[2] Perrett was elected at the 1988 Barambah state by-election as an independent candidate.
He represented the seat until his defeat by One Nation candidate Dorothy Pratt at the 1998 state election.
[2] Perrett was Minister for Primary Industries, Fisheries and Forestry in the government of Rob Borbidge from 1996 to 1998,[2] but was caught out having a sexual relationship lasting several years with a prostitute, Colleen Jefferies, who was found dead in her Brisbane home in 1996 in suspicious circumstances.
[3][4] In 2021, the Townsville Child Protection Investigation Unit Historical Team charged Parrett with 25 counts of historical child sexual abuse, including one count of rape.
In 2022, the case quietly disappeared from the Queensland legal system when the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions determined it did not have a strong enough chance for success.