Prior to entering politics, Whalan served as the ACT secretary of the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association and as a senaior advisor to five ministers in the Hawke federal government.
After the 1983 leadership spill that saw Maurene Horder defeat Ken Doyle, Labor MHAs elected Walsh as the party's caucus chairman.
[9][10] However, Labor Left leader Rosemary Follett narrowly defeated Whalan by a margin of just 14 votes.
He lost these positions in December 1989 when the Residents Rally successfully moved a no-confidence motion in Follett, which led to the creation of the Alliance government.
[15][16] Ultimately, Whalan never officially challenged Follett and resigned from the Legislative Assembly on 30 April 1990, citing a decision not to give pay rises to MLAs such as himself.