In 1967, Harold Holt, the Prime Minister of Australia went for a swim at the beach and was never seen again. Theories about his disappearance include kidnapping by a Russian submarine, eaten by a shark or being carried away by the tide.
That's right. We lost our Prime Minister. He wasn't assassinated, we just lost him. He is recalled in the Australian vernacular expression "do a Harold Holt" (or "do the Harry"), rhyming slang for "do a bolt" meaning "to disappear suddenly and without explanation", although this is usually employed in the context of disappearance from a social gathering rather than a case of presumed death.
We also rather ironically, or perhaps as a joke, dedicated a swimming center to him. The "Harold Holt memorial swimming center"... after the man died in the water. We are strange country...
The swimming center might have been built for Aussie not to disappear in the water like Harold Holt... Seriously, I think it is a critical matter that a prime minister in a country vanishes suddenly. This is unbelievable now.
ReplyDeleteVery true. Don't worry since then we have been more careful not to loose our prime ministers. Although I would be very happy if our current prime minister Tony Abbot was to suddenly disappear.
ReplyDelete:Phil