He was educated in public schools in the Parramatta district and became a deposition clerk in the Justice Department at Broken Hill in 1901.
He resigned in 1908 and began a crown land and mining agency in Tamworth, acquiring a similar business in Sydney from 1911 to 1919.
During this conference, McDonald resigned both as member for Bingara and from the Labor Party, winning re-election at a by-election as an Independent, after Liberal Leader Charles Wade arranged for no conservative opposition.
[5] In 1920, McDonald's seat of Bingara was abolished, but he was immediately appointed to the Legislative Council, where he served until 1930 and was granted retention of the title "The Honourable" for life.
[2] According to Woollahra Council's 1921 rates book, McDonald owned two lots of land, each 50 feet wide and now known as 41 Drumalbyn Road, Bellevue Hill NSW, being Lots 1 & 2 of Section D, 3rd Subdivision of Cooper's Bellevue Hill – Bondi Estate, which was probably put to auction for the first time on 15 March 1919.