Political Career
In 1961 Sinclair became a Country Party member of the New South Wales Legislative Council, and at the 1963 election, he was elected to the House of Representatives for the Division of New England.
Two years afterwards, Sinclair was promoted to the ministry, becoming Minister for Social Services in the Liberal-Country Party coalition government of Robert Menzies. In 1968, he became Minister for Shipping and Transport. He and Doug Anthony were seen as the most likely successors to the veteran Country Party leader John McEwen, but when McEwen retired in 1971, it was Anthony who was elected party Leader, while Sinclair was elected Deputy Leader, becoming at the same time Minister for Primary Industry.
After spending the three years of the Whitlam Labor government in opposition, Sinclair again became Minister for Primary Industry in 1975, in the Fraser government. He held this position until 1979, when he was forced to resign from the ministry after being charged with forgery. The charges arose from a dispute over his father's will, on which he was accused of having forged his father's signature. He was acquitted of these charges in August 1980, and then returned to the ministry as Minister for Special Trade Representations. After the 1980 elections he became Minister for Communications. In May 1982, he became Minister for Defence, a post he held until the defeat of the Fraser government at the 1983 election.
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