From the Little Darwin files comes this l923 advertisement for the West Australian Labour Party journal -The Westralian Worker- edited by John Curtin who went on to become Prime Minister 1941-45 .
An experienced Melbourne journalist, a heavy drinker, deeply involved in union and Socialist Party matters, he had edited the Timber Worker and had strongly campaigned against conscription during WWl . A passenger aboard the ship in which Curtin arrived in Fremantle to take up the editorship in early l917 was the British suffragette and pacifist Adela Pankhurst ,on a WA speaking tour organised by the Victorian Socialist Party .
When she attempted to speak at the Perth Town Hall she was prevented to do so by returned soldiers and police . Soon after, Curtin, 32, married his wife, Elsie , 26 , in a registry office. During his time in the west he became increasingly involved with the ALP .
An experienced Melbourne journalist, a heavy drinker, deeply involved in union and Socialist Party matters, he had edited the Timber Worker and had strongly campaigned against conscription during WWl . A passenger aboard the ship in which Curtin arrived in Fremantle to take up the editorship in early l917 was the British suffragette and pacifist Adela Pankhurst ,on a WA speaking tour organised by the Victorian Socialist Party .
The conservative press ignored Pankhurst. Curtin , however, in his first issue of the paper supported her tour , saying her passionate detestation of bad social conditions involving women and child labor at sweated rates won her the right to be heard wherever she went .
When she attempted to speak at the Perth Town Hall she was prevented to do so by returned soldiers and police . Soon after, Curtin, 32, married his wife, Elsie , 26 , in a registry office. During his time in the west he became increasingly involved with the ALP .
