James Henry Scullin (1876-1953) was an Australian politician and the first native-born Labour prime minister of Australia.

James Scullin was born the son of a railway worker near Ballarat, Victoria. He was brought up a Roman Catholic and formally educated only at primary school, but he later attended evening classes. He became a small grocer and editor of a newspaper in Ballarat before turning his attention to politics.

Scullin joined the Labour party in 1903 and was organizer for the Australian Workers Union for 4 years until, in 1910, he was elected to the federal Parliament. He lost his seat in 1913 and became editor of the Ballarat Echo, an evening daily. He returned to Parliament in 1923 and became deputy leader of the Labour party in 1927 and leader the following year. In the election of October 1929 he decisively defeated the governing Liberal and Country parties, and the Labour party gained its largest...