By Greg Blood
JOHN CURTIN – AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY
14th Prime Minister – 1941-1945
John Curtin was prime minister for the majority of World War II and believed that the continuation of sport was important as long as it did not unduly impact on the war effort. Curtin had a strong connection to sport as an athlete, spectator and a sports journalist. He strongly supported sports organisations surrounding his home in Cottesloe, Perth.
Birth: 8 January 1885, Creswick VIC Death: 5 July 1945, Canberra
Mahor Political Appointments
- Federal Member for Freemantle, WA: 17 November 1928 – 19 December 1931, 13 September 1934 – 5 July 1945
- Leader of the Federal Parliamentary Australian Labor Party: 1 October 1935 – 5 July 1945
- Ministries: Minister for Defence Co-ordination 7 July 1941 – 14 April 1942, Minister for Defence 14 April 1942 – 5 July 1945
- Cabinet: 7 October 1941 – 5 July 1945
- Prime Minister: 7 October 1941 – 5 July 1945
Background
Curtin was born in Creswick, Victoria on 8 January 1885. His parents were John Curtin and Kate Bourke. His father had immigrated from County Cork, Ireland and had several jobs including prison warder, a police constable and finally a hotel manager but suffered from several debilitating illnesses that eventually led to him to becoming an invalid. Curtin was the oldest of four children. His family after several moves in Victoria settled in Brunswick, an inner suburb of Melbourne. After leaving school at fourteen, he worked as a copy boy for The Age. He joined the Political Labor and Victorian Socialist Party. This led Curtin to become secretary of the Victorian Timber Workers’ Union from 1911 to 1914 and its first federal president in 1914. In 1916, he was an organiser for the Australian Workers’ Union.
During World War I, he was a significant leader of the Victorian anti-conscriptionist movement that opposed ALP prime minister Billy Hughes move to introduce compulsory military service. He became an organiser for the Australian Workers’ Union in 1916.
He moved to Perth in 1917 to become editor of Westralian Worker, the official organ of the Western Australian Labor Party. In 1921, he was appointed president of Australian Journalists’ Association. In 1925, as the ALP candidate, he failed to be elected for Fremantle in the federal election but was successful in 1928. However, he was defeated in 1931 after the voting public turned against the Scullin government. Between 1931 to 1934, he returned to his journalism career with the Westralian Worker as sports editor. In 1934, he won back Fremantle electorate and went onto to hold it until his death in 1945.
In 1935, he replaced James Scullin as leader of the federal parliamentary ALP and leader of the opposition. He became prime minister 7 October 1941 after the fall of the brief Fadden government. During his time as prime minister, he led Australia through the World War II and the Pacific Theatre that started on 7 December 1941 with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour. Curtin died in Canberra on 5 July 1945 – one month before the end of the war. Curtin had suffered stress and heart disease for several years before his death. He was a heavy smoker, at times a chain smoker.
Curtin married Elsie Needham in 1917 and they had two children – Elsie (born 1917) and John (1921).[1]
Sport was an important part of Curtin’s life from playing Australian football and cricket in his youth to attending his son John’s sporting activities. He had a strong interest in Australian football, cricket and horse racing and his role as sports editor allowed him to write on these sports. His membership of Australian football clubs and patronage of his local surf life club connected him to Fremantle voters.
Australian Football
Curtin played junior Australian football and in 1905 was selected to play for Brunswick Football Club in the Victorian Football Association (VFA) competition.[2] He played as a half back flanker until 1909.
Source: Brunswick during the early 1900s. The highlighted section in the bottom right-hand corner shows the future Australian Prime Minister John Curtin. Wiki commons
After moving to Perth to take up the editor role of the Westralian Worker, he took an active interest in the Western Australian Football League (WAFL) competition. In the late 1929, he was appointed to the WAFL Umpires Board. He became a member of the three clubs located in his Fremantle federal electorate – South Fremantle Football Club, East Fremantle Football Club and Claremont Football Club. This connection may have assisted his prospects of being elected by being associated with these significant clubs.
