When elected to the Scottish Parliament in 1999, he was appointed Deputy Minister for Local Government in the Scottish Executive and served in that position until 2000. He returned to office as Deputy Minister for Health and Community Care in May 2002. As Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport following the 2003 Scottish Parliament election, he established the National Theatre of Scotland, which has resulted in the award-winning play, "Black Watch" and other productions. In his capacity as Sports Minister, McAveety advocated using sports investment as an opportunity for community regeneration and he oversaw Scotland's largest ever investment in national sports infrastructure, being developed in the East End of Glasgow. He also conducted a successful campaign to bring the headquarters of Sportscotland, the national sports agency, to the East End of Glasgow.