Early life

He was born Italo Prospero Brusasco in 1928 to parents from the small Italian town of Cuccaro Monferrato

Cuccaro Monferrato

Cuccaro Monferrato is a comune in the Province of Alessandria in the Italian region Piedmont, located about 60 km east of Turin and about 15 km northwest of Alessandria....

 (his cousin Pier Giuseppe Brusasco was mayor of the town until 2009). Brusasco attended St Joseph's College, Nudgee where he played in the Rugby First XV.

After initially intending to study medicine Brusasco changed to pharmacy. He qualified as a pharmacist in 1955, opening a pharmacy of his own soon after. Eventually he expanded, eventually owning several pharmacies in the Brisbane area.

Politics

Brusasco served as an alderman in the Brisbane City Council for over a decade during the 1960s and 1970s.

In the early 1980s Brusasco founded Labor Holdings, a fund designed to provide the Australian Labor Party

Australian Labor Party

The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...

 in Queensland with a continuous source of income.

Rugby career

Brusasco played for the University of Queensland Rugby Club

University of Queensland Rugby Club

The University of Queensland Rugby Club is an Australian rugby union club, based at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Queensland. They currently compete in the Queensland Premier Rugby competition...

 and represented Queensland

Queensland Reds

The Queensland Reds represent Queensland in the sport of rugby union in the Southern Hemisphere Super Rugby competition. Prior to 1996 they were a representative team selected on merit from the rugby union club competitions in Queensland...

. At one point there was speculation that he would be selected for the Australian team but a bout of hepatitis spelt an end to his rugby career.

Soccer administration

Brusasco is a former president of Soccer Australia (now Football Federation Australia

Football Federation Australia

Football Federation Australia is the governing body for the sport of football in Australia. Before 1 January 2005, it was known as the Australian Soccer Association , which succeeded Soccer Australia in this role in 2003...

). While president of Soccer Australia he was also vice-president of the Oceania Football Confederation

Oceania Football Confederation

The Oceania Football Confederation is one of the six continental confederations of international association football, consisting of Papua New Guinea, New Zealand and island nations such as Tonga, Fiji and other Pacific Island countries...

.

In 1988 Brusasco was made a Member of the Order of Australia for services to soccer.