Anne Spence often accompanied her father with Curtin to WAFL games and noted[3]:
Also, I can remember John Curtin, he was a great football fan of South Fremantle and every Saturday we’d go to the football and we’d stand together, my father, John Curtin and myself. He was always a very quietly spoken man. I could remember him wearing the glasses and long over coat and a hat pulled firmly down over his face and I don’t think he really wanted people to know how hard he was barracking or who he was at the time. But he was a very well-spoken and well-mannered gentleman. They would be my earliest memories.
After his death, Brunswick Football Club secretary George Chisholm and long-time friend of Curtin reflected about his time at the Club:[4]
He supported Fitzroy in the VFL and Brunswick in the VFA. His nephew Claude Curtin played for Fitzroy in the VFL from 1939 to 1949.
Cricket
Curtin played junior cricket with Primrose XI and then joined the Brunswick Cricket Club as a wicketkeeper and was described as ‘a useful bat’. He was also the club’s delegate to the Melbourne Junior Cricket Association. He was given the nickname “Bumble’ due to frequently debating constitutional procedure as a club delegate.[5]
After moving to Perth, Western Australia, he played in the lower grades for Cottesloe Cricket Club and was its vice-president for a number of years and a member of the Western Australian Cricket Association. Curtin was often called upon to umpire his son John’s matches. He created a cricket pitch is his backyard so that he could practice with his son.[6]
Curtin was a keen cricket spectator and there are several reports of him attending matches whilst in England. In 1924, he witnessed Harry Makepeace making a century at Kensington Oval and meeting with Warwick Armstrong at a dinner at the Regent Palace Hotel, London.[7] In 1944 whilst in London for the Prime Minister’s Conference, he attended the match was between the Army and the National Civil Defence Service as a guest of Sir Pelham F Warner. It was reported in The Evening News during the visit:[8]
People who have met Mr Curtin in London speak with respect of his knowledge of cricket. He is a Wisden addict: he knows all the statistics. If you can persuade him to do it, he will join, I am told, with the precision of an expert in one of those discussions so dear to cricket zealots about The Greatest Eleven of All Time.
Test cricketer Arthur Mailey noted that Curtin read most of the significant cricket books. Mailey loaned him ‘The Bright Side of Cricket’ by Raymond Charles “Crusoe” Robertson-Glasgow in 1942. Curtin told Mailey that “He read it until 4 a.m. next day, and on the following night he made one of the most moving of all his speeches—his appeal for the Austerity Loan. He wrote to me later saying that staying up late reading cricket stories had freshened his mind for the speech.”[9] [10]
Other Sports
Curtin had an interest in horse racing and wrote about the sport as part of his sports editor role at the Westralian Worker. He published tips but apparently never had a bet except on the Melbourne Cup. He played billiards and Ray Tracey, his long time driver and friend stated that “he liked to win. But when he had beaten me in a couple of games of billiards, he always suggested we play snooker, as I could always beat him at that.”[11]
Curtin lived in Cottesloe, a suburb of Perth where he had easy access to the Cottesloe Beach or Swan River. He enjoyed swimming and became patron of the Cottesloe Surf Lifesaving Club. His wife Elsie was patron of the Cottesloe Ladies Surf Lifesaving Club. In 1934, there is a report of Curtin playing tennis at home with his son John where he broke his ankle.[12]
Journalism
Curtin had a significant career in journalism. As a trade unionist, he regularly contributed articles to Socialist, the newspaper of the Victorian Socialist Party. In 1913, he established and was part-time editor of the Timber Worker. After moving to Perth, he was editor of the Westralian Worker, the organ of the West Australian Labor Party from 1917 to 1928. After being defeated in the 1931 federal election, he returned to the Westralian Worker contributing sports reports particularly on Australian football and horse racing. In a letter to ALP colleague Ted Theodore, he stated that his son John assisted him with match reports: [13]
Young John is nearly twelve, plays football for the school team, and he goes with me to the matches and assists me to follow the game, and sub-edits the blooming report before it goes in. One point all of us must take in mind is the judgment of youth. It is horribly critical. And it applies to more than football matches!
Hindley reflected that Curtin’s passion for sport came out in his writing, speeches and correspondence. Examples include:
His telegram to wife Elsie on her 50th birthday.[14]
Your magnificently played half century has given example and comfort and to me is a constant urge to hold my greatest achievement your love and companionship in life.
