Elected to the Legislative Council in 1988, Macdonald was appointed
Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries in 2003 and then the Primary Industries portfolio and a range of other portfolios in the
first and
second Iemma and
Rees ministries including Natural Resources, Mineral Resources, State Development, and Energy. However, granted extraordinary powers by Labor State Conference on 17 November 2009, Rees sacked Macdonald (along with others) from the ministry because of Macdonald's efforts to destabilise Rees in his position. Macdonald then played a large part in the sacking of Rees in favour of Keneally. Macdonald was previously a member of the New South Wales
Socialist Left faction, but was formally expelled in December 2009 for his role in Rees's downfall. Keneally restored Macdonald to the ministry following her election as Premier, making him the
Minister for Major Events, Mineral and Forest Resources, State and Regional Development and Central Coast. Macdonald was plagued by scandal surrounding a trip to Dubai made in 2008, which led him to resign from the ministry on 4 June 2010 on the same day as the resignation of Minister
Graham West. Macdonald's Dubai trip was investigated by the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) after a government report found he misused public funds. On 7 June 2010 Macdonald resigned from parliament with immediate effect. He was replaced by
Luke Foley, the assistant general secretary of the New South Wales Labor Party. In July 2012 Macdonald was suspended by the Australian Labor Party for "conduct contrary to the principles of the party". His membership was subsequently terminated in mid-2013 for bringing the party in disrepute. Appearing before the commission to give evidence in relation to the allegations, Macdonald claimed that he was under the influence of alcohol and suffering the effects of depression at the time of the alleged incident. In November 2012, the ICAC began a series of investigative
hearings relating to Macdonald and the property and mining interests of
Eddie Obeid, a former Labor minister and "
power broker". This inquiry concerned, among other issues, the circumstances surrounding a decision made in 2008 by Macdonald as the
Minister for Primary Industries and Minister for Mineral Resources, to open a mining area in the
Bylong Valley for coal exploration. These circumstances include whether Macdonald's decision was influenced by Obeid. The witnesses list for the inquiry included former
NSW Premiers Morris Iemma and
Nathan Rees. On 31 July 2013 the commission found that Macdonald engaged in corrupt conduct by exercising his ministerial influence to arrange a meeting between Ron Medich and
Country Energy managing director Craig Murray on 15 July 2009, and, prior to the meeting, by soliciting the services of a woman as a reward for arranging the meeting. The commission also found that Macdonald acted contrary to his public duty as a minister of the Crown by arranging for the creation of the Mount Penny tenement to benefit members of the Obeid family, and that he acted contrary to his public duty as a minister of the Crown by providing members of the Obeid family with confidential information that was to their benefit. Further, the commission found that Macdonald acted corruptly by deciding to reopen the expressions of interest process for mining exploration licences in order to favour Travers Duncan, and by providing him with confidential information. The commission recommended that the above matters be referred to the
director of public prosecutions (DPP) with respect to prosecuting Macdonald. On reviewing the evidence before the commission of the financial benefits accrued to the Obeid family, the ICAC provided relevant information to the
NSW Crime Commission for such action as it deems appropriate, and the ICAC also disseminated relevant information to the
Australian Taxation Office for appropriate action. One month later, the ICAC made further findings that Macdonald engaged in corrupt conduct by acting contrary to his duty as a minister of the Crown in granting consent to Doyles Creek Mining Pty Ltd to apply for a coal
exploration licence at Doyles Creek and by granting the exploration licence to the company, both grants being substantially for the purpose of benefiting John Maitland, a former official of the
Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union. The commission found that, but for that purpose, Macdonald would not have made those grants. In January 2014, the premier,
Barry O'Farrell, announced that the
Liberal/
National government would introduce legislation into Parliament to cancel the exploration licences for Doyles Creek, Mount Penny and Glendon Brook. The commission also made findings of corrupt conduct by Obeid and his son, Moses Obeid, John Maitland, and others. ==Criminal charges and findings==