On 17 December 1967, Holt disappeared in heavy surf while swimming off Cheviot Beach, near Melbourne, becoming the third Australian Prime Minister to die in office.

[4] John Gorton had studied Politics, History and Economics at Oxford University and served as pilot in the Royal Australian Airforce during the Second World War.

Soon after, Holt drowned and Gorton decided to run for the office of prime minister, though he lacked a House of Representatives seat.

[5] In his 2010 Memoir, Lazarus Rising, long serving Liberal Prime Minister John Howard wrote that Gorton was the first person to win the leadership of an Australian party "through the force of his television appearances".

In the lead up to the leadership vote, Gorton was little known but appeared on television, where, wrote Howard, he gave direct answers and his "relaxed, laconic manner, coupled with his crumpled war-hero face, really appealed to viewers".

[6] Political commentator Alan Reid said:[5] Gorton set out deliberately to give the impression of a fairly ordinary, decent Australian, with a sense of humour and intelligence and the capacity to make decisionsGorton, a former World War II RAAF pilot, with a battle scarred face, said he was "Australian to the bootheels" and had a personal style which often affronted some conservatives.

Accordingly, he visited President Johnson of the United States in 1968 without taking any advisors from External Affairs and interfered heavily in the preparation of Treasurer William McMahon's budgets.

The new act, which came into effect on 1 May 1969, "completely overhauled the copyright law and introduced new provisions", and remains in force although some amendments have been made.

[11] The Government introduced the Aboriginal Study Grants Scheme (ABSTUDY) in 1969, as part of a commitment to assist Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to attain better educational, social and economic outcomes, and in response to low participation of Indigenous Australians in higher education.

[16] Gorton had earned a reputation as a centralist during his time as an active Education Minister – a responsibility formerly considered the preserve of state governments.

In December 1970 Gorton announced that the previous 50-year public access rule for classified cabinet documents would be reduced to 30 years.

After the 1969 election, Malcolm Fraser replaced the retired Allen Fairhall as Minister for Defence, Don Chipp, Senator Bob Cotton, Senator Tom Drake-Brockman (Country Party), Mac Holten (Country Party), Tom Hughes, James Killen and Andrew Peacock were promoted into the ministry.

In Howard's assessment, Gorton had an "appealing personality, direct style and was extremely intelligent" but it was his "lack of general discipline over such things as punctuality that did him damage".

After the election, Gorton faced leadership challenges from David Fairbairn, a senior minister from New South Wales and from Deputy Leader Bill McMahon.

Of the period Howard wrote: "By this time John McEwen had dropped his veto of McMahon, a sure sign that the Country Party had grown uneasy with Gorton's governing style.

[6] Tensions within the government came to a point when David Fairbairn, the Minister for National Development, announced a refusal to serve in a Gorton Cabinet.

John Howard wrote in 2010 that the "personal animosity which flowed from the manner of Gorton's removal as prime minister was the most intense that I have ever seen in politics.

[6] McMahon's premiership ended when Gough Whitlam led the Australian Labor Party out of its 23-year period in Opposition at the 1972 Election.