The governance of the Colony was under the direction of the British Colonial Secretary with the NSW Legislative Council having limited control and
finance.
In the 1840’s, the Colony’s economy was depressed and lawlessness was rampant, with highway robbers on Parramatta Road at night and daylight robberies on Newtown and Botany Roads. In the Monaro, the shortage of police contributed to cattle stealers and sly grog in what was reported as “the greatest nest of vagabonds the colony ever produced.” There was a lack of funding for policing.
In 1845,the Council introduced regulations limiting the size of pastoral properties so as to increase fees payable and thus increase Government revenue from settlers. Large protest meetings were organised and Boyd became the Chairman of the Pastoralists Association that went on to become a strong lobby group for land tenure.
The shortage of labour was another major problem, particularly in the country. Education was facing difficulties with over 13,000 children not being able to access education.Boyd decided the best way to look after his extensive interests was to get into Parliament and he took the opportunity to nominate, following the resignation of the Surveyor-General, Sir Thomas Mitchell because of a perceived conflict of interest.
Boyd’s nomination for the seat of Port Philip, in which he had property was accepted and in due course, after some lost documentation, he was elected unopposed in November,1844.His fellow Royal Bank Director, Joseph Robinson was also a Council Member.
In the Council he largely pursued his self-interests, primarily pastoral leases and associated labour problems. His solutions for solving the labour problem included transportation of convicts from Van Diemens Land, bringing in natives from the New Hebrides and emigration from England.
Boyd was reported to be exceedingly irregular in his Council attendance ,perhaps because of his disillusionment with local politics, as he expressed his“….. belief that all appeals to the local legislature will be made in vain and it will only be by sedulously petitioning the Throne and Parliament ….that you can hope to attain your object.” He maintained quite an effective lobby in London. To support this contention ,his supporters were instrumental in the formation of the Society for the Promotion of Colonization that lobbied for emigration, change in land policies and the advantages of steamship communications.
Boyd’s popularity and influence was declining and his replacement came as a result of a “separationist” movement for local representation and control of local expenditure in Port Phillip. His venture into politics appears not to achieved his personal objective of supporting his commercial interests.