In 1941, he wrote to Adele Mildenhall, his private secretary:[15]
As a member of our team you played the game. Now you form a team with a man of your heart for the highest natural purpose. I know you will again and always play the game.
Curtin’s Independence Day broadcast to the United States on the 6 July 1943 included: [16]
If I liken the Pacific War to a football match, I can say to you that the first half is over, we have kicked off after the interval, and we are going to carry the ball into enemy territory for a smashing victory.’ If I liken the Pacific War to a football match, I can say to you that the first half is over, we have kicked off after the interval, and we are going to carry the ball into enemy territory for a smashing victory.
Curtin’s other reported sporting analogies:
“The game is not lost — or won — until the last bell goes.”[17]
“Nobody squeals about being down a few goals at half time” [18]
World War II
Curtin became prime minister on 29 August 1941 after Arthur Fadden, who briefly replaced Robert Menzies, lost a motion of no confidence due to the ALP having the support of two independents. It was Menzies view at the start of World War II in Europe “that continuance of sport is desirable, so long as it does not cut across, the national war effort”[19]. Curtin continued Menzies view concerning the continuation of sport. On 21 November, 1941, six weeks upon being elected the prime minister, Curtin made a major statement about sport during the war. [20]
In my judgment, sport is not detrimental to the war effort. There are thousands of the population who are engaged in the war effort, and for whom the playing of games is a positive refreshment and a good thing for their own physical welfare and for the morale of the country. It is also a matter for great satisfaction that so many men who have been prominent in sport have enlisted in the forces, and that others who have not enlisted, but are engaged in the war effort, have intimated that they are not available for a regular programme of games. I do not see why attending football matches-which attract huge crowds-should not be a positive benefit to people who work indoors all the week; many on war jobs. I see more merit in such outdoor recreation than in recreation indoors, provided, of course, that moderation and commonsense are observed.
It would be a demonstration to the world of the spirit of the British race if Australia and England resumed test matches immediately after the war. Our race does not live by bread alone. I think that sport, such as cricket, is just as important to the British race as the performance of Shakespeare. I think the two things go together in making us what we are. The English lord and the London bus driver both regard Hobbs as their common property. They watch the weather with equal anxiety before a test match.” Things of the spirit and grace, and courtesy, are not merely valuable traits of our character. They are the things that distinguish us from other races, and enrich our whole lives. Demands by some sections that racing should be restricted will be discussed at a Premiers’ Conference in Canberra early in the new year. Ample powers for control of racing are vested in the States and if there is to be any regulation of racing the States should be the responsible authority to take uniform action.
In March 1942, Curtin’s statement further highlighted that he did not want sport to distract from the war effort. It was important for fitness but not necessary for spectating.[21]
The war must come before every other consideration, and play and recreation must be for the purpose of promoting fitness for work.
I hope the authoritative football bodies in Australia will manage the game by giving their attention to the lad’s who are too young to fight and those that share the burden of production.
I have no objection to men in the Forces, or those who are engaged in essential work who can obtain leave, playing football, but obviously they cannot spend time during the week in training—which hitherto was always a condition of inclusion in a first-class football team.
Further, dispersal is one of the safety provisions for the population in time of air attack. Therefore, it would be very foolish to have great attendances. I know this applies to theatres, race meetings and all kinds of entertainment.
I am not asking that football should cease. But we are in a condition of war. And there must not be a condition which would be an attempt to retain the peace atmosphere.
It is a war atmosphere in which we live. It is a war condition which we have to survive. We have to score points against the Japs with a gun, and all our activities—and these include sport — must have that as our objective.
Military teams often played in local sporting competitions during the war. In 1942, Canberra’s Australian football senior competition started with four military teams – No.2 Australian General Hospital side (2AGH), RAAF teams – Fairbairn and 2STT and Royal Military College (RMC). 2AGH dropped out after it moved to Queensland during the season. Curtin opened the season in May and stated that “it was right that such leisure as was available in the existing conditions should be used fully. Reasonable relaxation was necessary to relieve the strain of wartime pressure”[22]
Whilst living in Canberra during the war, Curtin attended local Australian football games as part of his relaxation from the significant decisions made during the war. It appears that he did so without much attention and entourage. This reported anecdote in 1942 highlights his inconspicuous attendance:[23]
A member of the A.I.F. who had seen severe fighting in the Middle East, met a civilian at a football match in Canberra and began to talk with him. The conversation soon turned to the war and politics. “We would have won long ago if politicians had not interfered with army control,” stated the soldier. “I quite agree with you,” said the civilian, and then went on to explain what the present Government was doing. Near the ‘end of play the soldier expressed the hope that he and the civilian ‘would meet again. “I hope so, too,” replied the civilian, “I’m John Curtin.”
