Prior to entering Parliament, he worked as the State Secretary for the Tasmanian branch of the Communications, Electrical & Plumbing Union.
[3] During his time as Minister, Sturges attracted vigorous comment as to his handling of both rail infrastructure and ports as services either failed or were proven to have significant deterioration due to inactivity over many years.
The absence of available Federal stimulus funding to alleviate these issues was also commented upon with Sturges admitting that the government had failed to apply for financial support.
In March 2009, he was accused of misusing his position by raising an incident between his son and a bus driver with the management of Metro Tasmania.
"[5] Sturges apologised to the guard, but later denied he had made the statements attributed to him, and said that his apology had been forced by the premier's media advisors.