Transcript

But ... one of his [Prime Minister John Curtin's] hardest tasks would have been after MacArthur came down and the Americans came in, because I think it's fairly fair to say that they always wanted the Australians to be second, they wanted to take a great deal of the kudos from the top down. And you had like, he had Blamey on one side and he had MacArthur on the other and you know, there is where I think his skill was - in understanding people and probably placating people for that matter. And as he saw it, having to take the decision on whoever it was he thought was the best for Australia.

And it must have been a pretty tough job. You know, I think it took a fairly strong man to be able to negotiate between the Americans - and I mean we're not taking anything away from them, because if it hadn't been for America we certainly don't know where we'd be today, you know. But well, like in everything else, Blamey was a fairly formidable character and I think MacArthur was too. And to have peace, Mr Curtin would be the meat in the sandwich really, you know. Because at the back of your mind all the time would also be that you weren't a military man, and it would be a case of, well, you had to make the right decision if you were going to win something. And I think that Mr Curtin did have those qualities of being able to placate people. I don't think he would raise his voice to anyone and be domineering and saying that he knew better than they would.

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