Editing Harold Holt (section)

===Controversies===
Holt's popularity and political standing was damaged by his perceived poor handling of a series of controversies that emerged during 1967. In April, the [[Australian Broadcasting Corporation|ABC]]'s new nightly current affairs program ''[[This Day Tonight]]'' ran a story which criticised the government's decision not to reappoint the Chair of the ABC Board, [[James Ralph Darling|Sir James Darling]]. Holt responded rashly, questioning the impartiality of the ABC and implying political bias on the part of journalist [[Mike Willesee]] (whose father [[Don Willesee]] was an ALP Senator and future Whitlam government minister), and his statement drew strong protests from both Willesee and the [[Australian Journalists' Association]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Behind closed doors|work=[[The Age]]|location=[[Melbourne]]|first=John|last=Bennetts|date=25 April 1967|page=5}}</ref>

In May, increasing pressure from the media and within the Liberal Party forced Holt to announce a parliamentary debate on the question of a [[Melbourne-Voyager collision|second inquiry into the 1964 sinking]] of {{HMAS|Voyager|D04|6}} to be held on 16 May. The debate included the [[maiden speech]] by newly elected NSW Liberal MP [[Edward St John]] QC, who used the opportunity to criticise the government's attitude to new evidence about the disaster. An enraged Holt interrupted St John's speech, in defiance of the parliamentary convention that maiden speeches are heard in silence; his blunder embarrassed the government and further undermined Holt's support in the Liberal Party.<ref>{{cite news|title=PM red-faced|work=[[The Age]]|date=17 May 1967|location=[[Melbourne]]|page=1}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Attorney-General opens debate on Voyager|work=[[The Age]]|date=17 May 1967|location=[[Melbourne]]|pages=10–11}}</ref> A few days later, Holt announced a new [[Royal Commission]] into the disaster.

In October the government became embroiled in another embarrassing controversy over [[VIP affair|the alleged misuse of VIP aircraft]], which came to a head when [[John Gorton]] (Government Leader in the Senate) tabled documents that showed that Holt had unintentionally misled Parliament in his earlier answers on the matter. Support for his leadership was eroded even further by his refusal to sack the Minister for Air, [[Peter Howson (politician)|Peter Howson]], in order to defuse the scandal, fuelling criticism from within the party that Holt was "weak" and lacked Menzies' ruthlessness. Much of the blame for the episode within the Public Service was visited upon Sir [[John Bunting (diplomat)|John Bunting]], Secretary of the Prime Minister's Department, although other figures such as the Deputy Secretary [[Peter Lawler (public servant)|Peter Lawler]] were able to protect themselves. One of John Gorton's first acts upon becoming Prime Minister in January 1968 was to sideline Bunting by creating a separate Department of the Cabinet Office with Bunting as its head, and replaced him with [[Lenox Hewitt]].

In November 1967, the government suffered a serious setback in the [[1967 Australian Senate election|senate election]], winning just 42.8 per cent of the vote against Labor's 45 per cent. The coalition also lost the seats of [[Division of Corio|Corio]] and [[Division of Dawson|Dawson]] to Labor in by-elections. [[Alan Reid (journalist)|Alan Reid]] says that, within the party, the reversal was blamed on Holt's mishandling of the V.I.P. planes scandal. Disquiet was growing about his leadership style and possible health problems.<ref name = ADB />