[6] McDowall has also worked for the Wise Group, one of the largest providers of mental health and wellbeing services in New Zealand.
[12][13] During the Commission Opening of the 53rd New Zealand Parliament, McDowall repeated his oath in Cantonese, attracting significant attention – "over a million views" – in Hong Kong.
[16] In his maiden statement, McDowall identified himself as a firearms enthusiast and libertarian, stating his political ideology is "that our morals and ambitions are our own and that they should not be forced upon anyone else, not least of all by the Government of the day" and quoting Ayn Rand ("A Government is the most dangerous threat to man's rights").
He also criticised New Zealand's "unacceptable levels" of poverty, homelessness, and over-representation of Māori in prisons.
[2] McDowall was a member of Parliament's transport and infrastructure committee and the ACT Party's spokesperson for economic development; research, science and innovation; immigration, defence; and tourism.
[17] As ACT's immigration spokesperson, McDowall has often criticised the Labour government, such as its COVID-19 border policies and their impact on access to seasonal workers,[18][19][20] its proposed new "priority" application system[21] and its proposed law changes intended to prevent migrant worker exploitation, but which McDowall said would actually enable bad employers to exploit migrants more.