Born in Goulburn, the son of William Henry Planta and Amy Frances Hannaford, he became a lawyer, having studied at the Australian National University in Canberra.
[1] Hannaford was a member of the Liberal Party, having held many positions including Regional President, State Executive member, Chairman of State Convention and Chairman of the Constitution Standing Committee.
Hannaford played a leading role in the establishment of the Legislative Council's standing committee system in 1988.
On 7 May 1997, Hannaford successfully moved to establish Legislative Council General Purpose Standing Committees, modelled on the Senate system.
[2] In 1990 Hannaford was appointed Minister for State Development, moving to Health and Community Services in 1991 and Attorney-General and Industrial Relations in 1992.