterday Holt had called him shortly before hisdeath about a cabinet reshuffle and to ask him to be part of a review of Australia's foreign policies.
"Now, if somebody is planning to jump off a cliff, they are not at the same time planning to have a major cabinet review of the direction that Australia's taking," Mr Fraser said. "He was very much looking to the future."
The suicide theory about the December 17, 1967 death of the Liberal prime minister is aired in an article in The Bulletin this week, which quotes former deputy prime minister Doug Anthony as saying that Holt was deeply depressed by the turmoil in his personal and political life at the time of his disappearance.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story...54-2702,00.html
Mark Dodd | November 15, 2007
FORMER prime minister Malcolm Fraser has dismissed fresh speculation that Harold Holt took his own life by diving into rough seas off Portsea almost 40 years ago.
Mr Fraser said yesterday Holt had called him shortly before hisdeath about a cabinet reshuffle and to ask him to be part of a review of Australia's foreign policies.
"Now, if somebody is planning to jump off a cliff, they are not at the same time planning to have a major cabinet review of the direction that Australia's taking," Mr Fraser said. "He was very much looking to the future."
The suicide theory about the December 17, 1967 death of the Liberal prime minister is aired in an article in The Bulletin this week, which quotes former deputy prime minister Doug Anthony as saying that Holt was deeply depressed by the turmoil in his personal and political life at the time of his disappearance.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story...54-2702,00.html
monkalup - April 18, 2008 03:49 PM (GMT)
Harold Holt
Broadcast 6.30pm on 22/09/2003
Harold Holt
On the 17th December 1967, Harold Holt, Prime Minister of Australia, went for a swim on Cheviot Beach near his holiday home at Portsea in Victoria. He disappeared beneath the waves and was never seen again. His companions raised the alarm, and what ensued was one of the largest search and rescue operations Australia has ever witnessed. Holt’s body was never found, fuelling many theories regarding his disappearance, ranging from suicide to abduction by a Chinese submarine.
Beach where Harold Holt went missing
GEORGE NEGUS: G'day. Welcome again. This week, for the whole four nights, people in politics. And the idea will be to forget the minutiae of Government policy, the Opposition's carry-on about it, or even the vagaries of why the economy's apparently going well, but you're not, and look at the people supposed to make all this happen or not happen.
Let's start with one of the most dramatic episodes in this country's normally pretty placid political life - one any Australian over the age of, say, 45, will never forget, and one anyone under 45 should at least know about. On 17 December back in '67, the country's Liberal Prime Minister Harold Holt - a genuinely outdoorsy sort of guy - went for a swim near Portsea in Victoria and, to cut a long story short, just disappeared. His body was never found. And this of course fuelled all sorts of theories from the plausible to the plain wacky as to how and why he disappeared. In our piece, several Australians fairly closely associated with the bizarre events of that day share their memories with us.
FRASER BELL, MORNINGTON PENINSULA NATIONAL PARK: There is certainly a myth and an aura about the whole disappearance. We get people from Europe, England, and all over Australia coming to have a look at Cheviot Beach where the whole event happened.
SAM HOLT: His greatest love was around Portsea and Sorrento and that area. Cheviot Beach is a place that we all loved. When the conditions are good it's like a millpond. A 5-year-old child can swim in it. It's only when the tide turns and you get bad weather, it completely turns about and becomes highly dangerous.
TONY EGGLETON, HAROLD HOLT'S PRESS SECRETARY: It was his backyard. He was there every weekend. He knew it like the back of his hand. And of course, confidence can sometimes breed contempt.
SAM HOLT: He absolutely loved spearfishing. We showed him how to do it and he took to it like a duck to water. You couldn't get him out of the water. And he was, if anything, foolhardy and fearless.
FOOTAGE OF POLICE RE-ENACTMENT, 19 DECEMBER 1967.
LOUISE JOYCE, HAROLD HOLT'S NIECE: He went off with a group of friends - Marjorie Gillespie, who lived next door, a friend of the family, Alan Stewart, her daughter, Vyner, and there was another young man there who was Vyner's boyfriend. Harry would've said, "Well, let's go down to Cheviot and have a swim, cool off."
ALAN STEWART, EYEWITNESS: We went down to Cheviot Beach. And it was a very hot day. I remember that extremely well. The surf was extremely turbulent. It was wild. It was berserk. Berserk is the best word for it. And we walked along just chatting about nothing in particular.
