After leaving school he returned to the Wheatbelt where he was an accountant and tax agent and ran a general store and agency in Cunderdin.

[2] According to The Bulletin, he was "deeply involved with his township's projects", for which he was awarded the Queen's Service Medal in 1954.

[4] Halbert was an inaugural member of the Liberal Party in Western Australia and was nominated to its provisional executive in January 1945.

His decision to re-contest the seat was the source of tensions within the Coalition, with the Country Party announcing plans to contest the seat of Forrest against incumbent Liberal MP Gordon Freeth as a form of retaliation.

[3] He was also an unsuccessful candidate for the casual vacancy caused by the death of Shane Paltridge in 1966, losing to Reg Withers.