Australia: His Own Man

John Grey Gorton, 56, likes to say that he is "Australian to my boot heels." He is an avid sportsman (tennis, swimming, water-skiing), a cool politician with an instinct for shrewdness and enterprise, and a demanding boss with a reputation for firmness and hard work. Sworn in last week as Australia's 19th Prime Minister—succeeding the late Harold Holt, who drowned last month off Portsea (TIME, Dec. 29)—Gorton is also very much his own man. He will probably wield a stronger, more decisive leadership than Holt and bend slightly to the left in his domestic policy, pushing for more government-aided...

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