Sir James Alexander McCusker (2 December 1913 – 30 September 1995) was a prominent Australian
financial services
Financial services are the Service (economics), economic services provided by the finance industry, which encompasses a broad range of businesses that manage money, including credit unions, banks, credit-card companies, insurance companies, acco ...
industry figure and philanthropist during the 20th century.
Early life
McCusker was born in
North Perth, Western Australia, and educated at Highgate Primary School in the
Perth
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...
suburb of Highgate before winning a scholarship to
Perth Modern School
, motto_translation = Knowledge is Power
, location = Subiaco, Perth, Western Australia
, country = Australia
, coordinates =
, mapframe-stroke-colour = #C60C30
, mapframe-marker-co ...
, which he attended until aged 14 when, due to his parents' financial circumstances, he left to join the
Commonwealth Bank
The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), or CommBank, is an Australian multinational bank with businesses across New Zealand, Asia, the United States and the United Kingdom. It provides a variety of financial services including retail, busines ...
as a junior clerk.
When World War II broke out, he joined the
AIF, and became a sergeant with the
1st Armoured Division. When the war ended, he re-joined the bank and was transferred to its
Hobart
Hobart ( ; Nuennonne/Palawa kani: ''nipaluna'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Home to almost half of all Tasmanians, it is the least-populated Australian state capital city, and second-small ...
branch as valuer and accountant, in 1948. He returned to Western Australia in 1953, when he became a senior manager of the
William Street branch of the bank in Perth.
Building society movement
In 1959, he left the bank to establish and manage several "
terminating"
building societies
A building society is a financial institution owned by its members as a mutual organization. Building societies offer banking and related financial services, especially savings and mortgage lending. Building societies exist in the United Kingd ...
, which provided finance to enable people to buy a home. Prominent among these was the Town & Country Building Society (T&CBS), founded by him and his son
Malcolm
Malcolm, Malcom, Máel Coluim, or Maol Choluim may refer to:
People
* Malcolm (given name), includes a list of people and fictional characters
* Clan Malcolm
* Maol Choluim de Innerpeffray, 14th-century bishop-elect of Dunkeld
Nobility
* Máe ...
and friend Bob McKerrow,
in 1964 with capital of £100,000,
the first permanent building society to be established in Western Australia for over 100 years.
With others, he bought a large area of farming land to the east of Perth, which they developed into residential lots which were sold as a "house and land" package, with building society finance provided. This became the Perth suburb of
Thornlie.
Under McCusker's leadership, the T&CBS prospered. Within five years it had over $100 million in assets, increasing to over $900 million by 1990, making it then one of WA's largest financial institutions, with 31 branches, 103 agencies and 650 staff.
It developed and marketed residential land projects in metropolitan Perth, as well as providing finance, both in rural and metropolitan areas, to assist home buyers, new businesses and agriculture.
During a high interest period in the 1980s, he oversaw the establishment of a scheme to enable home buyers with little or no equity to rent a home of their choice, with an option to buy.
McCusker was elected President of the WA Association of Permanent Building Societies in 1978; he stepped down in 1979 but remained a councillor. He was a member of the WA Indicative Planning Committee on Housing, and in 1980 chaired the state's committee of inquiry into rates and taxes. He was knighted in the
1983 New Year Honours
The New Year Honours 1983 were appointments by most of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries, and honorary ones to citizens of other countries ...
for services to banking in WA.
In 1990, T&CBS was purchased by
ANZ Bank
ANZ may refer to:
People
* Anz (musician), a British DJ and electronic musician
Banks
* ANZ (bank), Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited, the fourth-largest bank in Australia
** ANZ Bank New Zealand, the largest bank in New Zealand
...
for $145 million (with the McCusker family, holding 26% of shares, one of the major beneficiaries),
and McCusker was appointed chairman of the ANZ Bank's WA Advisory Board.
Philanthropy
In the following years, the family company Martindale Pty Ltd, of which James and his son Malcolm were co-directors, engaged in a range of philanthropic projects.
The Sir James McCusker Training Foundation was established in 1990,
providing support and training for carers of
Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegeneration, neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in short-term me ...
sufferers, via the
McCusker Foundation for Alzheimer's ResearchHistory
, McCusker Alzheimer's Research Foundation. Retrieved 4 October 2015. and facilities for the accommodation and care of sufferers (Lady McCusker Home).
Martindale was also a major financial supporter of the Lions Eye Institute
The Lions Eye Institute (LEI) is an Australian medical research institute affiliated with the University of Western Australia. It was established in 1983 with support of the Lions Clubs of Western Australia and headquartered in the suburb of , ...
, Glaucoma Research Institute, the WA Urological Research Centre, the WA Institute of Medical Research, the Cerebral Palsy Foundation, the Country Medical Foundation, Workskill Australia Foundation (WA Division), Paraplegic Association of WA and Birthright (WA branch).
Apart from its philanthropic activities, Martindale engaged in land development, agriculture and grazing. Its major land developments were the establishment of new Perth subdivisions: Beaumaris (in Iluka, where there is a public park, the "Sir James McCusker Park"), Secret Harbour, and The Avenues, Cannington. It acquired and operated a sheep station, Boolardy on the Murchison River, and Landor, a cattle station on the Gascoyne River
The Gascoyne River is a river in the Gascoyne region of Western Australia. At , it is the longest river in Western Australia.
Description
The Gascoyne River comprises three branches in its upper reaches. Draining the Collier Range, the river ...
. It also had agricultural interests (cereal crops, cattle and sheep) in the Dandaragan
Dandaragan is a small town in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia. The name of Dandaragan was first recorded in 1850 as the name of a nearby gulley and spring or watering hole known as Dandaraga spring. The word is Indigenous Australian ...
, Calingiri and Victoria Plains districts, totally approximately 10,000 hectares. McCusker, who took a keen interest in farming, was made a life member of the Royal Agricultural Society.
With a view to "putting something back" into the agricultural industry, James and Malcolm also established the Martindale Research Project, in conjunction with the UWA
The University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Perth, the state capital, with a secondary campus in Albany, Western Australia, Albany an ...
Faculty of Agricultural Science and the WA Department of Agriculture and Food. It was the largest agricultural research project of its nature in Australia. Martindale was a state winner of the Landcare Awards for its work in restoring and rendering productive badly degraded sandplain lands. The methods and results of the research project were made freely available to the public, through field days and publications.
Family life
In 1935 he married Mary Martindale Whyle. They had three children, and six grandchildren. McCusker's oldest child Malcolm
Malcolm, Malcom, Máel Coluim, or Maol Choluim may refer to:
People
* Malcolm (given name), includes a list of people and fictional characters
* Clan Malcolm
* Maol Choluim de Innerpeffray, 14th-century bishop-elect of Dunkeld
Nobility
* Máe ...
continued his father's dedication to philanthropy and also became Governor of Western Australia
The governor of Western Australia is the representative in Western Australia of the monarch of Australia, currently King Charles III. As with the other governors of the Australian states, the governor of Western Australia performs constitutional ...
. James's wife died in early 1995, and he died on 30 September in the same year.
References
External links
Australian Dictionary of Biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:McCusker, James
1913 births
1995 deaths
Australian bankers
People from Perth, Western Australia
People educated at Perth Modern School
Australian Knights Bachelor