The disappearance of our seventeenth Prime Minister at Cheviot Beach sparked countless conspiracy theories and ultimately overshadowed his political accomplishments.

Teachers' notes and study guide for The Prime Ministers' National Treasures.

Joseph Cook became Australia's sixth Prime Minister in 1913. Before that, he established the Royal Australian Navy when he was Defence Minister.

Alfred Deakin was Australia's second prime minister and held the position three times.

Joseph Lyons was elected to the Commonwealth Parliament in 1929 as the Australian Labor Party member for a seat in Tasmania.

John Curtin started out as a copy-boy on The Age newspaper, working his way up the ladder via the union movement.

When Britain declared war on Germany in 1939 Prime Minister Robert Menzies declared Australia was also at war.

James Scullin was the manager of a small grocery store who continued to educate himself, and then became a union organiser.

During the First World War Australian soldiers fought on the Western Front. This was Australia’s main war involvement, far bigger than the fighting at Gallipoli in 1915.

Andrew Fisher’s tin lunch box reminds us that humble beginnings informed his formidable political career.