Abe Landa

Abram Landa CMG (10 November 1902 – 7 October 1989) was an Australian politician and a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1930 until 1932 and from 1941 until 1965. He was variously a member of the Australian Labor Party (NSW) and the Australian Labor Party (New South Wales Branch). He held a number of ministerial positions between 1953 and 1965.

The Honourable
Abe Landa
CMG
Minister for Housing
In office
16 March 1956 – 13 May 1965
PremierJoseph Cahill
Bob Heffron
Jack Renshaw
Preceded byJohn McGrath
Succeeded byStanley Stephens
Agent-General for New South Wales
In office
24 September 1965 – 5 November 1970
Preceded byFrancis Buckley
Succeeded bySir John Pagan
Personal details
Born(1902-11-10)10 November 1902
near Belfast, Ireland, United Kingdom
Died10 July 1989(1989-07-10) (aged 86)
Vaucluse, New South Wales, Australia
Political partyAustralian Labor Party (NSW), Australian Labor Party (New South Wales Branch)

Early and personal life

Landa was born in Belfast, Ireland and migrated to Sydney with his widowed mother in 1910. He was educated at Christian Brothers, Waverley and won a scholarship to study law at the University of Sydney. He practiced as a solicitor mainly in Industrial Law and joined the ALP in 1919.[1] He was an advisor to Doc Evatt at the United Nations meetings in Lake Success. Landa was a prominent member of Sydney's Jewish Community. He was the uncle of Paul Landa who was a member of the Legislative Assembly and the New South Wales Legislative Council.[2]

State Parliament

Landa was elected as the Labor member for Bondi at the 1930 state election.[3] He defeated the sitting Nationalist member Harold Jaques and his victory contributed to Labor forming a government under Jack Lang.[4] However, he lost the seat in the 1932 landslide that ended Lang's premiership.[3] Landa regained the seat at the 1941 election which resulted in Labor regaining power under William McKell. He retained the seat for the next 8 elections.[3]

Landa held ministerial positions in the governments of Joseph Cahill, Robert Heffron and Jack Renshaw. He was the Minister for Labour and Industry and Social Welfare from 1953 till 1956, the Minister for Housing from 1956 and Minister for Co-operative Societies from 1959, holding both portfolios until the defeat of the Labor government in 1965.

Later life and career

Following the victory of Robert Askin's conservative coalition at the 1965 election, Landa was controversially offered and accepted an appointment as the Agent-General for New South Wales in London. This position was usually a sinecure for retiring members of the ruling party but Askin offered it to Landa to force his resignation from parliament and cause a by-election with the hope of increasing his government's small majority.[5][6][7] Landa's acceptance of the position resulted in his expulsion from the Labor Party.[8] However, Askin's plans were frustrated when the by-election was won by Labor's Syd Einfeld.[9]

Granted retention of the "Honourable" in 1965,[10][11] Landa was appointed a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) in 1968.[12]

References
  1. Clune, David (2012). "Landa, Abram (Abe) (1902–1989)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Vol. 18. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. ISSN 1833-7538. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
  2. "The Hon. Abram Landa (1902-1989)". Former members of the Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 30 April 2019.
  3. Green, Antony. "Elections for the District of Bondi". New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 16 August 2020.
  4. "Mr Abram Landa, LL.B., M.L.A." The Hebrew Standard of Australasia. 20 May 1932. p. 2. Retrieved 7 April 2018 – via Trove.
  5. "Appointment". Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales. No. 128. 1 October 1965. p. 3201. Retrieved 16 February 2018 – via Trove.
  6. "Landa accepts Liberal post in London". The Canberra Times. 24 September 1965. p. 1. Retrieved 16 February 2018 – via Trove.
  7. "Landa begins 'selling' NSW". The Canberra Times. 6 November 1965. p. 7. Retrieved 16 February 2018 – via Trove.
  8. "Mr Landa expelled from ALP". The Canberra Times. 20 November 1965. p. 9. Retrieved 16 February 2018 – via Trove.
  9. Green, Antony. "1965 Bondi by-election". New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
  10. "No. 43725". The London Gazette. 30 July 1965. p. 7232.
  11. "Government Gazette Appointments and Employment". Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales. No. 92. 16 July 1965. p. 2239. Retrieved 7 April 2018 – via Trove.
  12. "No. 44600". The London Gazette (1st supplement). 31 May 1968. p. 6302.

 

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