Harold Edward Holt was born at Stanmore in Sydney, the elder son of Thomas James Holt, a physical education teacher, and his wife Olive May (nee Williams). He was educated initially at Randwick Primary School in Sydney and then Payneham State School in South Australia, and subsequently attended Abbotsholme School in Sydney and Wesley College in Melbourne. He went on to study law at the University of Melbourne, where he also excelled at sport and debating and was president of Queen’s College (1931) and of the Law Students’ Society. He was called to the Victorian Bar in 1932 and practised as a solicitor. In this period he also became an active member of the Young Nationalists Organisation and Secretary to the Cinematograph Exhibitors’ Association (1935-1939).
Holt first attempted to enter federal politics at the 1934 general election, when he unsuccessfully contested the Victorian seat of Yarra against former Prime Minister, J H Scullin. He became the youngest member of Commonwealth Parliament when he was elected to the House of Representatives at a by-election the following year. Representing the United Australia Party (from 1944, the Liberal Party) as member for Fawkner (Vic), he held this seat through the 1946 general election. After an electoral redistribution, he became member for Higgins from 1949 until his death.
In April 1939 Holt was appointed Minister without portfolio assisting the Minister for Supply and Development, and later that year also became Minister in Charge of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). At the time, he was the youngest Commonwealth Minister since Federation. In November and December 1939 Holt acted as Minister for Air and as Minister for Civil Aviation, and from February to March 1940 was Minister without portfolio assisting the Minister for Trade and Customs. He was also the Parliamentary representative on the National Fitness Council. As a result of the formation of a coalition between the UAP and the United Country Party in March 1940, Holt lost his portfolio responsibilities. On 22 May 1940 he enlisted as a gunner in the Second AIF, but served only five months before being recalled to the Menzies Government. He was appointed Minister for Labour and National Service and Minister in Charge of the CSIR in October 1940, and was a member of the Economic and Industrial Committee of Cabinet, until the coalition government fell in October 1941.
Holt served on the Joint Parliamentary Committee on War Expenditure (1943-1946) and on the Joint Committee on the Broadcasting of Parliamentary Proceedings (1946-1949). In October 1948 he was a member of the Australian delegation to the Empire Parliamentary Association Conference in London, and sat on the General Council of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association from 1950 to 1955. As the Association’s Chairman (1952-1955) he attended the Coronation of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II in 1953. Holt also led the Australian delegation to the Association's conferences in 1950, 1952, 1954 and 1959, and was appointed to the Privy Council in June 1953.
When the Liberal-Country Party Coalition was returned to government in 19 December 1949, Holt was appointed Minister for Immigration and Minister for Labour and National Service. He retained the former portfolio until October 1956, and the latter until December 1958. As Minister for Labour and National Service he was the representative of the Australian Government on the Organising Committee for the XVIth Olympiad (and its Executive Committee) and attended his first meeting in that capacity on 11 March 1950. In 1951, as Minister for Immigration, he presided over the first Australian Citizenship Convention. Holt acted once again as Minister in the portfolios of Air and Civil Aviation in early 1955. On 26 September 1956 he became Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party, Leader of the Liberal Party in the House of Representatives and a member of the House of Representatives Committee on Standing Orders. In 1957 he led the Australian delegation to the 40th Session of the International Labour Conference at Geneva where he was elected Chairman, the first Australian to hold this position. Holt acted as Minister in Charge of the CSIRO on several occasions in 1957 and 1958, and in December 1958 became Treasurer. In the latter capacity he attended annual meetings of the Commonwealth Finance Ministers (1959-1965), represented the Australian Government at the Swiss National Fair in Lausanne (1960) and was a Member of the Board of Governors (and Chairman, 1960) of the International Monetary Fund and its associated bodies. He succeeded R G Menzies as Leader of the Liberal Party and Prime Minister on 26 January 1966.
As Prime Minister, Holt continued to travel extensively, particularly to South East Asia and United Kingdom, and to the United States where he began a lasting friendship with President Lyndon B Johnson. He supported the US commitment to the Vietnam War, notably through increasing Australian military presence (including national servicemen) and attending the Seven Nation Conference in Manila in October 1966. The coalition government was returned at the November 1966 election with an improved majority. However, in a climate of increasing unrest over Australia’s commitment to Vietnam, Holt’s second year as Prime Minister did not begin well. The controversial visit of the Head of State of South Vietnam (Marshal Ky) in January 1967 was followed a few months later by the death of Holt’s brother, Cliff. Other political issues included the use of VIP aircraft, the cost of F-111 aircraft for the RAAF, devaluation and the rift between the Leader of the Country Party (J McEwen) and the Treasurer (W McMahon). Nevertheless, he continued as a member of the House of Representatives Committee on Standing Orders and was also a member of the Joint Select Committee on the New and Permanent Parliament House.
On 17 December 1967, Holt disappeared while swimming at Cheviot Beach, Portsea in Victoria. Despite an extensive search, his body was never recovered and he was presumed dead two days later. He was survived by his wife Zara (later Dame Zara) (CP 717), whom he had married in October 1946.
This person registration was revised as part of the Prime Ministers Papers’ Project (May 2002).
Sources
National Archives of Australia, Australian Prime Ministers: Holt, primeministers.naa.gov.au/primeministers/holt, accessed 5 May 2009
Commonwealth Parliamentary Handbook, 15th ed (1962-1965) and 16th ed (1965-1968)
Hancock, Ian, 'Harold Edward Holt', in M Grattan (ed), Australian Prime Ministers (Sydney, New Holland, 2000), pp 270-284
Who’s Who in Australia 1965