MARJORIE GILLESPIE, EYEWITNESS, ON ARCHIVAL FOOTAGE: I was quite happy about it. Even when I first saw him go in. Even though I wouldn't have liked it.
LOUISE JOYCE: Anyone who knew Harry would just think, "Well, there goes Harry again. He's gone for a swim." He did have a funny shoulder due to a broken collarbone in his youth.
SAM HOLT: I think it was the size and weight of the water, not his shoulder that was his undoing.
ALAN STEWART: Then I thought, "I'm going to have a swim as well." So I walked in more gingerly. I felt this incredible undertow likely to sweep me out to sea, and thought, "This is not for me."
MAN ON ARCHIVAL FOOTAGE: Could you see him at this stage?
MARJORIE GILLESPIE: Yes, clearly. And I was... This is when I was saying, "Come back! Come back!"
ALAN STEWART: Then I saw that Marjie was getting quite agitated. I then climbed up onto quite a high rock to see if I could see him.
MARJORIE GILLESPIE ON ARCHIVAL FOOTAGE: He was trying to come back. This was the stage when the water seemed to boil up into colossal waves.
ALAN STEWART: The surf just suddenly built up to a state of vigour. It was terrifying.
MARJORIE GILLESPIE ON ARCHIVAL FOOTAGE: Then there was nothing. There was nothing anyone could have done.
ALAN STEWART: It just was dreadful, dreadful bad luck.
LOUISE JOYCE: It was like a man-hunt. Press everywhere. Navy skindivers. Hundreds of people crowding the beach.
TONY EGGLETON: I began to realise that this was going to be a major media event. Sad as it was, it was going to be, not just a huge Australian story, it was an international story.
SAM HOLT: Well, your reaction at the time, I suppose, is no different from the reaction that so many families that are hit by tragedy have. The difference here is it was under incredible publicity.
TONY EGGLETON ON ARCHIVAL FOOTAGE: We have just about given up, ourselves, our hopes. I think our last hopes have drained away.
TONY EGGLETON: The search had to go on. In fact, the search went on for about three weeks. We felt after a couple of days, clearly he'd been lost at sea. By the Friday, the memorial service, we had a gathering of 19 heads of state and heads of government which was the largest gathering of world leaders in Australia ever at that time. I think it was a great tribute to what Harold had achieved in less than two years.
SAM HOLT: Well, there have been a lot of conspiracy theories and things, which in the opinion of myself and the rest of the family are nonsense.
ALAN STEWART: The one about the Chinese submarine is really choice. I mean, a Chinese submarine, if it had been in that surf, it would have been beached upside down.
TONY EGGLETON: I thought Zara Holt had the best put-down of that, that she dealt with by saying, "Harry? Chinese submarine? He didn't even like Chinese cooking." And...um, and that was the best way to deal with it. Whatever it was, Harold Holt on 17 December 1967 died an accidental death. He made a misjudgement. It's just that people find it hard to accept that a prime minister can have an accidental death of that kind.
GEORGE NEGUS: Well, not quite the end. Harold Holt disappeared more than 35 years ago, but a bit oddly, a new inquiry by the Victorian coroner was recently opened. So the mystery won't go away, at least until that inquiry's completed.
http://www.abc.net.au/gnt/history/Transcripts/s951005.htm
Broadcast 6.30pm on 22/09/2003
Harold Holt
On the 17th December 1967, Harold Holt, Prime Minister of Australia, went for a swim on Cheviot Beach near his holiday home at Portsea in Victoria. He disappeared beneath the waves and was never seen again. His companions raised the alarm, and what ensued was one of the largest search and rescue operations Australia has ever witnessed. Holt’s body was never found, fuelling many theories regarding his disappearance, ranging from suicide to abduction by a Chinese submarine.
Beach where Harold Holt went missing
GEORGE NEGUS: G'day. Welcome again. This week, for the whole four nights, people in politics. And the idea will be to forget the minutiae of Government policy, the Opposition's carry-on about it, or even the vagaries of why the economy's apparently going well, but you're not, and look at the people supposed to make all this happen or not happen.
