SIR: Hal Colebatch’s essay on John Curtin (April 2018) is the most astute assessment I have read of Australia’s most over-rated prime minister. Two considerations should swing the scales of anyone’s judgment against high regard for Curtin. First, as prime minister during the period of greatest threat to the country in its history, it was imperative that he develop and maintain good relations with the two men critical to our fortunes—Roosevelt and Churchill. Yet Curtin, through his carping, indecisiveness and poor judgment, managed to alienate both leaders. Second, in haranguing Churchill to free Australian troops in the Middle East to…