The Governor-General was reluctant to call an election for a House that was barely a year old, especially considering that the war had recently been brought to the nation's doorstep with Japan's advances. However, he would have been left with no other option if Labor leader John Curtin did not have enough support to govern. With this in mind, Gowrie summoned Coles and Wilson and obtained their assurances that they would support Curtin as Prime Minister and end the instability that had plagued the government since 1940. Coles and Wilson agreed to this, and Curtin was sworn in on 7 October.