 McArdle has held many party positions as well, including as Chair of the Fisher Federal Divisional Council; Chair of the Fisher Business Branch; and as a Member of the State Executive of the then Liberal Party.Prior to the 2006 Election, McArdle, by then an emerging force within the Parliament, came under sustained criticism from the Labor Party and local media for his role in the collapse of mortgage schemes run by Boyce Garrick Lawyers.Premier Peter Beattie claimed that his role in the collapse made him unfit for such a leadership position.