John Joseph Cusack (8 August 1868–8 September 1956) was an Australian politician, coachbuilder and garage proprietor.

Early life

Cusack was born at Bellevale near Yass, New South Wales and had some schooling in Yass. He was apprenticed at 15 to a blacksmith at Berrima. He learnt about coachbuilding in Sydney and returned to Yass in 1898 to marry Minnie Cassidy and build a coachbuilding business. He was elected to Yass Municipal Council and was Mayor in 1904.

Parliamentary career

Cusack established a branch of the Labor League (the predcessor of the Australian Labor Party) in Yass in the 1890s. He represented Queanbeyan from 1910 to 1913 and Albury from 1913 to 1917 in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly. He was one of only four Australian Labor Party members to hold the seat of Albury. Between the years of 1929 and 1931, John Cusack was a member of the House of Representatives for Eden-Monaro. He stood unsuccessfully for several other elections up to 1953.

Later life

In 1932, Cusack moved to Canberra and established Canberra's first major furniture store and a garage. He died in the old Canberra Hospital and was survived by his wife, two sons and a daughter. Dymphna Cusack was his niece.

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