James and Sarah Scullin were given a triumphal welcome when they arrived in Canberra on 21 October 1929 for the swearing in of the new Labor government. But 2 years later, Scullin said his term as Prime Minister was like a nightmare.

Australia’s 9th Prime Minister was unlucky in his timing. The New York Stock Exchange failure – the ‘Wall Street crash’ – took place in the first week of his government. He faced the crisis of economic depression by attempting to manage a failing economy while implementing Labor reforms.

Did you know?

James Scullin:

• unsuccessfully contested the seat of Ballaarat against Alfred Deakin in 1906
• was Australia's first Roman Catholic prime minister
• was the first prime minister to choose the governor-general (he chose Sir Isaac Isaacs in 1931, also the first Australian to hold the post)
• played the violin
• was a lifelong teetotaller and non-smoker
• lobbied the Menzies government for grants to Australian writers through the Commonwealth Literary Fund in 1939