[2] He joined the board in 1984, was chair of AWB in 1995–2002, and was present at meetings in Iraq which were linked to the Oil-for-Food scandal, and an inquiry by the United Nations.
In 1987, he was an unsuccessful National Party candidate for the seat of O'Connor (against Wilson Tuckey) in the Australian election that year.
Flugge has also served as chair of the Australian Wheat Growers Association, and as a board member of the major diversified company Wesfarmers.
[4] Following the 2003 invasion and overthrow of the Hussein regime, Flugge was made a senior adviser to the Iraqi agriculture department.
When giving evidence to the latter inquiry, Flugge frequently claimed to have no knowledge of matters discussed at meetings he attended, due to hearing loss.