Bruce John McDonald, AM (born 26 May 1935) was a New South Wales politician, Leader of the Opposition and Leader for the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

of New South Wales. McDonald was Leader of the Opposition of New South Wales,

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from 1 June 1981 to 12 October 1981, when he lost the election to Labor Premier,

Neville Wran Neville Kenneth Wran, (11 October 1926 – 20 April 2014) was an Australian politician who was the Premier of New South Wales from 1976 to 1986. He was the national president of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 1980 to 1986 and chairman of ...

. McDonald lost the parliamentary seat he contested at the same election.

Early life

McDonald was born in the Sydney suburb of

Drummoyne Drummoyne is a suburb in the Inner West of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Drummoyne is six kilometres west of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative center for the local government area of the City of ...

in 1935 and was educated at Drummoyne Boys High School and

Sydney Technical High School Sydney Technical High School (STHS) is a government-funded single-sex academically selective secondary day school for boys, located in Bexley, a southern suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Founded in 1911 as part of Sydney Technic ...

. He studied civil engineering and urban planning at Sydney Technical College and the

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and was later employed as a Cadet Engineer for the Metropolitan Water Sewerage and Drainage Board from 1951 to 1956. Subsequently, he became a Member of the Institute of Engineers and the

Royal Australian Planning Institute Planning Institute of Australia (PIA) is the peak national body representing town planning and the planning profession in Australia. PIA represents approximately 5000 members nationally and internationally. It is governed by a National Board of D ...

. He served as the Foundation President of the

Urban Development Institute of Australia The Urban Development Institute of Australia (UDIA) is an Australian research and non-profit organisation with offices in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Western Australia, South Australia, Northern Territory and Australian Capital Territo ...

from 1962 to 1964 and again from 1974 to 1976, becoming a Life Member.

Political career

He was elected for the

New South Wales Legislative Assembly The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament Ho ...

seat of

Kirribilli Kirribilli is a suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. One of the city's most established and affluent neighbourhoods, it is located three kilometres north of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area administere ...

, after he defeated the sitting member John Waddy for preselection before the 1976 election. Waddy resigned from the party and contested the seat as an independent, but lost by a large margin to McDonald. As a member, McDonald served in various Parliamentary committees and Shadow portfolios, including as Shadow Treasurer, Shadow Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs, Business and Consumer Affairs and Deputy Chairman of the Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee. McDonald was then elected as Deputy Leader of the New South Wales Liberal Party, and was Deputy Leader of the Opposition in 1978 under Leader John Marsden Mason, until Mason was deposed by a party poll in late May 1981. Elected the party's leader on 1 June 1981, McDonald led the party up to its massive defeat at the 1981 election. His seat was abolished, and he opted to follow most of his constituents into the newly created seat of North Shore. However, he was defeated by the independent candidate, North Sydney Council mayor Ted Mack. McDonald's defeat in North Shore meant that the 1981 election was the second election in a row in which the sitting Opposition Leader had failed to win a seat in Parliament after Peter Coleman in 1978. As McDonald had made an unsuccessful attempt to move to another seat in the Legislative Assembly, it would not be until Luke Foley in 2015 that a sitting Opposition Leader succeeded in moving to a new seat in the Legislative Assembly. Following his loss McDonald moved to South Australia, settling in the

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suburb of

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, and becoming a Member of the SA State Executive (1984-1993), Executive Vice-president from 1984 to 1987 and President of Liberal Party of South Australia from 1987 to 1990. He was also made a Life Member of the State Council of SA. Afterwards he switched to federal politics, becoming Federal Vice-president of the

Liberal Party of Australia The Liberal Party of Australia is a centre-right political party in Australia, one of the two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-left Australian Labor Party. It was founded in 1944 as the successor to the United Au ...

(1998-2005) and a Member of Federal Executive from 1987 to 1990 and 1998–2005. He has recently moved to NSW Central Coast where he remains active in the NSW Liberal Party. His brother Donald McDonald had served as chairman of the

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from 1996 to 2006.

Honours

*On 1 January 2001 he was awarded the

Centenary Medal The Centenary Medal is an award which was created by the Australian Government in 2001. It was established to commemorate the centenary of the Federation of Australia and to recognise "people who made a contribution to Australian society or go ...

. *On 11 June 2007, he was appointed a

Member of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

(AM) in the General Division for "service to the Liberal Party of Australia, to the New South Wales Parliament, and to the transport industry".

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:McDonald, Bruce Living people Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of New South Wales Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly 1935 births Members of the Order of Australia Recipients of the Centenary Medal University of Sydney alumni People educated at Sydney Technical High School Leaders of the Opposition in New South Wales