Another report on an Australian football match in 1942 further highlighted that he just wanted to watch game without any fuss. At the game between RAAF versus Sydney-Naval match at Trumper Park in the New South Wales Football League, he declined an invitation to meet the players. Smiling with the reply “’I’m just here as a barracker. I don’t want to foist myself on the boys”.[24]
Curtin viewed that continuing sport would be a brief weekly diversion for the military personnel based in Australia and the general population that endured restrictions such as rationing. Sports results were communicated to the military based overseas.
In Sept 1942, Curtin issued National Security Regulations forbidding the holding of horse or dog races on one weekend in each calendar month, and fixing the first Saturday of the month as the day on which the prohibition will operate”. [25] In replying to a question in House of Representatives on 17 September 1942 regarding horse racing restrictions Curtin stated: [26]
Such as golf matches, and tennis matches and cricket matches and week-end hikes, and all the other ways in which people have been accustomed to keep themselves physically fit. The regulations are deliberately designed to reduce the volume of betting which is associated with racing. The restriction has other purposes, but that is one of the important -reasons which have actuated the Government, and I stand by what the Government has done.
Between 1942 to1944, the Melbourne Cup, the race that stops the nation, was run on a Saturday rather than the first Tuesday in November and travel restrictions led to only Victorian based horses only competing. It was referred to as the Austerity Melbourne Cup. Only 40,000 attended in 1942 – half that of 1941. The winner Colonus owners received 200 pounds in war bonds rather than the usual gold trophy. Newspaper reports stated that the Cup was followed by soldiers training in north of Australia.
It was up to state governments to determine if state sporting competitions continued during the war.[27] Australian football and rugby league continued with clubs often struggling to field teams due to enlistments. Geelong left the Victorian Football League (VFL) in 1942 and 1943 due to war time travel restrictions including petrol rationing. Geelong returned in 1944 after travel restrictions were relaxed. There was a decline in VFL attendances and it lost access to the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) after the Curtin government in 1942 requisitioned it for military housing purposes.[28] From 1942 to 1942, over 200,000 personnel from US Army Air Forces, the Royal Australian Air Force, the US Marine Corps and were accommodated at the MCG. The VFL grand final during this period was held at Princess Park, Carlton. In Curtin’s home town Perth, the WAFL continued but was for players under the age of 18 in 1942, and under 19 in 1943 and 1944.
Rugby league competitions in Sydney and Brisbane continued. Newtown defeated North Sydney 34-7 in the 1943 NSWRL grand final in front of record crowd of 60,9232 that included many Australian and American servicemen. The gates were closed an hour before the match with many being locked out.[29] State cricket associations after meeting Curtin on 9 December 1941 decided to cancel interstate matches due to the Pacific War.[30] Many sporting events throughout Australia held raise funds for the war effort.
However, not all the community were supportive of Curtin’s views and directives. In October 1942, H.A. Bennett, Victorian Amateur Swimming Association president, criticised Curtin restrictive view on sport[31]:
In September 1944, due to decline in coal production due to strikes, Curtin indicated the transport to sports events would be reduced by stating that “When it is a choice between providing coal for sporting events and essential industries – essential industries must come first. At the same time, those sporting bodies are entitled to reasonable notice of the Government’s intentions.” [32] New South Wales and Victorian premiers strongly argued against the reduction and Curtin agreed to their request.
The decision to continue sport during the war did have divided views but not to the same extent as during World War I. Like World War I, it was impacted by enlistments but further hampered by travel restrictions that prevented interstate and local town competitions.[33]
In November 1944, with the prospect of World War II coming to an end, Ben Chifley as the Treasurer and Minister for Post-war Reconstruction in the Curtin government raised the need for better town planning that included sporting opportunities.
