Andrew McDonald (Australian politician)

Dr Andrew McDonald
Member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly for Macquarie Fields
In office 24 March 2007 – 6 March 2015
Preceded by	Steven Chaytor
Succeeded by	Anoulack Chanthivong
Personal details
Born	Andrew Dominic McDonald 1 March 1955
Nationality	Australian
Political party	Australian Labor Party
Alma mater	University of Sydney
Profession	Paediatrician

Andrew Dominic McDonald (born 1 March 1955) is an Australian doctor and former politician.

Early life and education

McDonald attended St Leo's Catholic College in Wahroonga, before studying medicine at the University of Sydney.

Career

Medical career

McDonald worked as a paediatrician at Campbelltown Hospital for 17 years before his election to Parliament. In this period, he was quoted by the Sydney Morning Herald as a critic of Opposition Leader John Brogden's policies on health.^[1]

Political career

On 23 January 2007, he was preselected for the New South Wales electoral district of Macquarie Fields by the Australian Labor Party, following the disendorsement of incumbent MP Steven Chaytor.^[2] He was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly at the New South Wales state election, 2007. Although Labor retained the seat, there was a 12% two-party preferred swing against the party (as compared to the previous election), the highest anti-Labor swing in the state.

During the government of Morris Iemma, journalist Imre Salusinszky recommended that McDonald be appointed Health Minister.^[3] The Sydney Morning Herald reported that Iemma sought to appoint McDonald to the ministry; however, Iemma's bid for a ministerial reshuffle was rejected, leading to Iemma's resignation.^[4] Under the premiership of Nathan Rees, McDonald was appointed as Parliamentary Secretary for Health on 23 September 2008.^[5] He retained this post upon the appointment of Kristina Keneally as Premier of New South Wales, ending his tenure as Parliamentary Secretary upon the defeat of the Keneally government in the New South Wales state election, 2011.

During the 2007-11 term of Parliament McDonald was a member of the Macarthur Boys, described as 'a new powerful force emerging from within the once powerful Right'.^[6][7] After the resignation of Morris Iemma from the premiership, it was speculated that McDonald might resign from Parliament to return to work as a paediatrician,^[8] and was reported to be considering retirement from Parliament.^[9] However, McDonald re-contested his seat of Macquarie Fields in the New South Wales state election, 2011.

McDonald was re-elected in the New South Wales state election, 2011 for the electoral district of Macquarie Fields, suffering a 9.9-point swing towards the Liberal Party of Australia. At the election, Macquarie Fields became the third-most marginal seat held by the Labor Party in New South Wales. He was described as a 'hero of the election' for Labor, and as 'a thoroughly un-political character'.^[10]

After the 2011 election, McDonald was appointed as Shadow Minister for Health and Shadow Minister for Medical Research by Opposition Leader John Robertson.^[11] His appointment as Shadow Minister for Health was praised by Premier Barry O'Farrell.^[12] Although McDonald's shadow portfolio of Medical Research was reassigned in December 2013, he was given the additional portfolio of Shadow Minister for Liquor Regulation.^[13]

McDonald served as Shadow Minister for Health and as Shadow Minister for Liquor Regulation until his announcement in September 2014 that he would retire from state politics at the New South Wales state election, 2015.^[14] He was succeeded as Shadow Minister for Health and Shadow Minister for Liquor Regulation by Walt Secord,^[14] and as Member for Macquarie Fields by Anoulack Chanthivong.^[15]

McDonald continued to work one day a week as a paediatrician while serving as Member for Macquarie Fields and as Shadow Minister for Health.^[16] Upon his retirement from politics, he indicated that he would return to practicing medicine.^[17]

References

1. Totaro, Paola; Pollard, Ruth (18 December 2003). "Doctors hit out: the system's rotten". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 16 December 2012.
2. Weaver, Claire (21 January 2007). "Dr takes over from abusive MP". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 16 December 2012.
3. Salusinszky, Imre (5 October 2007). "Iemma must go for the doctor to cure state ills". The Australian. Retrieved 16 December 2012.
4. West, Andrew (6 September 2008). "State of chaos". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 16 December 2012.
5. "Dr Andrew Dominic MCDONALD, MBBS(Hons), FRACP, FRCP(Glasg), FRCPCH MP". Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 16 December 2012.
6. Silmalis, Linda; Harvey, Claire (14 September 2008). "Reba joins NSW Labor exodus". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 16 December 2012.
7. Silmalis, Linda (14 September 2008). "Who did what in Iemma's downfall?". The Sunday Telegraph.
8. Smith, Alexandra (15 September 2008). "Byelections coming to a seat near you". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 16 December 2012.
9. Silmalis, Linda (29 August 2010). "MPs plan their exit strategies". The Sunday Telegraph. Retrieved 16 December 2012.
10. Salusinszky, Imre (23 April 2011). "Long road back for Labor". The Australian. Retrieved 16 December 2012.
11. "Frontbench role for controversial MP Cherie Burton". The Daily Telegraph. 8 April 2011. Retrieved 16 December 2012.
12. Australian Associated Press (8 April 2011). "Labor defends Cherie Burton appointment". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 16 December 2012.
13. Patty, Anna (11 December 2013). "NSW Labor shadow cabinet reshuffle as Carmel Tebbutt quits". The Sydney Morning Herald.
14. Nicholls, Sean (19 September 2014). "Walt Secord a winner in Labor reshuffle as Andrew McDonald bows out of politics". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
15. Armstrong, Kerrie (28 March 2015). "Labor wins Campbelltown, retains Macquarie Fields". Macarthur Advertiser. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
16. Robotham, Julie (24 December 2011). "Doctor in the House and at the coalface". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 16 December 2012.
17. Chenoweth, Ben (19 March 2015). "Macquarie Fields MP Andrew McDonald bidding state politics farewell". Macarthur Advertiser. Retrieved 29 March 2015.