To the rescue: When union duties prevented Curtin from having adequate time to devote to theTimber Worker, he would call for help from the Socialist Party's R S Ross and Frank Anstey.

Anstey, pictured here with Curtin in a photograph taken in the Depression years, was a significant political mentor of John Curtin. He continued to send articles, often written on the back of Hansard proofs, to John Curtin even after Curtin moved to Western Australia as editor of the Labor paper there.

JCPML. Records of West Australian News Ltd. John Curtin with Frank Anstey in the Depression years, n.d. JCPML00409/4

Courtesy West Australian Newspapers