Barns was an adviser to New South Wales premier Nick Greiner (1988–1991), his successor and later Federal Minister for Finance, John Fahey (1991–1996), and the Howard government.
Fahey's predecessor, Nick Greiner, had promised a referendum on the subject, among other things, to three independents in order to keep office in 1991.
Although defeated in his first bid to enter the legislature by local bus driver Eddie Britt as part of the "Wranslide" Labor victory that year, Greiner successfully contested a 1980 by-election for the electorate of Ku-ring-gai.
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Prominent Australians that have been involved in the direction of Ausflag include Nicholas Whitlam, Phillip Adams, Cathy Freeman, Malcolm Turnbull, Janet Holmes à Court and Nick Greiner.
The most prominent members were Don Dobie, who held the seat from its 1969 creation until his retirement in 1996 (with a brief break from 1972 to 1975) and Bruce Baird, a former minister in the Greiner and Fahey governments of New South Wales before transferring to federal politics.
She was appointed media adviser to the NSW Minister for Business and Consumer Affairs under then Premier Nick Greiner in 1998 and later became Chief of Staff to the NSW Minister for State and Regional Development.
Following the election of the Greiner State Government in March 1988, consultants Booz Allen Hamilton were commissioned to prepare a report into NSW rail services.
He became Leader of the National Party in the Legislative Council in 1978 and Deputy Leader of the Government in 1988, when the Greiner Coalition won government.