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5 unusual facts about Harold Holt


Barrie Dexter

Following the referendum in 1967 which removed provisions in the Australian Constitution which discriminated against Indigenous Australians, the Prime Minister Harold Holt invited Dexter to join the anthropologist W. E. H. Stanner and H. C. Coombs to form the Council for Aboriginal Affairs (CAA) and advise on national policy.

Cheviot Beach

On 17 December 1967, Prime Minister Harold Holt disappeared, and was presumed drowned, while swimming at the beach.

Jeff Bate

He was married three times: in 1928 to Gerta Homburg (two children, John and Margaret); in 1958 to future Country Women's Association president Thelma Kirkby; and on 19 February 1969 to Dame Zara Holt, the widow of Prime Minister Harold Holt.

Kenneth Eather

Ken was educated at Abbotsholme College in Wahroonga, New South Wales, am elite boarding school that also attended by future prime ministers Harold Holt and William McMahon.

Vera Pearce

She was also the niece of future Australian Prime Minister Harold Holt.


Harry C. Giese

Harry Giese AM MBE (1913–2000) administered Australian federal government policy for the people of the Northern Territory under Prime Ministers including Robert Menzies and Harold Holt and Ministers including Paul Hasluck.

John McEwen

When Menzies' successor, Harold Holt, was officially presumed dead on 19 December 1967, the Governor-General Lord Casey sent for McEwen and he was sworn in as Prime Minister, on the understanding that his commission would continue only so long as it took for the Liberals to elect a new leader.

Mike Willesee

Willesee figured prominently in the controversy that erupted over the decision in early 1967 by the Liberal government, led by Prime Minister Harold Holt, not to reappoint the ABC Chairman Dr James Darling.


see also

Harold Holt Memorial Swimming Centre

The Harold Holt Memorial Swimming Centre, is a public swimming pool complex located on the corner of High street & Edgar Street, Glen Iris, Melbourne, Australia.