He served as a minister, most notably as Attorney-General, in the governments of Carmen Lawrence, Geoff Gallop and Alan Carpenter.
McGinty became leader of his party in 1994, succeeding Ian Taylor, only to be replaced by Geoff Gallop prior to the 1996 state election.
Achieving 'one vote one value' for the Legislative Assembly and Gay and Lesbian equality in the laws of Western Australia are widely seen as the hallmarks of his tenure.
In addition, he established many new legal institutions, including the Corruption and Crime Commission, the State Administrative Tribunal and the Court of Appeal.
[1] This triggered a by-election for his district, in which Labor suffered a 16-point swing that delivered the seat to Greens candidate Adele Carles.