He subsequently moved a motion in the House of Assembly calling on the government to institute minimum wage and maximum work week legislation, which was defeated by two votes.

Long nonetheless accepted an offer from Hughes in February 1917 to conduct a trade mission to the Dutch East Indies.

His appointment was widely seen as an attempt by Hughes to shore up his numbers in the Senate, in line with his apparent role in engineering the retirement of Long's ALP colleague Rudolph Ready.

In 1916, Long helped facilitate the sale of Shaw's factory to the federal government via navy minister Jens Jensen for £55,000 (equivalent to $6,000,000 in 2022).

In 1918, a royal commission into defence administration during World War I found that Long had accepted a bribe of £2,400 (equivalent to $240,000 in 2022) for his role in facilitating the sale.

Long admitted only to receiving £1,290 (equivalent to $130,000 in 2022), which he stated were for "services rendered", and claimed that other payments from Shaw were winnings from horse racing.

[4] Long resigned from the Senate on 20 December 1918, stating that the royal commission's findings "though unsupported by evidence, have been accepted with as little hesitation by the members of my own party as by those on the Government side of the House".