Ripoll joined the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) as a teenager and was an apprentice aircraft electrician from 1983 to 1984.

[4] He subsequently worked as an electrician from 1986 to 1990, later completing the degree of Bachelor of Business at the Queensland University of Technology as a marketing major.

Former Queensland Premier Wayne Goss had already been preselected as Labor candidate, but a brain tumour forced him to retire from politics, and Ripoll was named in his place.

[8] In April 2015 Ripoll announced that he would not contest the next election, clearing the way for Milton Dick to pursue Labor party preselection.

[10] As of 2021[update] Ripoll was a director of lobbying firm SAS Group, along with former Nationals MP Larry Anthony.