Above: Aaron Lusch and Tim Lusch
The motto of “there’s always a way” will continue to drive the culture at Platypus Print Packaging as the next generation seeks to build on the legacy of the late Tom Lusch.
Speaking last week after the funeral for Tom – a Brisbane business identity who died aged 68 on January 3 – eldest son Aaron Lusch vowed to maintain the success of the award-winning Queensland business with the help of his brother, Tim.
“We’re never going to be like Tom Lusch, he’s different to us,” Aaron told Sprinter.
“We’ve got some of his traits, but it will be about bringing our own approach to the business while embracing Dad’s strengths, such as striving for excellence and doing the best that you can do.”
Aaron, the general manager, and Tim, the operations manager, have both worked at Platypus Print Packaging for many years and are company directors. Their father started the business, then known as Platypus Graphics, in 1982 and turned it into one of the most respected printing and print packaging enterprises in Australia.
A moving service
About 600 mourners, including many luminaries in Brisbane’s printing and advertising industries, attended Tom Lusch’s funeral on January 12 at the Victory Centre in Bridgeman Downs to farewell a man who was variously hailed as “inspirational,” a “great bloke” and a man who always honoured a handshake deal and “worked hard and played even harder”.
During his eulogy, Aaron noted how a “say ‘yes’ to everything policy” and an ability to turn around challenging print jobs faster than competitors proved the key to his father’s success.
The funeral also shone the light on Tom’s passion for people and printing, with his partner Jo Bradford commenting that he had a “unique ability to touch so many people’s lives”, while daughter Rhiannon drew laughs in saying “Tom had seven children – three girls, three boys and Platypus Graphics, his pride and joy”.
On the back of uncanny business instincts and an innovative mindset, he succeeded in a tough industry, with retired Imprint co-founder Earl Baskerville remarking that Tom’s “drive was unmistakable. “He was like a sponge, Tommy, he knew what he needed to do.”
Printing industry veteran Ron Jackson praised Tom for his generosity, while friend, printer and fellow petrolhead Michael Rowe added that Tom proved that “business is about people, more (so) than machines and equipment”.
After the service, family members and close friends took Tom’s body on a final drive in one of his much-loved Holden FJs.
Humble beginnings
Born in Mordialloc, Victoria, in 1955, Tom entered the printing industry in 1972 when he signed up for a trade certification in letterpress printing before working as a printing machinist. In 1979, he relocated to Queensland to take on an estimating position at Imprint, and soon identified a gap in the market for embellishing work.
In 1982, Tom officially registered Platypus Graphics as a company and mainly did foil stamping on a small hand platen under his home in Geebung before later acquiring machinery such as a Heidelberg Platen and a Heidelberg MO A2 single-colour machine.
In 1999, Platypus made a significant pivot, acquiring McNiven’s packaging business in a move that has seen it become a packaging design and sustainable fibre packaging leader. Acknowledging this change of focus, the company rebranded itself as Platypus Print Packaging in 2018 and now operates from a new plant in Geebung.
Longtime friend and managing director of G2 Systems, Bernie Hockings, says Tom had a “unique capability” to combine business and mateship. “He knew where business stopped and fun started,” Hockings says.
“He probably wasn’t the best printer on the planet, but he was the best thinker on the planet,” Hockings says.
“He knew what great printing was and over the years he employed some of the best printers in Brisbane. He will be sorely missed and there won’t be another Tommy in our lifetime.”
At the wake, Rob Geddes, the founding director of PROdesign Australia, described Tom as a “problem solver”.
He recalls working with Platypus Graphics in the early 1980s to produce thousands of promotional pinwheels for the Brisbane Commonwealth Games that had to be die cut, stamped and shaped on a platen press.
“Tom had never run this material before, but he gave it a go, and this was just from a little single press in the garage of his house.”
Childhood friend Simon Carmody, managing director of Spot Productions, says Tom’s “just do it” approach meant that he picked up projects and clients who knew he would get the job done, and done well.
“He rolled up his sleeves up and he was also there on the printing floor with the guys. He was a man of the people.”
Packaging focus
Tim Lusch, part of the fourth generation of Luschs to work in the printing industry, relishes the prospect of teaming up with brother Aaron to build on their father’s legacy.
“Dad’s been coaching us for a long time and Aaron and I have worked in different roles within the business, so we know it first hand,” he says.
Tim says maintaining his father’s commitment to a fun, revelrous workplace culture in a modern business will be one management test.
He believes his father will be remembered for his larrikin spirit and passion for printing.
“It was a different era and culture, so that’s one of the biggest challenges now – finding times to have fun with people in the current environment.”
“He absolutely loved the industry. For him, it wasn’t work … it was the art of business and doing a deal that he absolutely loved. He built a family, and he built a business and made a lot of good friends and memories along the way.”
Aaron expects Platypus Print Packaging to be “more singularly focused” than in the past.
“We understand that packaging is our core and it’s just about doing that better and being more efficient. We see a lot of growth opportunities with our existing customers and also with the sustainability aspect with plastics being on the nose and fibre packaging being in. So, there are opportunities for us to grow.”
Tom Lusch was diagnosed with cancer in late 2021 and contracted COVID-19 in the days before his death. He is survived by his partner Jo and six children, Aaron, Naomi, Rhiannon, Jacob, Tim and Hollie, as well as 10 grandchildren.
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