Let's start with one of the most dramatic episodes in this country's normally pretty placid political life - one any Australian over the age of, say, 45, will never forget, and one anyone under 45 should at least know about. On 17 December back in '67, the country's Liberal Prime Minister Harold Holt - a genuinely outdoorsy sort of guy - went for a swim near Portsea in Victoria and, to cut a long story short, just disappeared. His body was never found. And this of course fuelled all sorts of theories from the plausible to the plain wacky as to how and why he disappeared. In our piece, several Australians fairly closely associated with the bizarre events of that day share their memories with us.
FRASER BELL, MORNINGTON PENINSULA NATIONAL PARK: There is certainly a myth and an aura about the whole disappearance. We get people from Europe, England, and all over Australia coming to have a look at Cheviot Beach where the whole event happened.
SAM HOLT: His greatest love was around Portsea and Sorrento and that area. Cheviot Beach is a place that we all loved. When the conditions are good it's like a millpond. A 5-year-old child can swim in it. It's only when the tide turns and you get bad weather, it completely turns about and becomes highly dangerous.
TONY EGGLETON, HAROLD HOLT'S PRESS SECRETARY: It was his backyard. He was there every weekend. He knew it like the back of his hand. And of course, confidence can sometimes breed contempt.
SAM HOLT: He absolutely loved spearfishing. We showed him how to do it and he took to it like a duck to water. You couldn't get him out of the water. And he was, if anything, foolhardy and fearless.
FOOTAGE OF POLICE RE-ENACTMENT, 19 DECEMBER 1967.
LOUISE JOYCE, HAROLD HOLT'S NIECE: He went off with a group of friends - Marjorie Gillespie, who lived next door, a friend of the family, Alan Stewart, her daughter, Vyner, and there was another young man there who was Vyner's boyfriend. Harry would've said, "Well, let's go down to Cheviot and have a swim, cool off."
ALAN STEWART, EYEWITNESS: We went down to Cheviot Beach. And it was a very hot day. I remember that extremely well. The surf was extremely turbulent. It was wild. It was berserk. Berserk is the best word for it. And we walked along just chatting about nothing in particular.
MARJORIE GILLESPIE, EYEWITNESS, ON ARCHIVAL FOOTAGE: I was quite happy about it. Even when I first saw him go in. Even though I wouldn't have liked it.
LOUISE JOYCE: Anyone who knew Harry would just think, "Well, there goes Harry again. He's gone for a swim." He did have a funny shoulder due to a broken collarbone in his youth.
SAM HOLT: I think it was the size and weight of the water, not his shoulder that was his undoing.
ALAN STEWART: Then I thought, "I'm going to have a swim as well." So I walked in more gingerly. I felt this incredible undertow likely to sweep me out to sea, and thought, "This is not for me."
MAN ON ARCHIVAL FOOTAGE: Could you see him at this stage?
MARJORIE GILLESPIE: Yes, clearly. And I was... This is when I was saying, "Come back! Come back!"
ALAN STEWART: Then I saw that Marjie was getting quite agitated. I then climbed up onto quite a high rock to see if I could see him.
MARJORIE GILLESPIE ON ARCHIVAL FOOTAGE: He was trying to come back. This was the stage when the water seemed to boil up into colossal waves.
ALAN STEWART: The surf just suddenly built up to a state of vigour. It was terrifying.
MARJORIE GILLESPIE ON ARCHIVAL FOOTAGE: Then there was nothing. There was nothing anyone could have done.
ALAN STEWART: It just was dreadful, dreadful bad luck.
LOUISE JOYCE: It was like a man-hunt. Press everywhere. Navy skindivers. Hundreds of people crowding the beach.
TONY EGGLETON: I began to realise that this was going to be a major media event. Sad as it was, it was going to be, not just a huge Australian story, it was an international story.
SAM HOLT: Well, your reaction at the time, I suppose, is no different from the reaction that so many families that are hit by tragedy have. The difference here is it was under incredible publicity.
TONY EGGLETON ON ARCHIVAL FOOTAGE: We have just about given up, ourselves, our hopes. I think our last hopes have drained away.
TONY EGGLETON: The search had to go on. In fact, the search went on for about three weeks. We felt after a couple of days, clearly he'd been lost at sea. By the Friday, the memorial service, we had a gathering of 19 heads of state and heads of government which was the largest gathering of world leaders in Australia ever at that time. I think it was a great tribute to what Harold had achieved in less than two years.
