John Joseph Cusack (8 August 1868 – 8 September 1956) was an Australian politician and businessman. He was a member of the

Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also known as the Labor Party or simply Labor, is the major Centre-left politics, centre-left List of political parties in Australia, political party in Australia and one of two Major party, major parties in Po ...

(ALP) for most of his career and served in the

New South Wales Legislative Assembly The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament House ...

(1910–1917) and

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

(1929–1931).

Early life

Cusack was born at Bellevale near

Yass, New South Wales Yass () is a town on the periphery of the Southern Tablelands and South West Slopes of New South Wales, Australia. The name appears to have been derived from an Australian Aboriginal, Aboriginal word, "Yarrh" (or "Yharr"), said to mean 'running ...

and had some schooling in Yass. He was apprenticed at 15 to a blacksmith at Berrima. He learnt about coachbuilding in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

and returned to Yass in 1898 to marry Minnie Cassidy and start a coachbuilding business. He was elected to

Yass Municipal Council Yass Municipality was a Local Government Area of New South Wales from 1873 until 1980, when it was merged with Goodradigbee Shire Goodradigbee Shire was a local government area in the Southern Tablelands region of New South Wales New ...

and was mayor in 1904.

Parliamentary career

Cusack established a branch of the Labor League (the predecessor of the Labor Party) in Yass in the 1890s. He represented

Queanbeyan Queanbeyan ( ) is a city in south-eastern New South Wales, Australia, located adjacent to the Australian Capital Territory in the Southern Tablelands region. Located on the Queanbeyan River, the city is the council seat of the Queanbeyan-Pale ...

from 1910 to 1913, and

Albury Albury (; ) is a major regional city that is located in the Murray River, Murray region of New South Wales, Australia. It is part of the twin city of Albury–Wodonga, Albury-Wodonga and is located on the Hume Highway and the northern side of ...

from 1913 to 1917 in the

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

Legislative Assembly. He was one of only four Labor members to hold the seat of Albury. Following the ALP split of 1916, he was expelled from the party for failing to support a no-confidence motion against the new government formed by ALP defector

William Holman William Arthur Holman (4 August 1871 – 5 June 1934) was an Australian politician who served as Premier of New South Wales from 1913 to 1920. He came to office as the leader of the Labor Party, but was expelled from the party in the split o ...

. However, he was later readmitted. In 1929, Cusack was elected to the

for Eden-Monaro, surviving a petition by his defeated opponent John Perkins. He attempted to switch to Cowper at the 1931 election but was defeated by

Earle Page Sir Earle Christmas Grafton Page (8 August 188020 December 1961) was an Australian politician and surgeon who served as the 11th prime minister of Australia from 7 to 26 April 1939, in a caretaker capacity following the death of Joseph Lyons. ...

. He stood unsuccessfully for several state elections up to 1953, when he failed, at age 80, as an Independent, to unseat the sitting Labor member for Burrinjuck, Billy Sheahan. After the election, Cusack accused Sheahan, then NSW Attorney General, of "assist nga masonic vendetta" against him. In 1954, as a vigorous, though erratic, 85-year old, he contested the federal lower-house seat of

Australian Capital Territory The Australian Capital Territory (ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory until 1938, is an internal States and territories of Australia, territory of Australia. Canberra, the capital city of Australia, is situated within the territory, an ...

. He received around 3% of

first preference votes A first-preference is a voter's most-preferred candidate. In certain ranked systems such as first preference plurality, ranked-choice voting (RCV), and the single transferable vote, first preferences for a candidate are considered most important ...

and lost his deposit.

Later life

After his earlier electoral defeats, Cusack returned to his work as a blacksmith in Yass. He died in the old Canberra Hospital and was survived by his wife, three sons (Linton, Stan and Greg) and a daughter (Ursula). His son Stan established a successful furniture business in Canberra, following the development of the area as the

Dymphna Cusack Ellen Dymphna Cusack Order of Australia, AM (21 September 1902 – 19 October 1981) was an Australian writer and playwright. She also wrote as Atalanta. Personal life Born in Wyalong, New South Wales, Cusack was educated at Saint Ursula's Col ...

was his niece. His great-granddaughter

Catherine Cusack Catherine Cusack (born 21 December 1968) is a British actress. She is best known for portraying Nanny Carmel Finnan in the long-running ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street'' in 1992 and 1993. Early life and career Cusack was born on 21 Decem ...

was elected as a Liberal Party member of the

New South Wales Legislative Council The New South Wales Legislative Council, often referred to as the upper house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of New South Wales, parliament of the Australian state of New South Wales. Along with the New South Wales Legislative As ...

in 2003.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cusack, John 1868 births 1956 deaths Coachbuilders of Australia Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian House of Representatives Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Eden-Monaro Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Colony of New South Wales people Australian MPs 1929–1931