He was elected as the National Party member for Port Macquarie at a by-election on 30 November 1996 after the retirement of National Party member Wendy Machin on 28 August, winning 46.71% of the primary vote against John Barrett, a former Liberal Party candidate who stood as an independent after the Liberals, then led by Peter Collins, decided not to run a candidate. However, the Nationals lost almost six percent of their primary vote from 1995, and their two-party majority fell to a marginal four percent. At his election, he was the youngest member of the NSW Legislative Assembly.