Parish was born in Melbourne, with his family moving to Murray Bridge at the age of four.
He was a building contractor before entering politics, and was elected as a District Council of Mobilong councillor in 1914.
[4][5] Parish was the youngest person to win a seat in the House at the time of his election, having been only 24.
He sold the publication to his editor in 1950, but continued to contribute to the newspaper as a travel writer thereafter.
[12] Having been readmitted to the Labor Party in 1929, he later unsuccessfully contested the 1947 state election for the conservative Liberal and Country League.