---
node: au_john_curtin
type: person
slug: john_curtin
title: "John Curtin"
lead: "The Labor prime minister during the Second World War who shifted the country's defence from Britain to the United States and led Australia through its time of greatest peril."
published: 2026-07-15
updated: 2026-07-15
image_file: john_curtin.jpg
image_source: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:John_Curtin_1938.jpg"
image_author: "Alexander Collingridge (d. 1942)"
image_license: "Public domain"
---

## Who they were

Curtin entered politics through the labour movement and journalism and became prime minister in 1941, in the middle of the war. Japan's southward advance brought Australia its first direct threat to the mainland.

## What they did

He clearly chose cooperation with the United States in place of Britain and brought home troops from overseas to defend the country, reorganising the nation for total war.

## Legacy

Worn out, he died in office in July 1945, just before the war ended. Curtin is regarded as one of the most respected prime ministers, who led Australia through its time of crisis.