His parents had moved from Victoria a few years earlier to take up a lease on a sheep and wheat farm at Doodlakine in the Wheatbelt.

[1] Walsh became interested in politics as a teenager, as an admirer of ALP prime minister Ben Chifley.

[1] At the 1969 and 1972 federal elections, Walsh stood unsuccessfully for the House of Representatives in the seat of Moore, losing to incumbent Country Party MP Don Maisey on both occasions.

[1] Walsh was initially a member of the Labor Left faction, but was expelled in 1975 after supporting Gough Whitlam's removal of Treasurer Jim Cairns.

[8] In his tribute to him, sitting Liberal Finance Minister and another WA Senator Mathias Cormann described his predecessor as "a real pillar of the Hawke Government".