Tambling was born in Wondai,[2] Queensland and raised in Darwin in the Northern Territory. He attended Darwin High School and Adelaide Boys' High School, returning to Darwin before moving to Sydney for work.[3]
After a stint in local government on the Darwin City Council, Tambling was elected to the first Northern Territory Legislative Assembly as the Country Liberal Party member for Fannie Bay. Tambling served as Executive Member for Community Development in that first parliament. Executive members were the equivalent of ministers in later years, though that title was not used until self-government was granted in 1978.[4]
After four years out of parliament, Tambling was once again elected—this time to the Senate—at the 1987 federal election. As a senator, he replaced Bernie Kilgariff, who he had earlier replaced as Deputy Majority leader. Unlike Kilgariff who sat with the Liberal Party, Tambling continued to sit with the parliamentary National Party (since renamed from National Country Party), as he did previously as member for Northern Territory. He is the only Territorian to have served in both houses of federal parliament. He was also the deputy National Party leader in the Senate between 10 April 1990 and 23 March 1993, and a second time between 11 May 2000 and 9 November 2001. He also spent almost six years as parliamentary secretary in the Howard government, between 11 March 1996 and 26 November 2001.[6]
Tambling spent fourteen years as a Senator before being disendorsed by the CLP at the 2001 election for voting in favour of anti-Internet gaming legislation.[7] Tambling subsequently retired from politics and worked for two years in private consultancy.
