 During the 1918 influenza epidemic he made a name for himself conducting relief work in Auckland.Parry, along with fellow unionists Michael Joseph Savage and Tom Bloodworth, he disinfected community halls and schoolrooms to enable their use in accommodating influenza victims after hospitals and clinics had reached their capacity.Parry represented the electorates of from 1919 to 1946, and then Arch Hill from 1946 to 1951, when he retired.