SAM HOLT: Well, there have been a lot of conspiracy theories and things, which in the opinion of myself and the rest of the family are nonsense.
ALAN STEWART: The one about the Chinese submarine is really choice. I mean, a Chinese submarine, if it had been in that surf, it would have been beached upside down.
TONY EGGLETON: I thought Zara Holt had the best put-down of that, that she dealt with by saying, "Harry? Chinese submarine? He didn't even like Chinese cooking." And...um, and that was the best way to deal with it. Whatever it was, Harold Holt on 17 December 1967 died an accidental death. He made a misjudgement. It's just that people find it hard to accept that a prime minister can have an accidental death of that kind.
GEORGE NEGUS: Well, not quite the end. Harold Holt disappeared more than 35 years ago, but a bit oddly, a new inquiry by the Victorian coroner was recently opened. So the mystery won't go away, at least until that inquiry's completed.
http://www.abc.net.au/gnt/history/Transcripts/s951005.htm
monkalup - April 18, 2008 03:49 PM (GMT)
Lots of *theories* here
Prime Minister Harold Holt Was Murdered
Harold Edward Holt, 1908-67 Harold Edward Holt, 1908–67
Australia : The Commonwealth Government's website reads:
Harold Holt disappeared while swimming at Cheviot Beach near Portsea , Victoria on 17 December, 1967 . His body was never recovered. Without determining the cause of Holt's death, a joint report by Commonwealth and Victoria Police, submitted in January 1968, concluded that, '... there has been no indication that the disappearance of the late Mr Holt was anything other than accidental'. The report (see copy on file A1209, 1968/8063) found that his last movements followed a routine domestic pattern, his demeanor had been normal and despite his knowledge of the beach, the turbulent conditions (high winds, rough seas and rip tides) overcame him. The explanations put forward for a failure to find the body included an attack by marine life, the body being carried out to sea by tides or becoming wedged in rock crevices. While a variety of theories have been expounded about Holt's disappearance, the Commonwealth Government did not deem a formal inquiry necessary, accepting the conclusions of the Police report.
Contrary to the above, Holt was murdered, because he was opposed to American bases such as Pine Gap being built on Australian soil
Prime Minister Harold Holt was murdered late Saturday night on the 16th of December 1967, and was reported missing around midday on Sunday the 17th of December 1967 while swimming. There was no evidence to support the "official" report of Harold Holt drowning, nor was there any evidence of a Chinese submarine abducting him and of course "they" all knew this and it was 6 months after this website was up "they" then get the Victoria state Conorer to hold an inquiry into Harold Holts disappearance to have an Official finding 38 years later how Harold Holt drowned on the morning of 17th December 1967.
The Victoria Conorer ignored my request as shown by the below letter sent to him 16 months eairler, to give evidence at the inquest into Harold Holts disappearance and where the Conorer also ignored my Brisbane Supreme Court sworn Affidavit, file No: BS 1127/04, in which pargraph (12), I state "As part of my duties I engaged in several clandestine operations, one of which was the removal of the body of the then Australian Prime Minister Harold Holt from his home out to a waiting fishing boat the night before it was reported he disappeared while swimming" and was also stated in my Supreme Court Affidavit, file No: BS 9166 / 03.
http://www.harold-holt.net/
Prime Minister Harold Holt Was Murdered
Harold Edward Holt, 1908-67 Harold Edward Holt, 1908–67
Australia : The Commonwealth Government's website reads:
Harold Holt disappeared while swimming at Cheviot Beach near Portsea , Victoria on 17 December, 1967 . His body was never recovered. Without determining the cause of Holt's death, a joint report by Commonwealth and Victoria Police, submitted in January 1968, concluded that, '... there has been no indication that the disappearance of the late Mr Holt was anything other than accidental'. The report (see copy on file A1209, 1968/8063) found that his last movements followed a routine domestic pattern, his demeanor had been normal and despite his knowledge of the beach, the turbulent conditions (high winds, rough seas and rip tides) overcame him. The explanations put forward for a failure to find the body included an attack by marine life, the body being carried out to sea by tides or becoming wedged in rock crevices. While a variety of theories have been expounded about Holt's disappearance, the Commonwealth Government did not deem a formal inquiry necessary, accepting the conclusions of the Police report.
