As a member,McDonald served in various Parliamentary committees and Shadow portfolios,including as Shadow Treasurer,Shadow Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs,Business and Consumer Affairs and Deputy Chairman of the Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee.[2] McDonald was then elected as Deputy Leader of the New South Wales Liberal Party,and was Deputy Leader of the Opposition in 1978 under Leader John Mason,until Mason was deposed by a party poll in late May 1981. Elected the party's leader on 1 June 1981,McDonald led the party to its massive defeat at the 1981 election. His seat was abolished,and he opted to follow most of his constituents into the newly created seat of North Shore. However,he was defeated by the independent candidate,North Sydney Council mayor Ted Mack.[4] McDonald's defeat in North Shore meant that the 1981 election was the second election in a row in which the sitting Opposition Leader had failed to win a seat in Parliament,after Peter Coleman in 1978. As McDonald had made an unsuccessful attempt to move to another seat in the Legislative Assembly,it would not be until Luke Foley in 2015 that a sitting Opposition Leader succeeded in moving to a new seat in the Legislative Assembly.
Following his loss McDonald moved to South Australia,settling in the Adelaide suburb of Kent Town,and becoming a Member of the SA State Executive (1984–1993),Executive Vice-president from 1984 to 1987 and President of Liberal Party of South Australia from 1987 to 1990. He was also made a Life Member of the State Council of SA.[2] Afterwards he switched to federal politics,becoming Federal Vice-president of the Liberal Party of Australia (1998–2005) and a Member of Federal Executive from 1987 to 1990 and 1998–2005.[2] He has recently [when?] moved to NSW Central Coast where he remains active in the NSW Liberal Party.
On 11 June 2007,he was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in the General Division for "service to the Liberal Party of Australia,to the New South Wales Parliament,and to the transport industry".[6]
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