Editing Harold Holt (section)

==Disappearance==
{{Main|Disappearance of Harold Holt}}
[[File:Cheviot Beach.png|thumb|right|250px|[[Cheviot Beach]], the site of Holt's disappearance]]
Holt loved the ocean, particularly [[spearfishing]], and had holiday homes at [[Portsea, Victoria]], and [[Bingil Bay, Queensland]].<ref>Frame (2005), p. 272.</ref> On 17 December 1967, while Holt was spending the weekend at Portsea, he and four companions decided to drive to [[Point Nepean]] to watch sailor [[Alec Rose]] pass through [[The Rip]] on his solo circumnavigation attempt. On their way back to Portsea, Holt convinced the group to stop at remote [[Cheviot Beach]] for a swim before lunch&nbsp;– he had spearfished there on many previous occasions, and claimed to "know this beach like the back of my hand". Because of the rough conditions, only one other person, Alan Stewart, joined Holt in the water. Stewart kept close to shore, but Holt swam out into deeper water and was seemingly caught up in a [[rip current|rip]], eventually disappearing from view. One of the witnesses, Marjorie Gillespie, described it as "like a leaf being taken out [...] so quick and final".<ref>Frame (2005), pp. 248–250.</ref>

Holt's disappearance sparked "one of the largest search operations in Australian history", but no trace of his body was ever found.<ref>Frame (2005), p. 250.</ref> At 10 p.m. on 18 December, Governor-General [[Richard Casey, Baron Casey|Lord Casey]] announced he had terminated Holt's commission as prime minister upon his presumed death.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.naa.gov.au/explore-collection/australias-prime-ministers/harold-holt/after-office|title=Harold Holt: after office|publisher=National Archives of Australia|access-date=30 January 2021}}</ref> A police report released in early 1968 made no definitive findings about Holt's death, while a [[Coroners Court of Victoria|coronial inquest]] in 2005 returned a verdict of accidental drowning. It is generally accepted that Holt overestimated his swimming ability.<ref>Frame (2005), p. 275.</ref> Some have alleged that Holt committed [[suicide]], but those close to him rejected this as uncharacteristic of his personality.<ref>Frame (2005), p. 277.</ref> Conspiracy theories have included suggestions that Holt [[Faked death|faked his own death]], was assassinated by the [[CIA]], or [[The Prime Minister Was a Spy|was collected by a submarine so that he could defect to China]].<ref>Frame (2005), pp. 278–293.</ref>

A memorial service for Holt was held at [[St Paul's Cathedral, Melbourne]], on 22 December, and attended by numerous world leaders.<ref>Frame (2005), p. 267.</ref> Aged 59 at the time of his death, Holt became the third Australian prime minister to die in office, after [[Joseph Lyons]] (1939) and [[John Curtin]] (1945). [[John McEwen]], the leader of the [[National Party of Australia|Country Party]], was sworn in as caretaker prime minister on 19 December.<ref>Frame (2005), p. 254.</ref> The Liberal Party held [[1968 Liberal Party of Australia leadership election|a leadership election]] on 9 January 1968, in which [[John Gorton]] defeated [[Paul Hasluck]], [[Billy Snedden]], and [[Les Bury]]. Gorton was a member of the [[Australian Senate|Senate]], and in line with [[Constitutional convention (political custom)|constitutional convention]] sought and gained election to the House of Representatives at [[1968 Higgins by-election|the by-election]] caused by Holt's death.<ref>Frame (2005), p. 269.</ref>