The Guardian 25 October, 2006
Obituary
John McCusker 1956 — 2006
CPA comrades are saddened by the death of Blacktown Branch member John McCusker. John was 50, still relatively young, but his death was not an unusual event for long-term smokers his age. In Australia, 20,000 people die every year as a result of smoking. One fifth of these are in John’s age group. Smoking is also responsible for around 150,000 hospital admissions each year. John was not alone.
Asbestos also played a role. John worked in many dirty jobs, in unhealthy environments. He was, for example, an apprentice in an asbestos-ridden power station and years later worked at the Ajax Foundry in Silverwater. John would go home covered in black grease and grime, having endured incredible temperatures all day, working with molten metal, in a corrugated tin shed. It was very difficult to get workers to work under such conditions.
In the mid-1980s while working in a flourmill in Summer Hill he challenged the State Secretary of the Federated Flour Millers Union in a union election and sought party assistance.
Around this time he began a magazine, Polemic. He wrote, printed, produced and distributed it. He had great talent as a writer.
One article, Cancer and Agricultural Chemicals, written in 1988, is particularly impressive. It outlines the relationships between the petrochemical corporations, governments and agribusiness, and the way the profit motive overrides the need for safety where chemicals are involved. John documented the increasing cancer rates in the world as a result. It is well-researched and intelligently written.
Soon after joining the Communist Party he became a founding member of the Blacktown Branch.
When opposition to development on the ADI (Australian Defence Industries) site in the Mt Druitt-Blacktown area first surfaced, John identified the key issue, the need for a health survey. To this day, with development going ahead, it is still the key issue. John played a leading role in the ADI Residents Action Group, set up by the branch, campaigning for a health survey.
He identified a high level of cancer among ex-ADI workers and nearby residents. His contact with ex-ADI workers confirmed what he suspected. One of the ex-supervisors at ADI went public, revealing orders given to bury massive amounts of waste (chemical residues from ammunition making) but not to keep records. It was a valuable exposure. He eventually died from cancer.
John loved political debate and was always in the thick of controversy. One of his pet topics was gun control. Unfortunately, he was against it!
John won his 15 minutes of fame with the local press. When Pauline Hanson’s One Nation came on the scene, John got his face on the front page of the Blacktown Guardian, as a local anti-racism campaigner.
Another of John’s talents was photography, taking many pictures at demonstrations. Some are very dramatic, especially those he digitally altered. You can see them on the branch’s website. Each image is signed, "Photomontage by Watt Tyler", an historical figure he admired.
John was a most valuable member of the Blacktown Branch of the Communist Party, extremely talented and very creative. He was a modern "agitprop" worker, mastering today’s means of communication, the internet, radio and digital design. He designed many posters and leaflets. He created the Radio Red logo. He set up the CPA Blacktown Branch website, teaching himself complex web languages.
The Question and Answer page on the branch website is 52 A4 pages long, all written by John and revealing his well-researched knowledge of history and political events.
Radio Red, the Blacktown Branch’s radio program, was another of John’s initiatives. He was outspoken, bringing a strong anti-capitalist perspective, prompting some bristling of hairs on the backs of the station managers. John was a talented musician, with a large music library out of which he chose Radio Red’s theme song: "I get knocked down, but I get up again." That was John!
John was argumentative. He was stubborn. He had fire in his belly. He had high ideals which he held passionately and had determination and commitment to the cause he devoted himself to.
In the last six months he made great efforts to be at political actions. He attended the June 28 anti-IR laws rally at Blacktown. He kept coming to branch meetings, walking one or two kilometres from home to the meeting place. It was an effort for him, but he struggled to be there. Comrades appreciated it. He didn’t want a lift to the meetings, but he accepted one home. He had difficulty speaking, but he still managed to make a contribution.
The CPA has lost a valued, talented, dedicated, thoughtful and compassionate comrade and we thank him for his unique contribution to our struggle for a better world.
The CPA and Guardian express sympathy and solidarity with John’s family members.