[citation needed] In 1973, Landa was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Council as a Labor member.
[3] Landa was Minister for the Environment in 1979 when he and the majority of NSW Cabinet Members travelled to Terania Creek in northern NSW to investigate the reasons behind the presence of around 300 protesters, and 100 police, at Terania Creek.
While Landa was fully supportive of the preservation of the rainforest and the stopping of logging it was his cabinet colleague Frank Walker who had brought the matter to the Government's attention.
[4][independent source needed] After visiting Terania Creek themselves the Cabinet Members agreed that the Environmental Impact Study that the protesters were wanting would be carried out.
The scholarship provides the winner with concert engagements with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and Musica Viva Australia, and a cash prize to enable overseas study.
Other past winners have included Tamara Anna Cislowska, Anna Goldsworthy, Duncan Gifford, Richard Jackson (2002),[5] Clemens Leske, Maxwell Foster (2010),[6] Oliver She (2011),[7] and Young Kwon Cho (2012).