Peninsula remembers drowning death of Prime Minister Harold Holt 50 years ago this Sunday
THE tragic disappearance of Prime Minister Harold Holt in the treacherous Bass Strait surf has never been forgotten, especially on the Mornington Peninsula.
South East
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A TRAGIC, yet enigmatic event seared into the minds of Peninsula people will be remembered this Sunday.
Fifty years ago on December 17, 1967, Australia’s most powerful man, Harold Holt, went missing during a lunchtime dip in rough Portsea waters.
The Prime Minister had dived into the sea off Cheviot Beach, near his holiday home, just like he had done on numerous occasions in the past. But this time the 59-year-old, a keen swimmer, never came home.
A massive search operation failed to find any sight of him, and he was pronounced ‘presumed dead’ days later.
The lack of a body led to all sorts of conspiracy theories, ranging from suicide, shark attack and even foreign assassination. Other notions suggested that he had faked his own demise to elope with a lover to France, or was spirited away to China as a spy.
The official consensus is that he drowned, with a police report from the time and a Coroner ruling in 2005 that his death was accidental and caused by turbulent waters.
The world reacted, shining a spotlight on the Peninsula paradise that is Portsea, and the stark, natural, dangerous beauty of the Bass Strait surf.
Mr Holt was Australia’s 17th prime minister, serving from January 26, 1966, and was regarded as charismatic, particularly with the ladies, and a hardworking political networker.
To mark half a century since his passing, a special tribute will be held on Sunday at Fort Nepean to celebrate his life and achievements.
Flinders Federal Liberal MP Greg Hunt, whose electorate covers the region, said it was “incredibly important that we honour the date of his loss, especially on such a milestone anniversary”.
“The disappearance of Harold Holt off the coast of Cheviot Beach captured the imagination of a nation and is a moment that is entrenched into not only our nation’s history, but into our local history,” Mr Hunt said.
Colin Watson, part of the Harold Holt Memorial Committee, said the day should be remembered.
“His death as the only prime minister to disappear while in office was an event which shone a spotlight on the Peninsula,” Mr Watson said.
Mornington Peninsula Shire Mayor Bryan Payne said the drowning of a sitting prime minister was a unique tourist drawcard to the region.
