John Curtin

For other uses, seeJohn Curtin (disambiguation).

The Right Honourable John Curtin
Official portrait, 1942
14thPrime Minister of Australia
In office 7 October 1941 – 5 July 1945
Monarch	George VI
Governors‑General	Lord Gowrie The Duke of Gloucester
Deputy	Frank Forde
Preceded by	Arthur Fadden
Succeeded by	Frank Forde
Minister for Defence
In office 7 October 1941 – 5 July 1945
Prime Minister	Himself
Preceded by	Robert Menzies
Succeeded by	Jack Beasley
Leader of the Opposition
In office 1 October 1935 – 7 October 1941
Prime Minister	Joseph Lyons Earle Page Robert Menzies Arthur Fadden
Deputy	Frank Forde
Preceded by	James Scullin
Succeeded by	Arthur Fadden
Leader of the Labor Party
In office 1 October 1935 – 5 July 1945
Deputy	Frank Forde
Preceded by	James Scullin
Succeeded by	Ben Chifley
Member of theAustralian Parliament forFremantle
In office 15 September 1934 – 5 July 1945
Preceded by	William Watson
Succeeded by	Kim Beazley Sr.
In office 17 November 1928 – 19 December 1931
Preceded by	William Watson
Succeeded by	William Watson
Personal details
Born	John Joseph Ambrose Curtin (1885-01-08)8 January 1885 Creswick,Colony of Victoria
Died	5 July 1945(1945-07-05)(aged 60) Canberra,Australia
Resting place	Karrakatta Cemetery
Political party	Labor
Other political affiliations	Victorian Socialist Party
Spouse	Elsie Needham ​ (m.1917)​
Relations	Claude Curtin(nephew)
Children	2
Signature

John Curtin(8 January 1885 – 5 July 1945) was an Australian politician who served as the 14thprime minister of Australiafrom 1941 until his death in 1945. He held office as the leader of theAustralian Labor Party(ALP), having been most notable for leading the country through the majority ofWorld War II,including all but the last few weeks of thewar in the Pacific.Curtin's leadership skills and personal character were acclaimed by his political contemporaries and he is frequentlyranked as one of Australia's greatest prime ministersand political leaders.

Curtin left school at the age of 13 and became involved in thelabour movementinMelbourne.He joined the Labor Party at a young age and was also involved with theVictorian Socialist Party.He became state secretary of theTimberworkers' Unionin 1911 and federal president in 1914. Curtin was a leader of the "No" campaign during the1916 referendumon overseas conscription, and was briefly jailed for refusing to attend a compulsory medical examination. He moved toPerththe following year to become the editor of theWestralian Worker,and later was state president of theAustralian Journalists' Association.

After three unsuccessful attempts, Curtin was elected to theHouse of Representativesat the1928 federal election,winning theDivision of Fremantle.He is the only prime minister to have represented a constituency inWestern Australia.He remained loyal to the Labor government during theparty split of 1931.He lost his seat in Labor's landslide defeat at the1931 election,but won it back in 1934. The following year, Curtin waselectedparty leader in place ofJames Scullin,defeatingFrank Fordeby a single vote. The party gained seats at the1937and1940 elections,with the latter resulting in ahung parliament.The ALP eventually formed aminority governmentin October 1941, when theFadden governmentlost a confidence motion.

The Japanese attacks onBritish MalayaandPearl Harbouroccurred two months after Curtin became prime minister, and Australia entered the war against Japan. Bombing raids on northern Australia soon followed. Curtin led the nation's war effort and made significant decisions about how the war was conducted. He placed Australian forces under the command of the American generalDouglas MacArthur,with whom he formed a close relationship, and successfully negotiated the issue of overseas conscription that had split his party during World War I. The ALP won almost two-thirds of the seats in the House of Representatives at the1943 election,which remains a party record. Curtin died in office in July 1945, after months of ill health attributed to the stresses of the war. Many of his post-war reconstruction plans were implemented by his successorBen Chifley,whoin 1946led the ALP to consecutive victories for the first time.

