He is a member of the Liberal National Party of Queensland (LNP) and served as an assistant minister in the Morrison government from 2018 until May 2022, following the appointment of the Albanese ministry.

[3] Buchholz eventually established his own freight and courier business, starting with a contract for newspaper delivery between Emerald and Rockhampton.

[6] Buchholz was originally a member of the Queensland Nationals, serving as a delegate to state conference from 2007 and as chief of staff to the party's Senate leader Barnaby Joyce.

[3] In June 2010, Buchholz won LNP preselection for the newly created Division of Wright, defeating seven other candidates including television presenter Bob La Castra and former MP Cameron Thompson.

His title was changed to Assistant Minister for Road Safety and Freight Transport in May 2019, following the 2019 federal election[2] and he held this position until May 2022, following the appointment of the Albanese ministry.

[16] In 2017 he opposed calls for the Queensland LNP to de-merger following a series of electoral losses, stating "if you've lost your last 10 games of football and you've lost them because during the week the players are eating KFC and the coach is rolling up to the game pissed [...] changing the colour of your jersey is not going to make a skerrick of difference".

[20] In February 2019, Buchholz publicly apologised for inappropriate behaviour towards a female Royal Australian Air Force officer while on a parliamentary exchange in Darwin in 2018.

[21] The Department of Defence did not release the details of the formal complaint made by the officer, but it was reported that Buchholz gave her an unwanted hug.