Contrary to the above, Holt was murdered, because he was opposed to American bases such as Pine Gap being built on Australian soil
Prime Minister Harold Holt was murdered late Saturday night on the 16th of December 1967, and was reported missing around midday on Sunday the 17th of December 1967 while swimming. There was no evidence to support the "official" report of Harold Holt drowning, nor was there any evidence of a Chinese submarine abducting him and of course "they" all knew this and it was 6 months after this website was up "they" then get the Victoria state Conorer to hold an inquiry into Harold Holts disappearance to have an Official finding 38 years later how Harold Holt drowned on the morning of 17th December 1967.
The Victoria Conorer ignored my request as shown by the below letter sent to him 16 months eairler, to give evidence at the inquest into Harold Holts disappearance and where the Conorer also ignored my Brisbane Supreme Court sworn Affidavit, file No: BS 1127/04, in which pargraph (12), I state "As part of my duties I engaged in several clandestine operations, one of which was the removal of the body of the then Australian Prime Minister Harold Holt from his home out to a waiting fishing boat the night before it was reported he disappeared while swimming" and was also stated in my Supreme Court Affidavit, file No: BS 9166 / 03.
http://www.harold-holt.net/
monkalup - April 18, 2008 03:51 PM (GMT)
more
monkalup - April 18, 2008 03:52 PM (GMT)
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/08/...1663679090.html
Out of his depth: the PM who believed his own publicity
August 25, 2003
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The Age reports the nation's shock at its prime minister's disappearance.
Harold Holt had a reputation as a swimmer and an outdoor adventurer. But he should have stayed on the sand, writes John Silvester.
Harold Holt was more a victim of his own self-belief than the vicious ocean tide at Cheviot Beach, according to police.
He played up to his image as the outdoors prime minister and was photographed in the British press in his scuba mask surrounded by three women in bikinis in an 007 pose.
On the day he disappeared, Harold Holt, 59, should have known not to go swimming. If his boast "I know this beach like the back of my hand" was true, he should have stayed on the sand.
He was with four others - one was Marjorie Gillespie, his secret lover. According to Holt's wife, Dame Zara, she wasn't the only one.
"She was one of the queue formed on the right. It went on all the time," Dame Zara would say years later. She said he had lovers in Melbourne, Sydney, Canberra and Hong Kong as well as Portsea.
But as with US president John Kennedy, nothing was ever said. It was a different time.
Despite the growing controversy of the Vietnam War, Holt did not feel the need to surround himself with security guards.
On Friday, December 15, he flew to Melbourne from Canberra in an RAAF VIP plane and later drove his own maroon Pontiac Parisienne to Portsea. He had an early night and played tennis with friends the next day.
On Sunday morning, he dropped three crayfish at the Gillespie holiday house next door.
Before lunch, he took Gillespie to Point Nepean to see round-the-world solo sailor Alec Rose sail into Port Phillip Bay.
They were followed in a second car by young businessman Alan Stewart with Gillespie's daughter Vyner, 20, and her friend, medical student Robert Simpson, 19.
Despite the blustery, muggy conditions Holt wanted to swim at the private and exposed ocean at Cheviot Beach, rather than at one of the more protected beaches in the bay.
The nearby patrolled beach at Portsea was closed because of the weather, but the prime minister did not hesitate when he arrived at Cheviot. He remarked the tide seemed to be high but headed straight in.
Stewart said: "If Mr Holt can take it I had better go in, too." But because of the undertow he did not go out of his depth.
Holt swam on, entering an area that quickly became turbulent, and disappeared.
Gillespie said: "It was like a leaf being taken out. It was so quick and so final."
Friends said that although Holt was an excellent snorkeller, with strong endurance, he was not a powerful swimmer.
He used to practise holding his breath for up to two minutes during boring times in Parliament, or in the bath, so he could dive deeper during his frequent snorkelling trips.
He once told his press secretary, Tony Eggleton: "Look, Tony, what are the odds of a PM being drowned or taken by a shark?"
But he should have known the dangers. He had to be assisted from the water at Cheviot Beach eight months earlier when he was swept out after his snorkel sprang a leak.
The search for Harold Holt at Cheviot Beach.
He suffered a lifelong complaint from a shoulder injury he received playing football at university and he found it difficult to swim freestyle.
