Entries now open
The John Curtin Research Centre, in partnership with the Victorian branch of the Australian Workers’ Union, is delighted to announce that entries are now open for the 2025 Henry Boote–David Cragg Young Activists’ Prize.
This annual prize honours two towering figures in Australia’s labour tradition: Henry Boote, the legendary labour journalist and editor, and the late David Cragg, union leader, historian, and cherished comrade of the JCRC. Together, their legacy embodies intellectual courage, practical advocacy, and an unflinching commitment to the values of solidarity and fairness.
We are calling on the next generation of activists to share their vision for the future by either:
Winners in each category will receive:
Young Writers Prize
Henry Ernest Boote was born in 1865 into a working-class family in Liverpool, England. He left school aged 10 and was apprenticed to a printer, educating himself by reading in local free libraries and developed an interest in painting. An art-dealer engaged him at 20 as a copyist and later commissioned works for sale. Boote saved some money and in 1889 migrated to Australia, finding work as a compositor in Brisbane. According to the Australian Dictionary of Biography, “He had a strong working-class consciousness, was a keen trade unionist and soon became closely involved in the affairs of the Queensland labour movement, displaying talent as a propagandist and writer.
He experienced a sense of being ‘born again’ and developed a lifelong belief in the moral righteousness of the organised working-class cause and the inevitability of socialism.” Boote was to become the pre-eminent Australian Labor journalist of his time. In the late 1890s, budding Labor politician Andrew Fisher convinced him to edit the Gympie Truth, an explicitly pro-union and pro-Labor newspaper located in the Wide Bay region of southern Queensland.
Young Writers Prize
In 1902, Boote began editing the Brisbane Worker where he remained until joining the Sydney Worker in 1911. Retitled in 1913 as the Australian Worker, he edited the paper from 1914 until his retirement in 1943. He was a close confidant and friend of Labor prime ministers such as Andrew Fisher, Jim Scullin, and John Curtin. Boote exercised a profound influence on the shape and direction of ALP policy and the broader labour movement. He is often credited with the defeat of the 1916 conscription referendum. No ‘anti’ newspaper was more passionate or effective than Boote’s Australian Worker. It issued five million pamphlets and leaflets; 500,000 copies of its referendum supplement edition ‘The Protest’; 500,000 how to vote No cards; 100,000 extra copies of the Worker; 250,000 stickers; and 25,000 referendum posters.
Young Writers Prize
Each week for two months Boote’s editorials lashed the iniquity of conscription. The 1917 AWU national convention unanimously passed a resolution of thanks to him, with vociferous cheering. The historian Ian Turner argued that no man at that time was “more widely known and respected” in the labour movement. In November 1917 he was prosecuted under the War Precautions Act for publishing articles, notably ‘The lottery of death’. Despite ex-Labor PM Billy Hughes’s promise that political matter would not be subject to censorship, he was fined £100 and costs. Even Boote’s enemies admitted his talents. The Communist Party, which “suffered the whiplash of his famous pen for a whole generation”, described him as “a political phraeologist of great ability. There is poetry about his editorials which has gained him a reputation throughout Australia as a master of language”.
Young Writers Prize
His ADB entry describes how, in private life, Boote was shy and reticent, known to his friends and acquaintances as a talented artist and lover of music. In 1926-42 he was a trustee of the Public Library of New South Wales and also served as a member of the Mitchell Library committee. He was one of the most prolific writers of his era; in old age he was granted a Commonwealth Literary Fund pension. In addition to newspaper work, Boote’s publications ranged across numerous political and social commentaries, mainly pamphlets, to political novels such as The Human Ladder (1920); a satirical allegory entitled The Land of Whersisit (1919); essays and sketches in Tea with the Devil and Other Diversions (1928); and several volumes of poetry. Six years after retiring as editor of the Australian Worker owing to ill-health, Boote passed away in 1949, aged 84. He was aptly described by his friend John Curtin as his “Rock of Ages – immovable, undying, unswerving”.
Young Writers Prize
David Keith Cragg (1957–2025) was a distinguished figure in Victoria’s labour movement, a dedicated organiser, historian, and beloved mentor whose influence resonated across decades.
Cragg’s journey began in the steelworks, joining the Federated Ironworkers’ Association at Titan Nails in Port Melbourne, where he was elected as a rank-and-file organiser in 1986. This marked the start of a lifetime of union leadership and advocacy.
From 1991 to 2009 he served the AWU Victorian Branch with distinction, before becoming Assistant Secretary of the Victorian Trades Hall Council from 2009 until his retirement in 2018. Even after stepping down from formal duties, he remained an active force for workers’ rights, particularly in workers’ compensation and industrial safety.
David was also a gifted labour historian. His storytelling, filled with humour, warmth, and conviction, brought the past vividly to life, inspiring younger unionists and ensuring that the lessons of history remained relevant to the present.
Colleagues remember “Craggy” as a man of principle, insight, and good humour, always offering a “two thumbs up” and “God bless ya” with infectious positivity.
