 He lost his seat in the 1928 state election, but won the federal seat of Denison at the 1928 federal election.When Joseph Lyons resigned from the Scullin in March 1931, Culley became Assistant Minister for Transport and War Service Homes in the Scullin Ministry, but in June he resigned in protest at cabinet's support for the fiscally-conservative Premiers' Plan to deal with the Great Depression.He lost his seat at the 1931 election.