John Curtin (1885–1945) was born in rural Victoria to hard working parents and left school at 13. He became involved in the labour movement in Melbourne, joined the Labour Party at a young age and then the Victorian Socialist Party. He became State Secretary of the Timber Workers' Union in 1911, then Federal President in 1914. Curtin was a leader of the No Campaign in the 1916 referendum on overseas conscription, and was briefly gaoled for not turning up to a compulsory military medical examination. 
John Curtin (R) became the prime minister in 1941.
Chifley (L) was elected to the Cabinet as Treasurer
Curtin lived in a modest Brunswick residence from 1912-15, as Federal President of the Victorian Timber Workers Union. He later became a leader in the Australian Workers Union. He married in 1917 then moved to Perth to become the editor of the union movement newspaper Westralian Worker, and later was State President of the Australian Journalists' Association. In 1923, he and wife Elsie built a house in Cottesloe, Perth. [This Cottesloe home was restored by the National Trust much later].
After 3 unsuccessful attempts, Curtin was elected to Fremantle in the House of Representatives at the 1928 federal election. He remained loyal to the Labour government during the party split of 1931 but lost his seat in Labour's landslide defeat at the 1931 election. Only in 1934 did Curtin win the seat again and rose up in the Australian Labour Party, becoming party leader from 1935.
In 1936 Curtin was elected party leader in place of James Scullin. The party gained seats at the 1937. In Sept 1939 Prime Minister Robert Menzies announced Australia's entry into WW2 in Europe. The 1940 elections resulted in a hung parliament. The ALP eventually formed a minority government in Oct 1941, just after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour occurred, so Australia now had to fight Japan as well! Worse still bombing raids on northern Australia started! John Curtin, Australia's 14th Prime Minister, led the nation's war effort and made significant decisions about how the war was conducted. He placed Australian Pacific forces under the command of the American General Douglas MacArthur, with whom he formed a close relationship. 
In 2011 the heritage-listed home came up for sale; the vendors bought from a family who'd owned it since 1921. The unrenovated house had heritage demolition restrictions, so many of its original period features remained.
After 3 unsuccessful attempts, Curtin was elected to Fremantle in the House of Representatives at the 1928 federal election. He remained loyal to the Labour government during the party split of 1931 but lost his seat in Labour's landslide defeat at the 1931 election. Only in 1934 did Curtin win the seat again and rose up in the Australian Labour Party, becoming party leader from 1935.
In 1936 Curtin was elected party leader in place of James Scullin. The party gained seats at the 1937. In Sept 1939 Prime Minister Robert Menzies announced Australia's entry into WW2 in Europe. The 1940 elections resulted in a hung parliament. The ALP eventually formed a minority government in Oct 1941, just after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour occurred, so Australia now had to fight Japan as well! Worse still bombing raids on northern Australia started! John Curtin, Australia's 14th Prime Minister, led the nation's war effort and made significant decisions about how the war was conducted. He placed Australian Pacific forces under the command of the American General Douglas MacArthur, with whom he formed a close relationship.
The Curtins with Canadian Prime Minister Mackenzie King,
Book of Remembrance in Memorial Chamber,
Parliament House Ottawa, 1944. Wiki
The ALP won almost two-thirds of the seats in the House of Representatives at the 1943 election, a party record. In total Curtin was prime minister for 4 years, leading Australia through the last years of WW2 until his death in 1945. He was longest serving leader of the Australian Labour Party-ALP from 1935-45, his leadership and interpersonal skills being acclaimed by his political contemporaries. Curtin died in office in July 1945, after months of war-related ill health. Fortunately many of his post-war reconstruction plans were implemented by his successor Ben Chifley.
In 2011 the heritage-listed home came up for sale; the vendors bought from a family who'd owned it since 1921. The unrenovated house had heritage demolition restrictions, so many of its original period features remained.
Original facade, built in 1906
Brunswick Melbourne
The Brunswick home where Curtin once lived was bought at auction in 2011 by a family paying $710,000. Since then, the ex PM’s home had a renovation, while keeping many of its original Victorian features eg the original façade, stained glass at the front door, ceiling roses, wrought iron lacework and 3.3m ceilings. It now had quite generous rooms which were more fitting as a former Prime Minister’s home than his actually home had been. Later the house had a plaque added onto the front, marking its historic significance.
Blue plaque
Now Curtin’s former Brunswick home, Melbourne property with a prime ministerial pedigree, will be auctioned again at the end of Mar 2023. The less modest four-bedroom house at Fallon St Brunswick still features a plaque on the footpath outside marking its historical significance, and has a price guide of $2.1-2.3 million. I would buy the house in a heart beat, but not just because the historical architecture and décor should be heritage-protected forever. Rather I need like to know how many prime ministerial houses can receive a blue plaque; Curtin lived in 1]Creswick and 2]Brunswick in Victoria, 3]Cottesloe in W.A and 4]Canberra, and possibly other cities I don’t know about.
renovated alfresco deck
realestate.com.au
renovated Brunswick kitchen
Woodards
realestate.com.au
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