He was born in Cheltenham, Melbourne, to market gardener George Thomas Allnutt and Josephine Cameron.
He attended state schools at Cheltenham and Moorabbin, and worked for his father before becoming a farmer at Carwarp around 1920.
On 11 February 1922, he married Robina Elizabeth Marchbank, with whom he had a son; a second marriage to Wilhelmina Redenbach on 29 September 1929 produced a daughter.
In 1927, he was elected to the Victorian Legislative Assembly as the Country Progressive member for Mildura.
In 1945, he supported a no-confidence motion against Dunstan's government and was expelled from the Country Party.