John Curtin

John Curtin 1885-1945, Australian political leader. A labor union secretary, he edited (1917-28) a labor weekly and was later a member of the lower house—from 1928 to 1941, except for three years. He became Labour party leader. As wartime prime minister (1941-45), he vigorously organized the defense of Australia in World War II, working closely with the United States; he also helped plan closer cooperation within the Commonwealth of Nations. He died in office.

Curtin, John (1885–1945),Australian Labour politician who was federal prime minister from October 1941 until his death in July 1945.

Leader of his party from 1935, Curtin nearly won the general election of 1940, though he himself was only saved from defeat in his Fremantle constituency by a parcel of votes sent by Australian troops fighting in the Western Desert campaigns. In October 1941 Fadden's coalition government was defeated and Curtin became prime minister, though Labour lacked a majority in the Senate and largely relied upon the votes of independent members for a majority in the House of Representatives. In June 1943 Curtin defeated a motion of censure by just a single vote and until the general election that October, in which his party won a large overall majority, he had his difficulties in retaining power. Many of his problems derived from his own party as much as from the opposition, some feeling he was betraying fundamental socialist principles for a doubtful greater good. During the First World War Curtin had risked imprisonment when he had opposed conscription. As prime minister, his fiercest political battle came in January 1943 when anti-conscription members of his party opposed his proposal to use Australian conscripts in the New Guinea campaign, but he won in the end. Two months later, when there were strikes on the Sydney wharves he threatened the dockers with the call-up if they did not return to work.

But though his domestic politics were sometimes fraught, his guidance of his country at a critical period in its history was firm and forthright. In his New Year's message of 1942 he stated that ‘without any inhibitions of any kind, I make it quite clear that Australia looks to America, free of any pangs as to our traditional links or kinship with the United Kingdom. We know the problems with which the United Kingdom is faced; we know too that Australia can go and Britain can still hold on.’ When this caused some consternation he also made plain Australia's and his own loyalty to the Crown which he described as being ‘at the very core’ of the country's being.

In February 1942 he ordered total mobilization of all Australia's resources for war and by April had fought for, and obtained, what he hoped would be Australian participation in the higher direction of the war through membership of the Pacific War Council. He had also, rightly, opposed Churchill by insisting on the return of Australian troops from the Middle East, and negotiated a close association with the USA in prosecution of the war. Little known at first outside Australia, Curtin commanded immediate attention when he participated in the Commonwealth prime ministers' conference in March 1944. See also Australia, 3.

Curtin, John Joseph (b. 8 Jan. 1885, d. 5 July 1945). Prime Minister of Australia 1941–5 From an Irish Catholic family in Creswick (Victoria), he joined the Victorian Socialist Party upon its foundation in 1906. He became secretary of the Timber Worker's Union (1911) and its first federal president in 1914, though in 1915 he had to resign his posts, having become an alcoholic. After drying out, he was appointed organizer of the Australian Trades Union Anti-Conscription Congress in 1916 before moving to Perth to become editor of the trade union's Westralian Worker. His views gradually became more reformist and conciliatory, and in 1928 he became a member of the federal parliament, where he was an outstanding debater. After losing the 1931 elections he returned to journalism, but regained his seat in 1934. Promising to refrain from alcohol, he was elected leader of the Australian Labor Party in 1935 by one vote, thus becoming the first party leader from Western Australia.

As Prime Minister, he led Australia through the most difficult years of World War II. In opposition to the British, he rejected Churchill's demands that Australian troops should be subject to British war priorities. In consequence, he withdrew many Australian units from North Africa to defend Australia against a possible Japanese attack. He also came to look primarily towards the USA, rather than the UK, for protection against the Japanese, angering Churchill by stating: ‘Australia looks to America, free of any pangs as to our traditional links or kinship with the United Kingdom’. After Labor was returned with a record 50 per cent of the vote in 1943, with his chief lieutenant, Chifley, he proceeded to devise a new postwar order. The most important step had already been taken through the conversion of income tax into a purely federal tax in 1941. After 1943, widows' pensions and maternity allowances were introduced. He died in office.