Brumby was an elected to the Parliament of Australia in 1983 and represented the electorate of Bendigo. he lost the seat in the 1990 election. He was elected to the upper house, the Legislative Council, of the Parliament of Victoria in 1993. When the leader of the Labor Party, Jim Kennan, resigned from Parliament, Brumby was became the new leader. He had to resign from the upper house as leaders have to be members of the lower house, the Legislative Council. He won an election for Jim Kennan's seat of Broadmeadows, Victoria. He was the Leader of the Opposition in Victoria for six years. Julia Gillard, the current Prime Minister of Australia, worked as his Chief of Staff. The Labor Party did not win as many votes in the 1996 election and lost two seats. Over the next few years the party did not think Brumby would be able to lead them to a win in the next election. Brumby was replaced as leader by Steve Bracks in March, 1999. Bracks led the Labor Party and won an election in September 1999. Brumby became the Minister for Finance in the new government, and a year later was made the Treasurer (in charge of all government spending).