I was going to write about Paraguay again, but it occurred to me earlier today I should bring as much geographic balance to History Wednesday as possible. Since I began SB at least one History Wednesday has been set on every continent. Except one, and I have regular visitors from it.
Well, two if you count penguins, but they don’t have broadband.
So it’s high time to take a look at Australia and an event which has a cautionary tale about water safety. Perfect now that summer is upon us. Or winter, as the case may be. Anyway, the Paraguay story is good, but it can wait.
Although Australian history goes back thousands of years, in its own right it’s only been a player on the world stage for a little over a century. From a political standpoint, one of the most important historical figures in Australia is Robert Menzies. An attorney from Melbourne, Menzies founded the Australian Liberal Party in the 1940s. With the support of the Country Party, Menzies then proceeded to serve as prime minister for over 18 years, winning seven consecutive elections along the way.
Being “down under,” the Liberal Party is actually conservative. Just work with me here.
Although his popularity ebbed and flowed over the years, after 1949 the opposition Labor Party was never able to bring the masterful campaigner down. Finally in 1966, the 71-year-old Menzies called it a career. So in January he handed the reins of power to his longtime treasurer Harold Holt, and rode off into the sunset, presumably with a crocodile or something slung over his shoulder.
Also a Melbourne attorney, Holt had been clearly groomed as Menzies’ successor for over a decade. Although he was passionate about sports, reputedly excellent in cricket and Australian rules football, Holt was known as a workaholic who had few off-the-job interests. When he did take time off, he was fond of swimming and snorkeling.
Now stay with me. This is important.
A bit north of Australia in 1966, you might recall there was a pretty significant armed conflict going on in Vietnam. Upon becoming prime minister Holt immediately aligned himself with Lyndon Johnson and his pro-war policies.
“So I said to Ho Chi Minh, ‘That’s not a knife!’”
While this proved controversial, it wasn’t controversial enough to allow the Labor Party return to power. In fact, Holt’s coalition government decisively defeated Labor in a way not even Menzies could at his zenith.
As 1967 wore on, amidst scandal Holt and his government increasingly found themselves on the defensive against the new Labor Party Leader Gough Whitlam, who proved to be a much more formidable politician than opposition leaders of the recent past. Towards the end of the year top Liberals were beginning to question Holt’s leadership.
So one fine day in December (summer in Australia, remember) Holt decided to go for a swim in a particularly dangerous spot of ocean near Melbourne. While the exact details are murky, it’s clear the 59-year-old Holt was not on the top of his game physically. A very experienced swimmer and diver, had Holt been in good health this wouldn’t have been a big deal. Unfortunately, he was pulled under by a rip tide. Despite a massive search operation, Holt’s body was never found.
This touched off a period of political instability in Australia, as the country went through three prime ministers in quick succession before the Labor Party under Whitlam finally defeated the Liberal/Country coalition in 1972. It also gave rise to several wonderful conspiracy theories, including that Holt was a Chinese spy and had faked his death to return to Beijing.
Alien abduction perhaps? Of course that was proposed as well, but why aliens would take an Australian prime minister is beyond me.
Especially considering they could have had Jah himself, mon.
So kids, today’s moral is stay away from rip tides, even if you know what you’re doing. Otherwise the aliens will come for you and a swimming pool will be named in your honor. No, seriously.