Assistance has been given to State Governments to introduce town planning principles in their new housings schemes, the idea being that intelligent town planning can provide opportunities for leisure, sporting, social, political and cultural activities. [34]
Olympic Games
The selected Australian team for the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games was criticised by many in the community and Curtin, as federal opposition leader and Western Australian member, was upset that Evelyn de Lacy, a swimmer from Western Australia was not originally selected. The Australian Olympic Federation on 23 April 1936, announced that de Lacy and eight other athletes would be selected on the condition that they raised their own expenses. [35] Several House of Representatives members’ including Curtin made damming statements in parliament regarding the selection process [36].
Normally, it would be quite unnecessary for this Parliament to discuss a matter of this description, and, as a general rule, I should be very loath to interfere with the manner in which any sporting organization discharged its functions in regard to the selection of a team to represent Australia abroad. But we cannot blind our eyes to the fact that the controlling body in connexion with Australia’s representation at the Olympic Games in Berlin this -year has already displayed a considerable degree of incompetence and uncertainty. Furthermore, this Parliament is responsible for ensuring that the best possible use is made of the fund which the Government has placed at the disposal of this body, having regard to the impose for which the money was subscribed. The representation of Australia at the Olympic Games is of the utmost importance. These games are to be contested this year in Berlin. If this Parliament, having agreed that the Government shall provide £2,000 to ensure the proper representation of Australia, has reason to believe that the representation is unsatisfactory from the viewpoint of competence or justice, the Government is justified in rectifying whatever mistakes have been made. If it is not too late, steps should be taken to ensure that Australia is properly represented. If better representatives than those selected could be chosen, the Commonwealth grant of £2,000 is not being utilized in accordance with the expectations of this Parliament. I am not in a position to say which athletes would best represent Australia.
I believe, however, that the Minister has reason to know that the disquiet in the matter is not without justification. I point to the fact that the recent additions to the team originally selected, which to some extent modified the discontent of the informed public, were only made possible because of the widespread protests voiced against the original selection, and also because public-spirited organizations and dissatisfied citizens have saddled themselves with the responsibility of making substantial contributions towards the additional cost. Miss De Lacy, of Western Australia, would not have been able to make the trip because she was not included in the original selection, but as her selection has now been conditionally approved a Perth newspaper has undertaken to provide the necessary £200 to send her abroad, and has inaugurated a public fund which will be used in meeting her travelling and wardrobe expenses. Probably the athletic bodies controlling this selection have made mistakes because of internal jealousies and personal prejudices which should not be allowed to play any part in matters of this description. Generally, sufficient has been said to justify a Commonwealth Minister in making personal inquiries, at least, into this matter. I have been informed of the representations which the honorable member for East Sydney (Mr. Ward) made in the House earlier. Certain information was given to me in Sydney last week, and I shall regret very much if the Government, which is responsible for seeing that its £2,000 is not wasted, does not take into account the representations which members have made.
De Lacy became the first woman from Western Australia to be selected to compete at the Olympics and failed to make the 100 m and 400 m freestyle finals.
This is an early example where federal politicians believe that sport organisations could be questioned regarding their decisions due to government funding.
Conclusion
An obituary on Curtin summarised his relationship with sport by stating “A humane man, John Curtin was a lover of peace, with an Australian’s natural love of sport. As a young man he was a keen cricketer and footballer, and retained a keen interest in these sports all his life” [37]. He faced the same issues of World War I prime minister Billy Hughes on whether to restrict sporting competitions. The role of sport in promoting physical fitness and being a distraction from the war was Curtin’s position for those that opposed sporting competitions. Another factor that needed to be considered as the war proceeded was the recreational needs of Australian and American troops residing in Australia.
Curtin had a strong association with sports organisations in his electorate and this most likely assisted his popularity and being returned the federal member of Freemantle from 1934 to his untimely death in 1945.
The article – John Curtin: Good Sport by Debbie Hindley, John Curtin Prime Ministerial Library, 2002 provided a wealth of information for this article. John Curtin Prime Ministerial Library is located at Curtin University holds many primary source documents.
- John Curtin at Lords Cricket Ground during his visit to Great Britain in 1944. Sir Stanley Jackson, John Curtin & MCC President Mr Christopherson
- John Curtin standing with friends watching a football match in the war years.
