[Ocker]

The Harold Holt/Gough Whitlam connection

With the December 2003 release of the National Archives' files, from thirty years ago, former prime minister Gough Whitlam gained much media attention.

Whitlam, it seems has rarely been out of the media spotlight in the years since his shock sacking at the hands of then Governor General Sir John Kerr in November 1975.

Yet few remember the fellow former PM who indirectly paved the way for Whitlam’s ascendancy to Labor leadership, Harold Holt.

In fact it was Holt’s convincing win in the 1966 election against Arthur Calwell paved the way for Whitlam to take over as leader of the Labor party.

And while Holt’s disappearance remains a mystery as time marches on conspiracy theories about his death have given way to more logical explanations about what happened at Cheviot Beach near Portsea on December 17, 1967.

Professor of Political Sciences from the Australian National University, John Warhurst believes Holt’s death was just another unfortunate example of the perils of swimming in the ocean.

Of more significance is not how he died but his contributions to Australian politics over more than three decades.

“Holt’s time in office (1966-67) is best remembered by two events.

“Among his main achievements were the 1967 referendum on Aboriginal rights and his close association with the United States because of Australia’s involvement in the Vietnam War.

“In some ways the relations between Holt and Lyndon Johnson was as close as you can get between an Australian prime minister and a US president.’’

President Johnson visited Australia just before Holt’s landslide win in the 1966 election at the height of approval of Australia’s involvement in the Vietnam War.

Johnson was the first US president to visit Australia, and was given a rapturous reception in Melbourne and Sydney where crowds of almost half a million welcomed him in a series of motorcades.

“There are probably parallels between 1966-67 and 2002-03 because Holt was riding high on the wave of Australia’s involvement in the Vietnam war which was seen to be one of the main issues contributing toward his landslide election win in 1966,’’ said Warhurst.

“But later events did show that attitudes toward the war and the USA alliance can change in a way that effects Australian domestic politics.’’

http://www.abc.net.au/central/stories/s1021174.htm