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The John Curtin Research Centre is delighted to announce the rebooting of our Young Writers Prize, first held in 2018, in conjunction with Australian Workers Union (Victorian Branch). Young Australians are at the vanguard of the new struggle against economic insecurity and inequality. Millennials face being the first generation to be worse off than their parents since WWII. We need to hear their voices like never before. To that end, the JCRC is calling for entries to its Young Writers Prize, now named after the legendary Henry Boote, Labor publicist, journalist and writer, poet and editor of the Australian Worker, official organ of the Australian Workers’ Union, between 1914 and 1943, and a close confidant of Labor prime ministers such as Andrew Fisher, Jim Scullin, and John Curtin. Boote exercised a profound influence on the shape of ALP policy and the broader labour movement. He is often credited with the defeat of the 1916 and 1917 conscription referenda.
Eligibility for the John Curtin Research Centre Henry Boote Young Writers Prize 2024 is restricted to candidates between 18 and 35 years of age. Prospective candidates are asked to write an essay of no more than 1500 words dealing with any aspect of inequality and economic insecurity in Australia and how our nation can best identify and tackle the problem at hand. The best essays will be shortlisted and a winner selected by an expert panel. The Young Writers Prize winner will be awarded a prize of $1500 announced at the Curtin Oration on Monday 26 August.
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”.
HOW TO APPLY
YOUNG WRITERS PRIZE
We are thrilled for you to submit your essay for your chance to win the Henry Boote Young Writer Prize.
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
At the John Curtin Research Centre, we rely on the generosity and support of individuals like you to advance our mission of policy development and advocacy.