 McDonald served as Shadow Minister for Health and as Shadow Minister for Liquor Regulation until his announcement in September 2014 that he would retire from state politics at the 2015 New South Wales state election.He was succeeded as Shadow Minister for Health and Shadow Minister for Liquor Regulation by Walt Secord, and as Member for Macquarie Fields by Anoulack Chanthivong.McDonald continued to work one day a week as a paediatrician while serving as Member for Macquarie Fields and as Shadow Minister for Health.