He was a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and held the New South Wales seat of Cook in the House of Representatives from 1972 to 1975.

[1] At the 1972 federal election, Thorburn defeated the incumbent Liberal MP Don Dobie in the seat of Cook.

He was re-elected in 1974 but lost his seat to Dobie in the ALP's landslide defeat at the 1975 election.

[1] He made three unsuccessful attempts to reclaim the seat from Dobie, and remains the only member of the ALP to have held Cook.

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