[3][4] The family company MDH Pty Ltd was established by her paternal grandfather Jim McDonald in the 1940s and runs numerous cattle stations across Queensland, spanning over 38,000 square kilometres (15,000 sq mi) as of 2013.
[5] Her maternal grandfather George Fisher was a prominent mining executive, while her aunt Judy Gamin was a Queensland state MP.
[8] From 2014 to 2019 she served as managing director of Super Butcher, a subsidiary of her family business MDH which had five stores and employed 80 people as of 2016.
[7] She served as chief of staff to Andrew Cripps, the Queensland Minister for Natural Resources and Mines from 2012 to 2015.
[2] McDonald reportedly voted for Barnaby Joyce in the 2021 Nationals leadership spill, despite having previously supported Michael McCormack.
[13][14][15][16][17][18] Following the Coalition's defeat at the 2022 federal election, McDonald was appointed to new opposition leader Peter Dutton's shadow ministry, with responsibility for the resources and Northern Australia portfolios.
[7] McDonald has nominated Lawrence Springborg, Tim Fischer and Joh Bjelke-Petersen as political role models.