Harold Holt

Personal

Vocation

Lifestyle

Family

Australian politician, Prime Minister of Australia 1966-1967. During his time in office, Holt strongly supported United States involvement in Vietnam and one of his first acts as Prime Minister was to increase the size of the Australian forces in Vietnam by one third. On 2/14/1966, Holt introduced decimal currency - dollars and cents. On 5/27/1967 Australians voted 'Yes' in a Referendum to change the Commonwealth constitution. 'Full-blood' Aborigines could now be counted in the national census, which meant that the federal government was now just as responsible as the states for Aboriginal affairs. The Migration Act 1966 relaxed immigration laws to allow entry of non-European settlers, effectively ending the White Australia Policy. The son of schoolteachers, Holt was ten when his parents divorced. He attended Wesley College, Melbourne, where he won awards for sporting ability, character and leadership. He went on to study law at the University of Melbourne, where he played football, cricket and tennis for Queens College. He graduated as a lawyer in 1930, and was admitted to the Bar in 1931, working as a solicitor. He married Zara Fell in 1946 and adopted her three sons from a previous marriage. His first few sorties into politics failed to win him public office but in 1935 he was elected to federal parliament. He won the next four general elections, held Fawkner from 1937 to 1946, then switched to the seat of Higgins, which he held through eight general elections - from 1949 to 1966. In 1940 he enlisted in the 2nd AIF, but after five months in the army Menzies recalled him to parliament. He then became Minister for several posts throughout the sixteen years of the Menzies government (1949–1966). On Menzies' retirement in January 1966, Holt became Leader of the Liberal Party, and Prime Minister. An active sportsman, he disappeared while swimming in heavy seas off Portsea in Victoria on 12/17/1967. His body was never recovered. An investigation found no cause to suspect anything other than an unfortunate accident. Link to Wikipedia biography