Early life and education

Birth and family background

Curtin was born inCreswick,Victoria,on 8 January 1885.He was christened "John Joseph Ambrose", although his middle names were not recorded on his birth certificate and he stopped using them in later life. Within his family he was known as "Jack".Curtin was the oldest of four children – his younger brother George was born in 1887, followed by his younger sisters Molly and Hannah in 1889 and 1891.His parents were both born inCounty Cork,Ireland. His father, John Curtin Sr., had arrived inSouth Australiain 1873, with two of his brothers.His brothers settled inAdelaide,but he moved on toVictoriaand found work as a warder atPentridge Prison.He later joined theVictoria Police,where in thirteen years he never rose above the rank of a constable; he received reprimands for indecent assault and using excessive force against children.In 1883, he married Catherine Agnes Bourke (known as "Kate" ), who had arrived in Melbourne in 1875. She was the sister of one of his police colleagues.

Childhood and education

John Curtin in 1908

Curtin was born with congenitalstrabismusof the left eye, which remained noticeable throughout his life. It was largely a cosmetic defect, but he was quite self-conscious about it. According to his biographerDavid Day,it had "a considerable psychological effect" on him, and likely exacerbated his natural shyness.Curtin lived in Creswick until 1890, when his father retired from the police. His father suffered from chronicrheumatoid arthritisandsyphilis,and was assessed as medically unable to resume his police duties. He was offered a choice between an annual pension and a lump-sum pay-out, and opted for the latter. He subsequently moved his family to innerMelbourne,taking over the lease of a pub onLittle Lonsdale Streetand moving into rented accommodation inBrunswick.

Curtin began his education at St Francis' Boys School, aChristian Brothersschool attached toSt Francis' Church.He later briefly attended St Bridget's School inFitzroy.He also attended Macedon Primary School inMacedon.In 1894, Curtin and his family moved toCharlton,a small country town in north-west Victoria. His father had failed to prosper in Melbourne, which was in the middle of an economic downturn. In Charlton, he took over the lease of a pub owned by his brother-in-law, John Bourke.Curtin was enrolled in the local state school, as a Catholic school had not yet been established. He excelled academically, and was seen as a potential "scholarship boy".However, he and his family left Charlton in 1896. Struggling financially, they spent the following two years moving around country Victoria, as his father managed pubs inDromana,Drouin,andMount Macedon.Curtin attended the local state schools, ending his formal education in 1898 at the age of 13.

Early working life

In early 1899, Curtin began working as an office boy at a weekly magazine calledThe Rambler,earning five shillings per week. His employer was the artist and writerNorman Lindsay,who had also grown up in Creswick and knew his family.The magazine did not last long, and over the following years Curtin held down a series of short-term jobs, including as acopy boyatThe Age,a potter's apprentice, and a houseboy at agentlemen's club.These were interspersed with periods of unemployment.He did not secure a permanent job until he was 18, taking up a position as an estimates clerk with the Titan Manufacturing Company inSouth Melbournein September 1903. By that time he was the family's primary breadwinner, as his father was a virtual invalid.

As a youth, Curtin was a talented sportsman. Between 1903 and 1907, he played as a half-forward flanker for theBrunswick Football Clubin the semi-professionalVictorian Football Association(VFA). His teammates gave him the nickname "Bumble".His nephewClaudeplayed forFitzroyin theVictorian Football League(VFL).Curtin also played cricket for theBrunswick Cricket Club,where he had a reputation as a solidbatsman.He remained involved in both sports throughout the remainder of his life, as an administrator and supporter. He was said to have an encyclopaedic knowledge of cricket statistics.

Political views

Caricature of Curtin in 1914 (Truth)

From a young age, Curtin was active in both theAustralian Labor Partyand theVictorian Socialist Party,which was aMarxistorganisation. While a member of the Victorian Socialist Party Curtin held strong anti-imperialist and anti-militarist views, and in opposition to the mainstream of the Labor movement, opposed racism due to his belief that racial hatred was used as a tool of the "exploiting class".Labor historian Graeme Osborne describes Curtin's stance as "anticipatingLeninin the view that imperialism was capitalism in its last stage ".

He wrote for radical and socialist newspapers.From 1911 until 1915, Curtin was employed as state secretary of theTimberworkers' Union.He was elected federal president of the union in 1914. During World War I he was a militant anti-conscriptionist; he was briefly imprisoned in December 1916 for refusing to attend a compulsory medical examination,even though he knew he would fail the exam due to his very poor eyesight.He also stood (unsuccessfully) as the Labor candidate forBalaclavain the1914 federal election.The strain of this period led him to drink heavily and regularly, a vice which blighted his career for many years.He proposed toElsie NeedhamonSt Kilda Beach,and they were married on 21 April 1917 in the dining room of a private home inWest Leederville.

