He was a Labor Party member of the Victorian Legislative Council from 2002 to 2006, representing Western Port Province.
[1] In 2002, Hilton won Labor preselection to contest the new seat of Western Port Province.
Amidst the landslide Labor victory at the 2002 state election, Hilton defeated strong favourite and incumbent South Eastern Province Liberal MLC Cameron Boardman on preferences.
[2][3][4] During his term in parliament, the Labor government passed sweeping electoral reforms of the Legislative Council which, amongst other changes, reduced the number of members.
Hilton was one of the members unable to secure Labor preselection for a seat in the reformed chamber, and he subsequently chose to retire at the conclusion of his term.