Career
He was a Labor Party member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, representing Armidale from 1978 to 1981, and Northern Tablelands from 1981 to 1987. McCarthy married Thelma on 8 March 1945, with whom he would have three children. He served as a flying officer in the Royal Australian Air Force before becoming a grazier in 1959.
From 1970 to 1978 he was a field officer with the Community Development and Extension Division.
In 1981 the seat was abolished, and McCarthy contested the new seat of Northern Tablelands, which was essentially a merger of the old seats of Armidale and Tenterfield. Although the new seat had a notional National Country Party majority, McCarthy was elected.