Curtin moved toPerth, Western Australia,in 1917 to become an editor for theWestralian Worker,the official trade union newspaper. He settled in the suburb ofCottesloewhere his residence is now heritage-listed as "John Curtin's House".He enjoyed the less pressured life of Western Australia and his political views gradually moderated. He joined theAustralian Journalists' Association(AJA) in 1917 and was elected its Western Australian President in 1920. He wore his AJA badge (WA membership #56) every day he was prime minister. In addition to his stance on labour rights, Curtin was also a strong advocate for the rights of women and children. In 1927, the Federal Government convened a Royal Commission on Child Endowment, and Curtin was appointed as a member of that commission.

Early political career

John Curtin in the 1920s

Curtin stood forParliamenta second time in1925,this time forFremantle,although he lost heavily to the incumbentWilliam Watson.Watson retired in1928,and Curtin ran again, this time winning on the second count. Re-elected in Labor's sweeping election victorythe following year,he expected to be named as a member of Prime MinisterJames Scullin's Cabinet, but disapproval of his heavy drinking habit meant that he remained on the backbench. William Watson chose to briefly come out of retirement in1931,and easily defeated Curtin in an election that saw Labor collapse to just 14 seats in Parliament. After the loss, Curtin became the advocate for theWestern Australian Governmentwith theCommonwealth Grants Commission.He stood for his old seat in1934after Watson announced his retirement for the second time, and was able to win it back.

Leader of the Opposition

In 1935, when Scullin resigned as Labor Leader, Curtin stood inthe electionto replace him, although he was not expected to win. His opponent wasFrank Forde,the deputy leader of the party since 1931 who had been closely associated with the economic policies of the Scullin government. This led left wing factions and trade unions to support Curtin, in an attempt to block Forde from getting the leadership. With their support, Curtin was able to defeat Forde by just one vote to becomeLeader of the Labor PartyandLeader of the Opposition.The groups that had supported Curtin did so on the basis that he promise to give up alcohol, which he subsequently did. Although Labor made little progress at the1937 election,by 1939 Labor's position had vastly improved. Curtin led Labor to a five-seat swing in the1940 election,which resulted in a hung parliament. In that election, Curtin's own seat of Fremantle had been in doubt.United Australia Partychallenger Frederick Lee appeared to have won the seat on the second count after most of independent Guildford Clarke's preferences flowed to him, and it was not until the final counting of preferential votes that Curtin knew he had won the seat.

In September 1939, the Second World War commenced whenNazi Germanyinvaded Poland. In line with the king's declaration of war, Prime MinisterRobert Menziesdeclared war on Germany and announced Australia's support for the British war effort.In 1941, Menzies travelled to Britain to discuss Australia's role in the war strategy, and to express concern at the reliability of Singapore's defences, only to be drawn intoWinston Churchill's disastrousGreek campaign.While he was in Britain, Menzies lost the support of his own party, and was forced to resign as prime minister. The Coalition electedArthur Fadden,the leader of theCountry Party,as Menzies' replacement, even though the UAP was the senior partner in the Coalition. Curtin adroitly refused calls from his own caucus to bring about the defeat of the government through amotion of no confidence.

Prime Minister

John Curtin giving his austerity speech, 1942

Main article:Curtin government

Curtin had refused Menzies' initial offer to form a wartime "national government",partly because he feared that it would split the Labor Party, although he did agree to join theAdvisory War Council.In October 1941,Arthur ColesandAlexander Wilson,the two independent MPs who had been keeping the Coalition in office since 1940 (first under Menzies, then under Fadden), joined forces with Labor in defeating Fadden's budget and bringing the government down.Governor-GeneralLord Gowriewas reluctant to call an election for a Parliament barely a year old, especially given the international situation. He summoned Coles and Wilson and made them promise that if he named Curtin prime minister, they would support him for the remainder of the Parliament to end the instability in government. The independents agreed, and Curtin was sworn in as prime minister on 7 October, aged 56.He became the first and only prime minister to come from Western Australia.

War in the Pacific

John Curtin and his wife Elsie (née Needham)

On 8 December 1941, thePacific Warbroke out when Japanbombed Pearl Harbor.Curtin addressed the nation on the radio, saying, "Men and women of Australia...we are at war with Japan. This is the gravest hour of our history. We Australians have imperishable traditions. We shall maintain them. We shall vindicate them. We shall hold this country and keep it as a citadel for the British-speaking race and as a place where civilisation will persist."On 10 December,HMSPrince of WalesandHMSRepulsewere both sunk by Japanese bombers off the Malayan coast.Curtin cabled thePresident of the United States,Franklin D. Roosevelt,and Churchill on 23 December, saying, "The fall of Singapore would mean the isolation of the Philippines, the fall of the Netherlands East Indies and attempts to smother all other bases. It is in your power to meet the situation... we would gladly accept United States commanders in the Pacific area. Please consider this as a matter of urgency."

