He was the Labor member for Swansea in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1981 to 1988 and from 1991 to 1995.
He attended high school at Hamilton from 1948 to 1952, and went on to achieve a Bachelor of Arts from the University of New England in 1955.
After completing his national service in 1956 he was a regional high school teacher, receiving his Diploma of Education in 1966.
He won the seat easily and was re-elected in 1984, but in 1988 he was defeated by Lake Macquarie Mayor Ivan Welsh, running as an independent.
In 2013, he was diagnosed with terminal cancer and died on 30 April of that year, aged 76.