Australian politician, 17th Prime Minister of Australia (1908-1967)
Harold Edward Holt (5 August 1908 – 17 December 1967) was the 17th Prime Minister of Australia. A Liberal MP since 1935, he replaced Robert Menzies as prime minister in January 1966. He was the first Australian prime minister born in the 20th century, and was seen as a moderniser, winning over the public with a much more open leadership style than his predecessor. Holt engaged with Asia to an extent not previously seen, and reaffirmed Australia's commitment to the War in Vietnam. On 17 December 1967, Holt disappeared while swimming at Cheviot Beach, Victoria. His death has entered Australian folklore.
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This Australia of ours is a vast island continent inhabited largely by people of British or other European stock and with a heritage of national freedom, personal liberty and the institutions of a British parliamentary democracy. But geographically we are part of Asia, and increasingly we have become aware of our involvement in the affairs of Asia. Our greatest dangers and our highest hopes are centred in Asia's tomorrows. Already one Asian country [Japan] has become established as the largest purchaser, in terms of money value, of Australian exports. The only military operations in which we are now engaged or in which we have been engaged since the Second World War are located in Asia.
Australia cannot stand aside from the struggle to resist the aggressive thrust of Communism in Asia and to ensure conditions in which stability can be achieved. Our own national security demands this course. We cannot be isolationist or neutralist, placed as we are geographically and occupying, as we do, with limited national strength, this vast continent. We cannot leave it solely to our allies – and their national servicemen [conscripts] – to defend in the region the rights of countries to their own independence and the peaceful pursuit of their national way of life.