Ian McLachlan, who was president of the National Farmers Federation (NFF) during the dispute and later a minister in the Howard Government, wrote that Mudginberri "turned the tide" against union power and "changed the nature of industrial relations in Australia". John Howard, then leader of the Opposition, urged the creation of many more Mudginberris. Barrister for Pendarvis and the NFF was Peter Costello, who was to later co-found the H. R. Nicholls Society, act for Dollar Sweets in the Dollar Sweets dispute and go on to become the federal treasurer in the Howard Government and a prominent architect of the Howard Government Industrial Relations reforms.