Curtin

Curtin is a suburb in the Canberra district of Woden.  It was named after John Joseph Curtin (1885-1945), who was Prime Minister of Australia from 1941 to 1945, during World War Two.  He was elected to the House of Representatives 1928 as Labour Member for Fremantle, Western Australia, and was Leader of the Opposition from 1935 to 1941. Curtin was Prime Minister and Head of the War Cabinet from 1941 to his death in 1945, when he was worn down by stress and long hours. He is the only Prime Minister to have died at The Lodge. His Prime Ministerial predecessor, Arthur Fadden of the Country Party wrote: ‘I do not care who knows it but in my opinion there was no greater figure in Australian public life in my lifetime than Curtin.’

Curtin shopping centre offers the following services: Coles supermarket, post office, newsagent, bank, real estate agent, TAB, video rental shop and numerous restaurants and eateries. Of note is the Curtin Milk Bar, which is the longest running cafe in the area. Its style and format has not changed since the 1970s and is still very popular.

Curtin is well equipt with schooling for younger children, with Curtin Primary School  and Holy Trinity Primary School , as well as Teddybears Childcare Preschool,  North Curtin Pre School  and South Curtin Pre School .

Parks within the suburb include South Curtin neighbourhood oval , the Illoura Community Horse Holding Paddocks, the North Curtin Horse Paddocks  and North Curtin Oval.

Curtin is also home to the ACT Emergency Services Bureau, QEII Family Centre and Brindabella Gardens retirement village.

The Canberra bushfires of 2003 destroyed about 4 Curtin homes. Curtin was a suburb that received a small amount of damage in the fires. The Emergency Services Bureau, based in Curtin, which was the centre of command for the firefighting operation, came under threat itself.

Curtin lies next to the suburbs of Yarralumla, Deakin, Hughes, Lyons and Weston. It is bounded by the Cotter road, Tuggeranong Parkway and Yarra Glen.