Curtin made crucial decisions linking Australia to the United States. On 28 December, the SydneyDaily Telegraphpublished a public statement of his government's new attitude:

We look for a solid and impregnable barrier of the Democracies against the three Axis powers, and we refuse to accept the dictum that the Pacific struggle must be treated as a subordinate segment of the general conflict. By that it is not meant that any one of the other theatres of war is of less importance than the Pacific, but that Australia asks for a concerted plan evoking the greatest strength at the Democracies' disposal, determined upon hurling Japan back. The Australian Government, therefore regards the Pacific struggle as primarily one in which the United States and Australia must have the fullest say in the direction of the Democracies' fighting plan. Without any inhibitions of any kind, I make it 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 that the United Kingdom faces. We know the dangers of dispersal of strength, but we know too, that Australia can go and Britain can still hold on. We are, therefore, determined that Australia shall not go, and we shall exert all our energies towards the shaping of a plan, with the United States as its keystone, which will give to our country some confidence of being able to hold out until the tide of battle swings against the enemy.

Parliament House portrait of Curtin byAnthony Dattilo Rubbo,1947

This speech was one of the most important in Australia's history, marking a turning point in Australia's relationship with its founding country, the United Kingdom. Many felt that Prime Minister Curtin was abandoning Australia's traditional ties to the British Isles without any solid partnership in place with the United States. This speech also received criticism at high levels of government in Australia, Britain and the US; it angered Churchill, and Roosevelt said that it "smacked of panic".The speech nevertheless achieved the effect of drawing attention to the possibility thatAustralia would be invaded by Japan.Before this speech, the Australian response to the war effort had been troubled by attitudes swinging from "she'll be right" to gossip-driven panic. By 1943, when the threat of Japanese invasion had passed, Curtin increasingly returned to a commitment to the British Empire. Downplaying nationalism, he said that Australia comprised "seven million Britishers". He saw the United States as a predatory economic and military power that would threaten Australia's own ambitions in the Pacific. Australia moved closer to New Zealand, and suggested a lesser role for the United States after the war. Washington was annoyed.

Concurrently, the Curtin government enacted theStatute of Westminster Adoption Act 1942,under which Australia accepted thedominionstatus which Britain had conferred in 1930, but which the Australian federal government had not accepted until then. The Adoption Act took effect retroactively as of 3 September 1939, the outbreak of World War II. Although politically a product of the government's policy of re-orientation towards the United States, constitutionally, this marked the moment that Australia becamean independent nation with a separate Crown,no longer subject to the supremacy of British law and the British Crown.

Military policies

TheGovernor-GeneralThe Earl Gowriesigns the declaration of war against Japan, with Curtin looking on.

The Curtin government agreed that the Australian Army'sI Corps– centred on the6thand7th Divisions– would be transferred from North Africa to theAmerican-British-Dutch-Australian Commandin theNetherlands East Indiesfor the defence ofJavaandSumatra.Before they could arrive,Singapore fellon 15 February 1942. Most of the8th Divisionwas taken into captivity,although a small number, including its commander, Major GeneralGordon Bennett,managed to escape."The fall of Singapore", Curtin announced in a radio address to the nation on 16 February, "can only be described as Australia's Dunkirk. It will be recalled that thefall of Dunkirkinitiated the Battle for Britain. The fall of Singapore opens the Battle for Australia. On its issue depends not merely the fate of this Commonwealth but the frontier of the United States of America and, indeed, all the Americas and, therefore, in a large measure the fate of the British-speaking world. "

The Japanese threat was further underlined on 19 February, when Japanbombed Darwin,the first of manyair raids on northern Australia.Churchill attempted to divert I Corps to reinforce British troops in Burma, without Australian approval. Curtin insisted that it return to Australia.Roosevelt supported Churchill, offering to send an American division to Australia instead, while theChief of the Australian General Staff,Lieutenant GeneralVernon Sturdee,threatened to resign if his advice was ignored and the troops were diverted to Burma.Curtin prevailed, although he agreed that the main body of the 6th Division could garrisonCeylon.

