It followed the disappearance and presumed drowning of previous leader Harold Holt, who had been declared dead on 19 December 1967.

[1][2] Incumbent party leader Harold Holt sensationally disappeared while swimming at Cheviot Beach near Portsea on the Mornington Peninsula of Victoria on 17 December 1967.

McEwen himself had been encouraged to remain Prime Minister on a more permanent basis but to do so would have required him to defect and lead the Liberals, an option he had never contemplated.

[4] To date, Gorton is the only Australian Senator to be sworn in as Prime Minister; he would subsequently win Holt's vacant seat of Higgins at a by-election.

Hasluck was later nominated and accepted the position of Governor-General from Gorton in 1969 and Snedden became party leader in December 1972.