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The Vanishing Prime Minister
Harold Holt loved the ocean. As Australia’s 17th Prime Minister, he took every opportunity to swim and go spear fishing as a way to mitigate the stress and anxiety of his job. On the morning of Sunday, December 17, 1967, Holt and four others drove to the Victoria coastline to watch famed sailor Alec Rose’s attempt to circumnavigate the globe. On the drive home, Holt suggested the group go for a swim.
They stopped at Cheviot Beach, an isolated spot not far from Holt’s summer house in Port Sea. The group included Holt’s neighbor Marjorie Gillespie, her daughter, her daughter’s boyfriend and a local man named Alan Stewart. It was a blustery day and the surf was tumultuous. Holt asked Stewart to join him for a quick dip. Stewart felt intimidated by the rough seas. Holt tried to reassure him. “I know this beach like the back of my hand,” he said.
Holt plunged into the ocean while Stewart stayed close to shore. Stewart later told police, “I noticed the tide was very high and the surf was very turbulent, the biggest I have seen on that beach.” Another eyewitness Martin Simpson said, “I went into the water almost knee-deep and there was a fairly strong undercurrent, so I just splashed around without going in to far.”
Stewart watched Holt swim toward the breakers and suddenly “the surf increased in ferocity.” Marjorie Gillespie also watched Holt. “The…