In the1943 Australian federal electioncampaign the following year, Curtin was forced to publicly defend his decision. "Had we heldRangoon,or had we even held the district, ofAkyab",media magnateKeith Murdochwrote in an editorial on 13 August 1943, "we would have held the door to the vast manpower of China and the jumping-off fields for the devastation of Japanese cities. Multitudes of the finest lives of Australia, Britain, and America would have been saved; the long years of toil, death, and separation, which assuredly stretch ahead, would have been shortened."

Curtin formed a close working relationship with the Allied Supreme Commander in theSouth West Pacific Area,GeneralDouglas MacArthur.Curtin realised that Australia would be ignored unless it had a strong voice in Washington, D.C., and he wanted that voice to be MacArthur's. He gave over control of Australian forces to MacArthur, directing Australian commanders to treat MacArthur's orders as if they came from the Australian Government.Biographer John Edwards wrote:

A lesser Australian leader might have grated against MacArthur's vanity, cavilled at his assumption of command, contradicted his grandiloquent claims, satirised his manner. Curtin did not. He seized the chance to share authority with MacArthur, refused to offend his vanity, drew him as close as he could. Of Curtin's military decisions, it was the cleverest, most fruitful, most abidingly successful.

Curtin withDouglas MacArthur

By mid-1942, the results of the battles ofthe Coral SeaandMidwayhad averted the perceived threat of invasion. Despite the "beat Germany first" policy, 346,000 Americans were fighting in the Pacific in 1942.Curtin had previously opposed conscription for overseas service during World War I, and again in 1940 when it was introduced by Menzies, although he had supported softening it to allow conscripts to serve in Australian territories.

Curtin recognised that the restriction of the Australian conscripts to Australia and its territories was morally indefensible and politically unviable. To remove what was now a major obstacle to the government's re-election prospects, he moved to remove the restriction. While there was support from theCommunist Party of Australiaand its sympathisers, there was trenchant opposition from the Catholic Church, represented byB. A. SantamariaandArthur Calwell.Ultimately, theDefence Actwas amended so that conscripts could be deployed outside of Australia to "such other territories in the South-West Pacific Area as the Governor-General proclaims as being territories associated with the defence of Australia".

The stress of the war and especially this bitter internal battle within Labor took a great toll on Curtin's health, which had never been robust even at the best of times. He had suffered all of his life from stress-related illnesses, and depression;he was also a heavy smoker.

Homefront policies

Curtin made very heavy use of newspapers and broadcast media, especially through press conferences, speeches, and newsreels. Australians gained a sense it was a people's war in which they were full participants.

Mackenzie King,thePrime Minister of Canada,hosting Prime Minister John Curtin of Australia and his wife Elsie at thePeace TowerinOttawa.

In terms of social policy, the Curtin government enacted a wide range of progressive social reforms during its time in office. Pensions were introduced for deserted wives and widows, while the establishment of the Women's Employment Board led to increased wages for some women during the war.Aboriginal Australianswere provided with significantly increased entitlement to welfare benefits, while maternity allowances were extended. In addition, pensions for the elderly and infirm were increased.

In 1942, temporary public employees became eligible to apply to join the Commonwealth superannuation scheme if they had been employed for no less than five years and were certified as having indefinite future employment, while the Commonwealth Employees' Furlough Act of 1943 provided long service leave for all temporary Commonwealth employees.In 1943, the Universities Commission was established to exempt students from war service to undertake or continue university studies and to assist those students by exempting them from fees and, subject to a means test, by providing them with living allowances.

"Asiatics" who were subjects of Australia became eligible for a pension in 1941, and eligibility was extended the following year to Pacific Islanders known as "Kanakas", and from that July that year "Aboriginal natives" of Australia became eligible for pensions if they were not subject to a state law "relating to the control of Aboriginal natives" or if they lived in a state where they could not be exempt from such laws but were of eligible for pension on the grounds of "character, standard of intelligence and development". That same year, pension became exempt from income tax. In 1943, funeral benefits were introduced, together with a Wife's Allowance for wives of incapacitated age pensioners "where she lived with him, was his legal wife and did not receive a pension in her own right".

Eleanor Roosevelt,First Lady of the United States,with Curtin at a state luncheon in her honour atOld Parliament House, Canberra,in September 1943

From June 1942, Widows' Pension Class B was paid to widows without dependent children who were aged 50 and over. The term "widow" included de facto widows who had lived with the deceased spouse for at least three years prior to his death and had been maintained by him. Eligibility was also extended to deserted de jure wives who had been deserted for at least six months, divorced women who had not remarried and women whose husbands were in hospitals for those considered to be insane. From July that year, Widows' Pension Class B was exempted from income tax.

