Abram Landa (10 November 1902 – 7 October 1989) was an Australian politician and a member of the

New South Wales Legislative Assembly The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament House ...

from 1930 until 1932 and from 1941 until 1965. He was variously a member of the

Australian Labor Party (NSW) Lang Labor was a faction of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) consisting of the supporters of Jack Lang, who served two terms as Premier of New South Wales and was the party's state leader from 1923 to 1939. It controlled the New South Wale ...

and the

Australian Labor Party (New South Wales Branch) The New South Wales Labor Party, officially known as the Australian Labor Party (New South Wales Branch) and commonly referred to simply as NSW Labor, is the New South Wales branch of the Australian Labor Party (ALP). The branch is the current ...

. He held a number of ministerial positions between 1953 and 1965.

Early and personal life

Landa was born in

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

, 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 The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...

. He practiced as a solicitor mainly in Industrial Law and joined the ALP in 1919. He was an advisor to Doc Evatt at the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

meetings in Lake Success. Landa was a prominent member of Sydney's Jewish Community. He was the uncle of

Paul Landa David Paul Landa, QC (29 May 194124 November 1984) was an Australian politician. In public life, he was called "Paul Landa". He was a Labor member of the New South Wales Legislative Council from 1973 to 1984, and the member for Peats in the N ...

who was a member of the Legislative Assembly and the

New South Wales Legislative Council The New South Wales Legislative Council, often referred to as the upper house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of New South Wales, parliament of the Australian state of New South Wales. Along with the New South Wales Legislative As ...

State Parliament

Landa was elected as the Labor member for Bondi at the

1930 Events January * January 15 – The Moon moves into its nearest point to Earth, called perigee, at the same time as its fullest phase of the Lunar Cycle. This is the closest moon distance at in recent history, and the next one will be on J ...

state election. He defeated the sitting

Nationalist Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation,Anthony D. Smith, Smith, A ...

member Harold Jaques and his victory contributed to Labor forming a government under Jack Lang. However, he lost the seat in the

1932 Events January * January 4 – The British authorities in India arrest and intern Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel. * January 9 – Sakuradamon Incident (1932), Sakuradamon Incident: Korean nationalist Lee Bong-chang fails in his effort ...

landslide that ended Lang's premiership. Landa regained the seat at the

1941 The Correlates of War project estimates this to be the deadliest year in human history in terms of conflict deaths, placing the death toll at 3.49 million. However, the Uppsala Conflict Data Program estimates that the subsequent year, 1942, wa ...

election which resulted in Labor regaining power under

William McKell Sir William John McKell, (26 September 1891 – 11 January 1985) was an Australian politician who served as the 12th Governor-General of Australia, in office from 1947 to 1953. He had previously been Premier of New South Wales from 1941 to 19 ...

. He retained the seat for the next 8 elections. Landa held ministerial positions in the governments of

Joseph Cahill John Joseph Cahill (21 January 189122 October 1959), also known as Joe Cahill or J. J. Cahill, was a long-serving New South Wales politician, railway worker, trade unionist and New South Wales Labor Party, Labor Party Premier of New South Wale ...

Robert Heffron Robert James Heffron (10 September 189027 July 1978), also known as Bob Heffron or R. J. Heffron, was a long-serving New South Wales politician, union organiser and AustralianLabor Party (ALP) Premier of New South Wales from 1959 to 1964. Bor ...

and

Jack Renshaw John Brophy Renshaw (8 August 190928 July 1987) was an Australian politician. He was Labor Premier of New South Wales from 30 April 1964 to 13 May 1965. He was the first New South Wales Premier born in the 20th century. Early life Jack Rensh ...

. He was the Minister for Labour and Industry and

Social Welfare Welfare spending is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specifically to social insurance p ...

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 Sir Robert William Askin, GCMG (4 April 1907 – 9 September 1981), was an Australian politician and the 32nd premier of New South Wales from 1965 to 1975, the first representing the Liberal Party. He was born in 1907 as Robin William Askin, b ...

's conservative coalition at the

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The First Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lynd ...

election, Landa was controversially offered and accepted an appointment as the

Agent-General for New South Wales The Agent-General for New South Wales is the representative of the State of New South Wales in the United Kingdom who is responsible for the promotion of New South Wales' trade and economic interests in the United Kingdom, Europe and Israel. Th ...

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. Landa's acceptance of the position resulted in his expulsion from the Labor Party. However, Askin's plans were frustrated when the

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

was won by Labor's

Syd Einfeld Sydney David Einfeld (17 June 1909 – 16 June 1995) was an Australian politician and Jewish community leader. Einfeld is credited with changing Australia's immigration policy to provide a refuge for Holocaust survivors. As a result, Austra ...

. Granted retention of the "Honourable" in 1965, Landa was appointed a

Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince of Wales (the future King George IV), while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George I ...

(CMG) in 1968.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Landa, Abe 1902 births 1989 deaths Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of New South Wales 20th-century Australian politicians Politicians from Belfast Emigrants from Northern Ireland to Australia University of Sydney alumni 20th-century Australian lawyers Jewish Australian politicians Agents-General for New South Wales Australian solicitors Australian Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Ministers for families and communities