In 1955 he was elected to the Victorian Legislative Assembly as the Liberal and Country Party member for Mentone, and transferred to Frankston in 1967. From 1956 to 1958 he was government whip, and from 1958 to 1961, secretary to the cabinet. In 1961, he entered the ministry but was not given a portfolio. He later held the portfolios of Immigration (1962), Transport (1962–67), Housing (1967–72), Forests (1967–73), Aboriginal Affairs (1967–72), and Transport again (1973–76). He retired from politics in 1976, in which year he was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire.
