What happened in 1942 remains central to Australians’ perceptions of our leaders and their comparative performance. The widespread acceptance that John Curtin remains the greatest prime minister that Australia has ever had stems from how he responded to the crisis of 1942. Not so well known is the extent of the daunting challenges that he and his government had to overcome in order to provide effective national leadership.

For a start, Curtin and his government were inexperienced, and had a precarious hold on the reins of office. Also, Curtin’s own background and personality hardly equipped him for the circumstances of 1942. Furthermore, he and his colleagues were all too aware of their party’s history, which gave little basis for confidence that they would be able to govern effectively in the crisis.

The back story

The Australian Labor Party (ALP), founded in 1891, had advanced so rapidly that it had become by far the most successful party of its type in the world. It formed the first labour government in the world – in 1899 in Queensland – which lasted for a week. It formed the first national labour government in the world – in 1904 under Chris Watson – which lasted about four months. It formed the first national labour government in the world with a majority in both houses of parliament – in 1910 under Andrew Fisher.

But the ALP became the victim of its own early success when, unlike any other party of its type, it was in government during the First World War, with the responsibility of administering the war effort in a conflict beyond anyone’s expectation and experience. The pressures and stresses of being in government at such a difficult time resulted in a devastating rupture, which remains the biggest of all the various splits in the party’s long history.