He was known for his interest in human rights and Aboriginal affairs policy and briefly served as a shadow minister under John Hewson.

[2] He was a branch president from 1982 to 1989,[1] standing unsuccessfully in the safe Australian Labor Party (ALP) seat of La Trobe at the 1983 federal election.

[2] At the 1990 election, Nugent defeated the incumbent ALP member John Saunderson in the outer Melbourne seat of Aston.

[1] Nugent was publicly critical of Pauline Hanson during her rise to prominence and opposed the Howard government's response to the Wik decision.

According to the Australian Jewish News, he held "pro-Palestine, anti-Israel views" and publicly criticised Israeli settlements on a number of occasions.