THE discovery in Cambodia of the remains of former Australian Prime Minister Harold Holt would finally lay to rest the disgraceful rumours that the Liberal leader had fled the country willingly, committed suicide or drowned, Australia's foremost political analyst said this week.
Dr Rufus Badinage, who guided Holt throughout his illustrious career, said he had argued for 30 years that it was unthinkable that Holt as the consumate politican would have found leading the nation so beyond him that his 'disappearance' was the only solution.
And he scoffed when told by The Bug that a senior Foreign Affairs official had admitted the government of the day had helped get Holt onto a Chinese sub which spirited him away from Australian public life.
"Of course the government is going to say that now," Badinage said. "Holt would never readily have gone anywhere with the Commies. He would rather have been dead than red.
"The Chinese got him all right, but it was totally against his will. They kidnapped him because Holt was the standout leader in the western world at that time in history.
"He was too dangerous to the Commies and their domino plans, so he had to be silenced.
"But to have the Australian leader whisked away like that was a monumental blunder for the remainder of the Australian Government and its secret service. Of course they had to cover up for their stuff-up. That's why the only thing that surfaced in the days after Holt's disappearance were the rumours and scuttlebutt.
Doctor Badinage said the disgraceful rumours claimed Holt staged his own disappearance because:
1. He was deeply depressed because William McMahon had left him for John Gorton
2. Having gone all the way with LBJ, he was finding it increasingly uncomfortable to chair lengthy Cabinet meetings
3. He was deeply depressed because John Gorton had left him for William McMahon
4. His wife Zara was still keen on sex three times a week despite years of marriage
5. He was deeply depressed because both John Gorton and William McMahon had left him for Billy Snedden.
"I talked to Holt just before he disappeared (see Badinage's regular column in this issue) and he had come to grips with all of those things that were happening to him at that time.
"That's the sort of man he was. That's why the Chinese were threatened by him."
Dr Badinage said Holt was arguably the finest leader this nation has ever known.
"He was a Bjelke-Petersen with syntax.
"Holt would still be Australian Liberal Prime Minister today if he hadn't been kidnapped," he said.
"And all this rubbish about being a republic would never have seen the light of day if Holt had stayed around to guide us."
