Bill Landeryou

William Albert Landeryou (born 17 April 1941), Australian politician, was leader of the Labor Party in the Victorian Legislative Council and a minister in the Labor government of John Cain.^[1]

Biography

Landeryou was born in the Melbourne suburb of Moonee Ponds, the son of a timber worker. He left school at 15 and worked for a trucking company. In 1965 Landeryou was appointed as a research officer for the Storemen and Packers' Union (now the National Union of Workers), despite never having worked as a storeman and packer, after having been recommended to the then-State Secretary by Labor Party contacts.^[2] A year later he was elected as an organiser, then as Victorian State Secretary in 1969, federal secretary in 1974 and federal president in 1979.^[3] He also became a director of 133 Sydney Rd Ltd, a company controlled by the union, which owned the R.J. Hawke Hotel, a hotel in Sydney Rd, Brunswick.

Landeryou was active also in the Labor Party, and was President of Victorian Young Labor in 1964-66.^[3] A supporter of the party's right-wing faction, and a close ally of the President of the Australian Council of Trade Unions, Bob Hawke, Landeryou became a member of the party's Victorian Administrative Committee following the removal in 1971 of the left-wing group which had controlled the Victorian Labor Party since 1955.

In 1976 Landeryou was elected to the Legislative Council as member for Doutta Galla Province, a safe Labor seat in the north-western suburbs of Melbourne. He was immediately elected to the front bench. The Opposition Leader, Clyde Holding, appointed him shadow minister for ethnic affairs and consumer affairs. In 1980 Holding's successor, Frank Wilkes, appointed Landeryou shadow minister for local government. In 1979 he became leader of the opposition in the Council.^[3]

During 1981 Landeryou became convinced that Wilkes could not win the 1982 state election and supported his replacement by John Cain, which took place in September 1981. Cain appointed Landeryou shadow minister for employment. When Cain led Labor to victory in the April 1982 election, forming the first Labor government in Victoria since 1955, Landeryou was appointed Minister for Economic Development and Tourism. In December 1982 he became Minister for Industrial Affairs and he was also made Minister for Labour and Industry.^[3]

Landeryou continued to serve in the Legislative Council until the defeat of the Labor government in 1992.^[3] He then resigned to allow John Brumby to enter Parliament. Since leaving Parliament Landeryou has remained active in Labor Party affairs and pursued a career in business. His son, Andrew Landeryou, is the editor of a well-known political blog, VEXNEWS.

References