Pratten was also a director of the Stanmore Preserving Company, which exported fruit pulp to Europe using newly developed cold-storage techniques.

He wrote a series of articles for The Daily Telegraph about his 1906 trip to the Philippines, Japan, China, Malaya, Singapore, and India, which in 1908 he published in book form as Asiatic Impressions.

His second book Through Orient to Occident (1912) recounted a journey to South-East Asia and China and his experience on the Trans-Siberian Railway.

[2] Pratten first stood for federal parliament at the 1910 election, running unsuccessfully as an independent in the Division of Parkes.

For a brief period in January 1923, it was rumoured that Pratten himself would replace Hughes as prime minister, despite having no ministerial experience.

[2] Sydney's Evening News definitively reported that either Pratten or Earle Page would lead the next government.

As trade minister, Pratten was considered a strong protectionist, believing Australia needed a high-tariff policy in order to protect its local industry from currency depreciation and dumping.

The couple had two sons and three daughters together,[1] including Herbert Graham Pratten who played first-class cricket for New South Wales.

[11] Pratten died in May 1928 on his 63rd birthday, suffering a cerebral haemorrhage while addressing a Nationalist women's meeting in Turramurra.

He was succeeded in federal parliament by his nephew Frederick Graham Pratten, who won the 1928 Martin by-election.