In 1942, eligibility for maternity allowances was extended to Aboriginal women who were exempted from State laws relating to the control of Aboriginal natives and who were considered suitable to receive the benefits. From 1943, the income test for maternity allowances was abolished and the rate of the allowance was increased to 15 pounds where there were no other children under the age of 14 years, 16 pounds where there were one or two other children, and 17 pounds 10 shillings in cases of three or more children. These amounts included an additional allowance of 25 shillings per week in respect of the period four weeks before and four weeks after the birth, to be paid after the birth of the child.That same year, eligibility for Child Endowment was extended to children in Government institutions, to Aboriginal children who lived for six months per year on a mission station, and to children who were maintained from a deceased estate.

The Child's Allowance was introduced in 1943, payable at the rate of five shillings per week for a first for an unendowed child under 16 years dependent on an invalid or permanently incapacitated old-age pensioner. From July 1945 onwards, Additional Benefit for Children of five shillings per week became payable in respect of the first child to any person qualified to receive unemployment or sickness benefit having the custody, care and control of one or more children under the age of 16.

In 1945, Curtin ordered the preparation of theWhite Paper on Full Employment in Australia.The White Paper was the defining document of the official economic policy in Australia until the 1970s. For the first time, the Australian government accepted an obligation to guarantee full employment and to intervene as necessary to implement that guarantee.

1943 re-election

John Curtin's coffinlying in statein Parliament House, July 1945

Curtin went into the1943 electionin a very strong position. Even allowing for the advantages that an incumbent government has in wartime, Fadden and Hughes had been unable to get the better of Curtin, and the Coalition had become almost moribund. In the election, Curtin led Labor to its greatest-ever victory, winning two-thirds of the seats in theHouse of Representativeson a two-party preferred vote of 58.2% and a 17-seat swing. The Coalition was reduced to only 19 seats nationwide, including only one west ofBroken Hill.Fadden's Country Party took a particularly severe beating, winning only seven seats. Labor also won the primary vote in all states in the Senate, and thus all 19 seats, to hold a majority of 22 out of 36 seats.

Buoyed by this success, Curtin called a referendum which would give the government control of the economy and resources for five years after the war was over. The1944 Australian Referendumcontained one referendum question: "Do you approve of the proposed law for the alteration of the Constitution entitled 'Constitution Alteration (Post-War Reconstruction and Democratic Rights) 1944'?" Constitution Alteration (Post-War Reconstruction and Democratic Rights) 1944 was known as the 14 powers, or 14 points referendum. It sought to give the government power, over a period of five years, to legislate on monopolies, corporations,trusts,national health, family allowances,freedom of speech,religion, ex-servicemen rehabilitation, the ability to legislate forIndigenous Australians,and safeguards against the abuse of legislative power. The referendum was defeated, receiving a majority only in Western Australia and South Australia. Nationally overall, 54 percent voted against the question in the referendum.

Death

John andElsie Curtin's grave atKarrakatta Cemetery

By 1944, a time when he was travelling to and from London and Washington for meetings with Churchill, Roosevelt and other Allied leaders, Curtin had already developed heart disease.He had a heart attack in November 1944, and did not return to work until January 1945. With the end of the war in sight, his health began to deteriorate seriously and at a rapid pace.

At 4:00am on 5 July 1945, as Australia's 7th Division began its last operation against Japanese forces in theBattle of Balikpapan,John Curtin died at The Lodge.Aged just 60, he was the second Australian prime minister to die in office within six years.The next day, Curtin's body was laid in state at the King's Hall inParliament House,where a memorial service was held, conducted by his friend, the Presbyterian minister Hector Harrison. Ben Chifley and Enid Lyons were seen to weep openly.Harrison seemed to include Curtin among the Australian servicemen who had made the ultimate sacrifice:

"His Calvary was the anguish of a man of peace who loathed war with all his heart and soul. A one who spent his life in an attempt to promote human understanding, and journeyed oft in that attempt. And yet who, by a strange irony of fate, was chosen by destiny to lead the nation in her hour of direst peril... when the hosts of the North came down like a mighty flood, confident in strength and exalted in victory, he did not shrink from the hazards of the conflict but threw himself into his work with an utter devotion which at length laid him low and at last called for the supreme sacrifice. We pay him today the homage of a grateful people as one whose name will live forever more in the land he loved and among the free peoples of the world.

