Which Australian Prime Minister disappeared, presumed drowned in 1967?
Paul Hasluck opposed Australian recognition of the People's Republic of China. When Prime Minister Harold Holt disappeared in December 1967, presumed to have drowned, Hasluck was determined that the Treasurer, William McMahon, of whom he had a very low opinion, should not become prime minister. Although he had no great ambitions for himself, Hasluck put his name forward mainly to provide an alternative to McMahon. In the event, McMahon did not stand, as the interim prime minister John McEwen had advised his Country Party would not serve in any government headed by McMahon. The choice was between Hasluck, John Gorton, Billy Snedden
Richard Casey, Baron Casey acute issue for Casey in December 1967, when Holt disappeared, presumed drowned. Casey could have commissioned the Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party, Billy McMahon, as acting Prime Minister or Caretaker prime minister, but instead he appointed John McEwen, the leader of Liberals' coalition partner, the Country Party. In this he was following a precedent set in 1939, when Sir Earle Page was appointed Prime Minister following the death of Joseph Lyons. But it was later alleged that Casey appointed McEwen to prevent McMahon having an advantage in the Liberal Party's ballot for a new leader, since he shared the