[2] Townley was approached to stand as the Liberal candidate at the 1964 Denison by-election, following his uncle's death in office, but declined for business reasons.

Townley subsequently decided to contest the 1969 federal election as an unendorsed Liberal, narrowly losing to Solomon.

[1] He remained president of the party's Lenah Valley branch until December 1969, when he resigned to pre-empt a no-confidence motion.

[3] In May 1970, Townley announced he would contest the 1970 half-Senate election as an independent, after being rejected from the Liberal ticket by the state executive.

[5] Following a double dissolution, Townley was re-elected at the 1974 election with 5.6 percent of the vote, assisted by the lower quotas in place.

[6] Townley obtained a private pilot's licence at a young age and also trained with the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) as a national serviceman.