 He was appointed as the government representative on the board of the Royal North Shore Hospital and was vocal in his support for proposal to build a bridge across Sydney Harbour Larkin was the member for Willoughby in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from December 1913 until his death.Ted Larkin's promising career was cut short with the outbreak of World War I on 4 August 1914.Demonstrating a patriotic fervor Larkin enlisted within ten days of war's declaration joining C Coy of the 1st Battalion, of the AIF's 1st Division.