Bearing his coffin from the King's Hall were Opposition LeaderRobert Menzies,and former Prime MinistersBilly Hughes,Earle PageandJames Scullin.His body was returned toPerthon a RAAFDakotaescorted by a flight of nine fighter aircraft. After lying in state, he was buried atKarrakatta Cemeteryin Perth; the service was attended by over 30,000 at the cemetery with many more lining the streets.

Curtin was initially succeeded as prime minister by his deputy,Frank Forde;seven days later a party ballot installedBen Chifleyas Labor Leader and therefore prime minister.Many of Curtin's post-war reconstruction plans were implemented by his successor Chifley, whoin 1946led the ALP to consecutive victories for the first time.Curtin's 9 years and 277 days as leader of the federal ALP would remain a record until it was surpassed byGough Whitlamin 1975.

Personal life

Curtin was introduced toElsie Needhamon a visit to Tasmania in April 1912.Fred Katz,an acquaintance from the Victorian Socialist Party, had taken Curtin to visit Elsie's father Abraham Needham, a candidate in the1912 Tasmanian state election.Curtin proposed to her in Melbourne in 1915,and they were married in Perth on 21 April 1917.Their first child, a daughter also named Elsie, was born at the end of that year.Their second child, a son named John, was born in 1921.

Curtin had an ambivalent relationship with religion and has been described as agnostic.A Catholic priest called at The Lodge as Curtin lay dying, but he was turned away. Curtin had refused to so much as set foot inside a Catholic church throughout his adult life, not even to attend the weddings of friends.However, he was known ask his press secretary, Fred McLaughlin, to join him in prayer while Prime Minister.On the day that Singapore fell, Curtin made time to speak at the re-consecration of a church, because, "The fatherhood of God was closely related to the brotherhood of man."Near the end of his life, he asked his friend Hector Harrison, the Minister of the Presbyterian Church by Parliament, to conduct a Christian memorial service on his death.Kim Beazley Sr.,who succeeded Curtin as the Member forFremantle,didn't believe Curtin was agnostic at all, saying, "though Curtin never lost his distrust of religious institutions, faith grew within him."

Legacy

Jack Beadly said of Curtin that "he was one of the greatest of wartime statesmen, and the preservation of Australia from invasion will be his immemorial monument".Curtin is credited with leading the Labor Party to its best federal election success in history, with a record 55.1 percent of the primary half-senate vote, winning all seats, and atwo party preferredlower house estimate of 58.2 percent at the 1943 election, winning two-thirds of seats.

One legacy of Curtin was the significant expansion of social services under his leadership.In 1942, uniform taxation was imposed on the various states,which enabled the Curtin government to set up a far-reaching, federally administered range of social services.These included a widows' pension (1942),maternity benefits for Indigenous Australians (1942),funeral benefits (1943),a second form of maternity benefit (1943), a wife's allowance (1943), additional allowances for the children of pensioners (1943), unemployment, sickness and Special Benefits (1945),and pharmaceutical benefits (1945).Substantial improvements to pensions were made, with invalidity and old-age pensions increased, the qualifying period of residence for age pensions halved, and the means test liberalised.Other social security benefits were significantly increased, while child endowment was liberalised, a scheme of vocational training for invalid pensioners was set up, and pensions extended to cover Aborigines.The expansion of social security under John Curtin was of such significance that, as summed up by one historian: "Australia entered World War II with only a fragmentary welfare provision: by the end of the war it had constructed a 'welfare state'."

Curtin defended theWhite Australia policyin a speech in which he stated: "This country shall remain forever the home of the descendants of those people who came here in peace in order to establish in the South Seas an outpost of the British race."The Curtin government's October 1942 enactment of theStatute of Westminster Adoption Act 1942,reversing the stance of four previous governments, marked Australian legal independence.This law, along with theConstitution of Australiaand theAustralia Act 1986,is one of the key components of Australia's modern constitutional framework.

His early death and the sentiments it aroused have given Curtin a unique place in Australian political history. Successive Labor leaders, particularlyBob HawkeandKim Beazley,have sought to build on the Curtin tradition of "patriotic Laborism". Even some political conservatives pay at least formal homage to the Curtin legend. Immediately after his death, the parliament agreed to pay John Curtin's wife Elsie a £1,000 per annum pension until legislation was passed and enacted to pay a pension to a past prime minister or their widow after their death.

