[3] He set out for Australia in 1844 and worked with his uncle, Captain R. G. Moffatt, a former magistrate and commander of the military police in Port Stephens[4] who by that time had turned his attention to agriculture and sheep farming.

[5] He later moved north and became a squatter, establishing a station called "Callandoon" on the Darling Downs.

[2] In 1852, the pastoral run Woondul was transferred from Moffat to Henry Stuart Russell.

[6] Moffatt was elected to the first Legislative Assembly of Queensland on 27 April 1860 for the district of Western Downs.

[2] Moffatt became Colonial Treasurer in the first Robert Herbert Ministry on 4 August 1862, and retained this post till his death on 2 October 1864.