Despite a massive air, sea and land search, the body of Australia's 18th prime minister was never found. Portsea Surf Life Saving Club president Milton Napthine, a friend of Mr Holt, said: "He knew darn well that the surf was too high. God only knows why he went in for a swim."
One suggestion was that he could have been struck by a large piece of timber discarded from a cargo ship. There were many theories about what happened to Holt, from the reasonable to the ridiculous.
But the man who probably knew best was Laurie Newell, the police inspector in charge of the search who rose to the rank of deputy commissioner and later became the head of the Country Fire Authority.
"I think he fell for his own publicity," he said.
"He believed he couldn't drown. Remember, he wasn't a young man any more."
Out of his depth: the PM who believed his own publicity
August 25, 2003
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The Age reports the nation's shock at its prime minister's disappearance.
Harold Holt had a reputation as a swimmer and an outdoor adventurer. But he should have stayed on the sand, writes John Silvester.
Harold Holt was more a victim of his own self-belief than the vicious ocean tide at Cheviot Beach, according to police.
He played up to his image as the outdoors prime minister and was photographed in the British press in his scuba mask surrounded by three women in bikinis in an 007 pose.
On the day he disappeared, Harold Holt, 59, should have known not to go swimming. If his boast "I know this beach like the back of my hand" was true, he should have stayed on the sand.
He was with four others - one was Marjorie Gillespie, his secret lover. According to Holt's wife, Dame Zara, she wasn't the only one.
"She was one of the queue formed on the right. It went on all the time," Dame Zara would say years later. She said he had lovers in Melbourne, Sydney, Canberra and Hong Kong as well as Portsea.
But as with US president John Kennedy, nothing was ever said. It was a different time.
Despite the growing controversy of the Vietnam War, Holt did not feel the need to surround himself with security guards.
On Friday, December 15, he flew to Melbourne from Canberra in an RAAF VIP plane and later drove his own maroon Pontiac Parisienne to Portsea. He had an early night and played tennis with friends the next day.
On Sunday morning, he dropped three crayfish at the Gillespie holiday house next door.
Before lunch, he took Gillespie to Point Nepean to see round-the-world solo sailor Alec Rose sail into Port Phillip Bay.
They were followed in a second car by young businessman Alan Stewart with Gillespie's daughter Vyner, 20, and her friend, medical student Robert Simpson, 19.
Despite the blustery, muggy conditions Holt wanted to swim at the private and exposed ocean at Cheviot Beach, rather than at one of the more protected beaches in the bay.
The nearby patrolled beach at Portsea was closed because of the weather, but the prime minister did not hesitate when he arrived at Cheviot. He remarked the tide seemed to be high but headed straight in.
Stewart said: "If Mr Holt can take it I had better go in, too." But because of the undertow he did not go out of his depth.
Holt swam on, entering an area that quickly became turbulent, and disappeared.
Gillespie said: "It was like a leaf being taken out. It was so quick and so final."
Friends said that although Holt was an excellent snorkeller, with strong endurance, he was not a powerful swimmer.
He used to practise holding his breath for up to two minutes during boring times in Parliament, or in the bath, so he could dive deeper during his frequent snorkelling trips.
He once told his press secretary, Tony Eggleton: "Look, Tony, what are the odds of a PM being drowned or taken by a shark?"
But he should have known the dangers. He had to be assisted from the water at Cheviot Beach eight months earlier when he was swept out after his snorkel sprang a leak.
The search for Harold Holt at Cheviot Beach.
He suffered a lifelong complaint from a shoulder injury he received playing football at university and he found it difficult to swim freestyle.
Despite a massive air, sea and land search, the body of Australia's 18th prime minister was never found. Portsea Surf Life Saving Club president Milton Napthine, a friend of Mr Holt, said: "He knew darn well that the surf was too high. God only knows why he went in for a swim."
One suggestion was that he could have been struck by a large piece of timber discarded from a cargo ship. There were many theories about what happened to Holt, from the reasonable to the ridiculous.
But the man who probably knew best was Laurie Newell, the police inspector in charge of the search who rose to the rank of deputy commissioner and later became the head of the Country Fire Authority.
"I think he fell for his own publicity," he said.
"He believed he couldn't drown. Remember, he wasn't a young man any more."
monkalup - April 18, 2008 03:52 PM (GMT)