His service extended beyond union work. He represented the AWU on multiple bodies, including the Victorian Skills Authority Manufacturing Industry Advisory Group, the Vocational Education and Training Committee at Trades Hall, and the Greater Metropolitan Cemeteries Trust, where he served until shortly before his passing.
David’s steadfast dedication was recognised in 2023 when he was awarded Life Membership of the AWU, a fitting tribute to a life lived in pursuit of justice, solidarity, and collective betterment.
Young Writers Prize
His service extended beyond union work. He represented the AWU on multiple bodies, including the Victorian Skills Authority Manufacturing Industry Advisory Group, the Vocational Education and Training Committee at Trades Hall, and the Greater Metropolitan Cemeteries Trust, where he served until shortly before his passing.
In a similar vein, David was a labour movement intellectual, policy wonk and a powerful, skilled writer. He wrote hundreds, if not thousands of articles and reviews over the years, including many for the Melbourne branch of the Australian Society for the Study of Labour History, where he served as President. As Michael Easson wrote of him:
“His articles are a concatenation of people and events and the times in which they existed, about how things came to be. Years later, he wrote excoriatingly on the crimes of Soviet communism. Many of his reviews and short pieces on aspects of labour history sparkled with insight and grace. For example, his review a couple of years back in the Australian Fabian journal on the memoirs of Max Ogden, the ex-communist and retired metalworker, is one of the most sober and insightful I’ve read on modern Labor, Australian unionism, and on opportunities gained and missed.
Published the day after he died in the Recorder, the labour history newsletter, was David’s review of Nick Dyrenfurth and Frank Bongiorno’s A Little History of the Australian Labor Party. Cragg wrote that the authors had shown that the ALP is “capable of adapting in different times and handling unforeseen challenges and external shocks. It has endured, and will continue to do so, because there are things in life worth fighting for.” Those things animated David, too.”
David’s steadfast dedication was recognised in 2023 when he was awarded Life Membership of the AWU, a fitting tribute to a life lived in pursuit of justice, solidarity, and collective betterment which we seek to honour by co-naming our Young Activist Prize in his memory.
HOW TO APPLY
YOUNG WRITERS PRIZE
Winners in each category will receive:
Young Leaders are individuals who are already making a difference where they are. They are known for the values and principles they live by and are committed to not only bringing about change in their communities but also growing and developing their potential. Our Young Leaders can align their own personal value set to Labor’s values, and are passionate about working hard towards a better and fairer Australia, considering politics and government as a serious career option for their future.
Young Leaders are innovators and dreamers. They are never complacent or content with how things are; they are always aspiring to greater heights, rising to new challenges, and willing to learn more.
Young Leaders typically demonstrate many of the following characteristics:
The John Curtin Leadership Academy is carefully designed to develop an entire set of competencies in order to grow a pool of knowledgeable, articulate, emotionally intelligent and resilient leaders who can one day lead the Labor at a national and state level.
These competencies include a wide range of practical and philosophical knowledge of politics, critical thinking and communication skills, as well as a high level of self-awareness and resilience over the course of one year.
Young Leaders will also enjoy a high level of interaction with senior leaders in the labour movement.
The academy entails:
The John Curtin Young Leaders Academy is designed to allow participants to continue with their normal occupations while on the program. During the course of the year, Young Leaders will participate in a weekend-long leadership retreat and will undertake a 3-month flexible internship with the John Curtin Research Centre. Young Leaders will meet with mentors and leadership coaches over the course of the program. There is a high degree of flexibility, with a strong focus on learning and development of each participant.
Before the leadership retreat, participants will be notified of travel arrangements. As the 2024 leadership retreat is taking place in Victoria, the JCRC will make all travel arrangements for Young Leaders who live outside of Victoria so that they can travel to and from the retreat.
All costs directly related to the John Curtin Young Leaders Academy are covered by the JCRC.
A national group of approximately 15-20 Young Leaders are selected annually.
The John Curtin Young Leaders Academy is open to all young Australian citizens between the ages of 18 and 35. These applicants must share Labor’s vision and values of social justice, fairness and equality. They must have proven themselves to be passionate leaders set on making a difference in Australia.
There are no specific qualifications required to apply. The John Curtin Young Leaders Academy is open to all Australian citizens between the ages of 18 and 35.
Applicants must be aged 35 or younger when they start the program at the leadership retreat in October 2024. Applications that do not adhere to this criteria will not be reviewed.
Applicants must be aged 18 or older when they start the program at the leadership retreat in October 2024. Applications that do not adhere to this criteria will not be reviewed.
Applicants will receive an automatic system email confirming they submitted a form online.
Applications are reviewed by the JCRC and applicants will receive a confirmation email within 5 working days, indicating whether their application package is complete or incomplete. If you do not receive this confirmation, please contact the office.
Shortlisted applicants will be invited to an interview.
The preferred method of communication is e-mail: info@curtinrc.org
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