 He was beaten by the incumbent Hugh Watt by 24 votes to 8 with Norman Douglas receiving 2 votes.When United States Vice President Spiro Agnew visited Wellington in mid-January 1970, Faulkner along with several other Labour Members of Parliament including Bob Tizard, Jonathan Hunt, and Martyn Finlay boycotted the state dinner to protest American policy in Vietnam.However, other Labour MPs including Opposition Leader Norman Kirk attended the function which dealt with the Nixon Doctrine.