A member of the Liberal Party, he held the Victorian seat of Chisholm from 1970 to 1980 and served as Minister for the Capital Territory (1976–1977) and Minister for Posts and Telecommunications (1977–1980) in the Fraser government.

[2] Staley was elected to parliament at the 1970 Chisholm by-election, which followed the death of the incumbent Liberal MP Wilfrid Kent Hughes.

In the subsequent leadership spill, Hewson was defeated by Alexander Downer but it was expected that Staley would not have survived as party president if Hewson had won the spill.

He did continue on in the position and supported John Howard's bid to become Leader of the Opposition and ultimately Prime Minister.

[4] In 1990, Staley was involved in a serious road accident, which left him needing to use calipers to walk.