 Governor Denison held that as a representative of the government in the legislative council Chapman should have supported its transportation policy and virtually dismissed him, though he gave him leave of absence on half pay until the question could be referred to the Secretary of State.The governor's action was confirmed and Chapman went to Melbourne in 1854 and practised as a barrister.On 13 February 1855 he was elected a member of the Victorian Legislative Council for South Bourke, Evelyn and Mornington, and early in 1856 drafted the bill which brought in the ballot system of secret voting, afterwards known as the 'Australian' or 'Victorian' system and adopted by other countries all over the world.