The search for Holt was exhaustive. Diving teams entered the rough waters repeatedly but were unable to find any evidence or clues to his disappearance.

As each day passed hopes dimmed of finding any trace of the prime minister, let alone finding him alive. Holt had disappeared on 17 December, and the search continued through the Christmas period before being called off on 5 January 1968.

The failure to find any trace of a body or clothing led to speculation that he may not have been swimming there in the first place. But in subsequent years other people have drowned along that coastline without their bodies being recovered.

This is silent, unedited broadcast footage from the Nine Network.