 Lavarch won the supplementary election, defeating future Queensland Liberal leader Bruce Flegg, and was duly appointed to the ministry on 27 April.During his political career, he was particularly interested in human rights and native title issues.He was responsible for instigating the "National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from Their Families" in 1995, culminating in the publication of the "Bringing Them Home" Report.