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John Curtin

October

The RAAF Base Scherger, near Weipa on the Cape York Peninsula, is being upgraded.

The map that Canberra doesn’t want you to see

Australia’s military integration with the US proceeds apace, but is the Albanese government coming clean on the risks?

  • James Curran

February

Prime Minister John Curtin (right) and US southwest Pacific commander General Douglas MacArthur.

Keating’s strategic illusion dies hard

The former prime minister’s timid isolationism, leaving others to do the heavy lifting, has its roots deep in Labor’s history.

  • Alex McDermott

December 2023

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Albanese reaches for Keating’s Asian mantle

In a speech that canvassed all the issues on his foreign policy plate, there was one section that stood out.

  • James Curran
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Is Australia’s delay on US warship request dithering or prudent?

The opposition accuses the government of dithering. But it would be a dangerous mission, and there are powerful historical precedents.

  • James Curran

September 2023

AFL legend Michael Long and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese during a press conference at Parliament House in Canberra on Thursday.

Post-Voice Australia faces a rocky road

Labor’s campaign may be heading for failure, but potential post-referendum pitfalls are not confined to the Albanese government.

  • Andrew Clark
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August 2023

Richard Marles, Penny Wong and Anthony Albanese see the AUKUS amendment over the line.

So much Labor hope is riding on an empty vessel

Labor’s leaders have put staying in government first. But it’s a bit pointless when they cannot even persuade their own supporters why they are taking the positions they are.

  • Laura Tingle

July 2023

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There are some hard questions to be asked at AUSMIN

This week’s AUSMIN will not result in big announcements. But it is a crucial time for Australian ministers to gauge America’s thinking, especially on snags to AUKUS in Congress

  • James Curran

April 2022

Chinese President Xi Jinping has increasingly emphasised military anniversaries and parades in his time in office.

Beijing claims a role as shaper of the postwar Pacific order

The history of World War II has become the latest front line between Washington and Beijing, as China asserts its role as a victor and traditional hegemon in the Pacific.

  • James Curran

July 2021

Anthony Albanese says he will commission a white paper on full employment if he wins the next election.

Snapping back to 2019 ‘not good enough’: Albanese

Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese will draw parallels between pandemic recovery and post-war reconstruction in a speech to the National Press Club on Friday.

  • Andrew Tillett

June 2021

Donald Trump presents Scott Morrison with a model of one of the combat vessels ASX-listed shipbuilder Austal is building for the US Navy.

USS Canberra a shiny new symbol of US-Australia relations

A new symbol of the US-Australian military alliance was christened at the weekend.

  • Matthew Cranston

December 2020

China does not need Australia and it is prepared to bludgeon our exporters to make a political point to the Australian government.

We need a business backchannel to re-engage with China

Official relations are mired in insults and disrespect. Second-track diplomacy by business leaders should now be tried to help rebuild ties with our major trade partner.

  • Robert Hadler

July 2020

The baggage of the 1930s is often expressed in one word: Munich.

Why did Scott Morrison raise the ghost of the tragic 1930s?

The PM wants his reference to the devil's decade to be a haunting warning. But he should be careful where others take such analogies.

  • James Curran

April 2020

Look towards a nation-building economy once the virus passes.

Rebuilding post-virus Australia is not a cue for socialism

Labor must not overreach itself with a great shift to the left. But we can still build a much better nation than the one we have now.

  • Nick Dyrenfurth

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/person/john-curtin-3nl