Hughes was the first Australian Electoral Commissioner at the Australian Electoral Commission from 1984-1989 (in 1984 the AEC replaced the Australian Electoral Office, which had existed since 1902).
The Australian Electoral Commission, the government authority responsible for the conduct of elections in Australia, notes that "it is usually possible for the Prime Minister-elect to claim victory on the night of the election".
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In June 2006, the Australian Electoral Commission announced that the new federal electorate in Queensland to be created for the 2007 election would be named Wright in honour of Judith Wright for her life as a "poet and in the areas of arts, conservation and indigenous affairs in Queensland and Australia".
In January 2006 he was promoted to the front bench as Special Minister of State which includes responsibilities with Ministerial and Parliamentary Services, the Australian Government Information Management Office, Australian Electoral Commission, Defence Housing Authority and Film Australia.