Editing John Curtin (section)

=== Political views ===
[[File:John Curtin cartoon.jpg|thumb|upright|Caricature of Curtin in 1914 (''[[Truth (Melbourne newspaper)|Truth]]'')|left]]
From a young age, Curtin was active in both the [[Australian Labor Party]] and the [[Victorian Socialist Party]], which was a [[Marxist]] organisation. 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".<ref name="socialistdillema">{{cite news |last1=Osborne |first1=Graeme |title=A Socialist Dilemma  |work=Labour History |date=1978 |pages=112 |doi=10.2307/27508339|jstor=27508339 }}</ref> Labor historian Graeme Osborne describes Curtin's stance as "anticipating [[Vladimir Lenin|Lenin]] in the view that imperialism was capitalism in its last stage".<ref name="socialistdillema" />

He wrote for radical and socialist newspapers.<ref name="obit dn">{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article78786701 |title=Curtin WA's First Prime Minister. |newspaper=[[Daily News (Perth, Western Australia)|The Daily News]] |location=Perth |date=5 July 1945 |access-date=19 August 2014 |page=14 |edition=Home |via=National Library of Australia |archive-date=9 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200909145329/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/78786701 |url-status=live }}</ref> From 1911 until 1915, Curtin was employed as state secretary of the [[CFMEU|Timberworkers' 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,<ref>{{cite web |title=Biography of John Curtin |work=John Curtin Prime Ministerial Library |url=https://jcpml.library.curtin.edu.au/resources/johncurtin |access-date=16 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190306100619/https://jcpml.library.curtin.edu.au/resources/johncurtin/ |archive-date=6 March 2019 |url-status=live  |date=24 November 2017 |author1=Ciaran }}</ref> even though he knew he would fail the exam due to his very poor eyesight.<ref name="AuDB">{{cite AuDB |id2=curtin-john-9885 |last=Serle |first=Geoffrey |author-link=Geoffrey Serle |title=Curtin, John (1885–1945) |access-date=17 March 2019 }}</ref> He also stood (unsuccessfully) as the Labor candidate for [[Division of Balaclava|Balaclava]] in the [[1914 Australian federal election|1914 federal election]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article198639738 |title=Balaclave – Mr J. Curtin's Candidature. |newspaper=The Age |issue=18541 |location=Victoria, Australia |date=22 August 1914 |access-date=23 March 2019 |page=14 |via=National Library of Australia |archive-date=20 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240220132001/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/198639738 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article198637772 |title=Metropolitan Electorates |newspaper=The Age |issue=18554 |location=Victoria, Australia |date=7 September 1914 |access-date=23 March 2019 |page=11 |via=National Library of Australia |archive-date=20 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240220132000/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/198637772 |url-status=live }}</ref> The strain of this period led him to drink heavily and regularly, a vice which blighted his career for many years.{{sfn|Edwards|2017|pp=21–22}} He proposed to [[Elsie Curtin|Elsie Needham]] on [[St Kilda Beach, Victoria|St Kilda Beach]],<ref name="AuDB"/> and they were married on 21 April 1917 in the dining room of a private home in [[West Leederville, Western Australia|West Leederville]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Biography of Elsie Curtin |work=John Curtin Prime Ministerial Library |publisher=Curtin University |url=https://jcpml.library.curtin.edu.au/resources/wives/elsiecurtin/ |access-date=23 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190323022022/https://jcpml.library.curtin.edu.au/resources/wives/elsiecurtin/ |archive-date=23 March 2019 |url-status=live  |date=17 January 2018 |author1=Ciaran }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article58025132 |title=Perth Prattle |newspaper=[[Sunday Times (Perth)]] |issue=1008 |location=Western Australia |date=29 April 1917 |access-date=23 March 2019 |page=5 (Second Section) |via=National Library of Australia |archive-date=20 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240220131929/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/58025132 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Curtin moved to Perth, Western Australia, in 1917 to become an editor for the ''[[Westralian Worker]]'', the official trade union newspaper. He settled in the suburb of [[Cottesloe, Western Australia|Cottesloe]] where 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 the [[Australian 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.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article148367247 |title=Labor Women |newspaper=[[Westralian Worker]] |location=Perth |date=13 July 1945 |access-date=20 August 2014 |page=4 |via=National Library of Australia |archive-date=20 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240220131930/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/148367247 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article51756845 |title=Life in Politics |newspaper=[[The West Australian]] |location=Perth |date=6 July 1945 |access-date=20 August 2014 |page=8 |via=National Library of Australia |archive-date=20 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240220132001/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/51756845 |url-status=live }}</ref>