- John Curtin ready for a swim at Cottesloe Beach in 1930
[1] Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Archives of Australia, Museum of Australian Democracy
[2] Football Philosophy Guides Mr Curtin, The Herald (Melbourne, Vic), 10 October 1942, p.5
[3] Debbie Hindley. John Curtin: A Good Sport – A Great Barracker. John Curtin Ministerial Library, 2002
[4] Those who knew him tell of, The Daily Telegraph (Sydney, NSW), 8 July 1945, p. 11
[5] P M Still “Bumble” Curtin To Cricket Colleagues, The Argus (Melbourne, Vic), 6 April 1942, p. 2
[6] Debbie Hindley. John Curtin: A Good Sport – A Fine Innings. John Curtin Ministerial Library, 2002
[7] John Curtin Gets Ready for London Trip, The Australian Women’s Weekly, 1 April 1944, p. 9
[8] Hindley, Great Innings
[9] Those Who Knew Him Tell Of, The Daily Telegraph (Sydney, NSW), 8 July 1945, p. 11
[10] Hindley, Great Innings.
[11]Those Who Knew Him Tell Of
[12] Debbie Hindley. John Curtin: A Good Sport – Team Effort. John Curtin Ministerial Library, 2002
[13] Debbie Hindley. John Curtin: A Good Sport – Sporting Words. John Curtin Ministerial Library, 2002.
[14] Hindley, Sporting Words
[15] Letter from John Curtin to Adele Mildenhall, 11 June 1941′ in Friendship is a sheltering Tree: John Curtin’s letters 1907 to 1945, by D Black, 2001, John Curtin Prime Ministerial Library, Perth, WA, p 202
[16] Talk To U.S. By Mr. Curtin, The Sydney Morning Herald, 6 July 1943, p. 4
[17] Football Philosophy Guides Mr Curtin, The Herald (Melbourne, Vic), 10 October 1942, p. 5
[18] Plain John Curtin Who Led Australia Through Darkest Days, The Sun (Sydney, NSW), 5 July 1945, p. 4
[19] No Reason To Stop Sport, Sporting Globe (Melbourne, Vic.), 8 June 1940, p. 1
[20] John Curtin, Sport in the Wartime, Prime Minister’s Statement, 21 November 1941
[21] 1942 ‘Prime Minister’s Attitude On Sport, Sporting Globe (Melbourne, Vic), 18 March, p. 1.
[22] National Football Code Opens, The Canberra Times, 18 May 1942, p. 4
[23] No title, The Cobargo Chronicle (NSW : 1898 – 1944), 5 June 1942, p. 2
[24] Debbie Hindley. John Curtin: A Good Sport – Captain of the Country. John Curtin Ministerial Library, 2002
[25] Decision Confirmed, Queensland Times (Ipswich, Qld), 18 September 1942, p. 3
[26] John Curtin, Question – Racing Restrictions, House of Representatives Hansard 17 September 1942
[27] Bruce Kennedy, Carry On; The Response of the Victorian Football League to the Challenges of World War II, In Sport, War and Society in Australia and New Zealand eds By Martin Crotty and Robert Hess, Routledge, 2016, p. 94-110
[28] Leonie Sandercock and Ian Turner, Up Where Cazaly: the Great Australian Game, London, Granada, 1981, p.123
[29] Record Crowd, The Sydney Morning Herald, 6 September 1943, p. 7
[30] Big Cricket At Stake, The Daily News (Perth, WA) 9 December 1941, p. 4
[31] Swimming, The Age (Melbourne, Vic.), 17 October 1942, p. 4
[32] Ban On Sport Transport Special Services Affected, The Sydney Morning Herald, 2 September 1944, p. 3
[33] Kennedy, Carry On
[34] Chifley Plans Fuller Life For Australians, Truth (Brisbane, Qld.), 19 November 1944, p. 9.
[35] Harry Gordon. Australia at the Olympic Games, University of Queensland Press, 1994, p. 149
[36] John Curtin, Olympic Team Selections, House of Representatives Hansard, 29 April 1936, p. 999
[37] Farewell, John Curtin, South Western Advertiser (Perth, WA), 12 July 1945, p.1
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