 Following the 1983 Queensland state election he switched to the National Party (along with Brian Austin), providing it with an outright majority, and was rewarded with a ministry.Following revelations in the Fitzgerald Inquiry, he and three other Bjelke-Petersen ministers (including Leisha Harvey and Brian Austin) were tried in the District Court and sentenced to twelve months imprisonment for falsifying their expense accounts.His autobiography, "Trial and Error" was published in 1993 by Boolarong Publications.