Curtin is commemorated by thefederal seat of Curtin,theCanberrasuburb ofCurtin,Curtin Universityin Perth,John Curtin College of the ArtsinFremantle,theJohn Curtin School of Medical Researchin Canberra, the John Curtin Prime Ministerial Library,Curtin Springsin theNorthern Territory,RAAF Base CurtinnearDerby,John Curtin House, the former headquarters of theAustralian Labor Party,Curtin HouseinSwanston Street,Melbourne, and many other buildings, roads, parks and structures throughout Australia.In 1975 Curtin was honoured on a postage stamp bearing his portrait issued byAustralia Post.On 14 August 2005, the 60th anniversary ofV-P Day,a bronzestatueof Curtin in front ofFremantle Town Hallwas unveiled byPremier of Western AustraliaGeoff Gallop.

Bust of John Curtin by sculptor Wallace Anderson located in thePrime Minister's Avenuein the Ballarat Botanical Gardens

The John Curtin HotelinCarlton, Victoriais named after Curtin.

In popular culture

• John Curtin appears as the leader of the Australian civilization in theFiraxis GamestitleCivilization VI.His unique ability is to boost Australia's Production by 100% if in the past 20 turns (10 if the player has the Gathering Storm expansion), Australia has either liberated a city, or has had war declared on them by another player.
• Michael Blakemoreportrayed Curtin in the television mini-seriesThe Last Bastion(1984).
• Terence Donovanportrayed Curtin in the filmDeath of a Soldier(1986).
• William McInnesportrayed Curtin in the telemovieCurtin(2007).

See also

• Curtin government
• First Curtin Ministry
• Second Curtin Ministry
• Military history of Australia during World War II
• Residence of John Curtin

General references

Biographies

• Day, David(1999).Curtin: A Life.Pymble, New South Wales:HarperCollins.ISBN0-207-19669-9.
• Dowsing, Irene (1969).Curtin of Australia.Acacia Press.ISBN91-30-00121-8.
• Edwards, John (2017).John Curtin's War – Volume I: The Coming of War in the Pacific, and Reinventing Australia.Viking.ISBN978-0-670-07347-4.OCLC1081065848.
• Edwards, John (2018).John Curtin's War: Volume II – Triumph and Decline.Melbourne, Victoria: Viking.ISBN978-0-14379-136-2.OCLC1043833675.
• Ross, Lloyd (1977).John Curtin.Macmillan.ISBN0-522-84734-X.

Other works

• Black, David(1995).In His Own Words: John Curtin's Speeches and Writings.Perth: Paradigm Books, Curtin University.ISBN978-1-86342-422-6.
• Butlin, S.J. and Schedvin, C. B. (1977).War Economy 1942-1945.Canberra: Australian War Memorial.Retrieved24 March2018.
• Byrne, Liam.Becoming John Curtin and James Scullin: The Making of the Modern Labor Party(Melbourne University Publishing, 2020)
• Hasluck, Paul(1970).The Government and the People 1942–1945.Canberra: Australian War Memorial.Retrieved24 March2019.
• MacArthur, Douglas (1964).Reminiscences of General of the Army Douglas MacArthur.Annapolis: Bluejacket Books.ISBN978-1-55750-483-8.OCLC220661276.
• Wigmore, Lionel (1957).The Japanese Thrust.Canberra: Australian War Memorial.Retrieved25 March2019.
• Wurth, Bob (2006).Saving Australia: Curtin's Secret Peace with Japan.Lothian Press.ISBN0-7344-0904-4.

External links

• David Day,Chapter 7. John Curtin: Taking his Childhood Seriously,Australian Political Lives: Chronicling political careers and administrative histories
• "John Curtin".Australia's Prime Ministers.National Archives of Australia.Archived fromthe originalon 26 July 2010.Retrieved29 June2010.
• John Curtin Prime Ministerial Library/ Curtin University of Technology, Western Australia
• John Curtin's Australian Journalists Association Badge – English and Media Literacy, Australian Biography– Prime Ministers' Natural Treasures
• Listen to John Curtin declaring thatAustralia is at war with Japanin 1941 onaustralianscreen online
• The recording 'Curtin Speech: Japan Enters Second World War, 1941' was added to theNational Film and Sound Archive'sSounds of Australiaregistry in 2010
• Newspaper clippings about John Curtinin the20th Century Press Archivesof theZBW