He resigned the Speakership to accept the position of Minister for Health and Environment in the dying days of the Joh Bjelke-Petersen premiership.
He held the job for just a week, until Mike Ahern became Premier of Queensland on 1 December 1987, and Lingard was not included in the ministry.
When the National Party returned to government in 1996, Lingard was appointed Minister for Families, Youth and Community Care[1] under the premiership of Rob Borbidge.
He retained the portfolio until he was fired by Borbidge in February 1998 for a "clerical error", a $538 dinner claim made by his then senior policy adviser, Wendy Howard, in August 1996.
[3] At the March 2009 state election, Lingard retired as the member for Beaudesert and was replaced as Liberal National Party candidate by Aidan McLindon.