Christian and Jennifer Porter.
Camera IconChristian and Jennifer Porter. Credit: Supplied/Bruce Hunt

MHR has miles on clock

Lucy Jarvis, North Coast TimesNorth Coast Times

Mr Porter said his electorate was ‘bigger than some European countries’ as it covered 14,401sq km, including Quinns Rocks, Lancelin, Toodyay, Westdale and Mundaring.

‘It was a good experience to learn about different issues, a really great way to get my teeth into the learning process,’ he said.

The Liberal MP said the electorate had ‘everything you find in the State’ from coastal and rural urban areas, to cray fishing, wheat and sheep farming.

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‘Every imaginable type of enterprise and business you find in Pearce,’ he said.

‘There is one unifying characteristic ” diversity.’

The couple moved to Yanchep last December after the former State attorney-general and treasurer decided to quit State politics and pursue the Federal seat vacated by Judi Moylan when she retired.

‘If you are representing people, it is good to live in the community,’ he said.

‘It was a big move but we’ve loved it.’

Before flying to Canberra last Thursday, he told the Times there were a couple of immediate issues to address in the electorate.

‘It has got a lot of arterial roads ” I think they have been underinvested in in the last six years,’ he said.

‘As the suburbs push north, infrastructure is always going to be a challenge ” that is both a State and Federal issue.’

Mr Porter said funding had been committed to the Perth to Darwin highway and the Gateway Project, which he wanted to see through so congestion would be eased in Pearce.

He said the other issue was a shortage of GPs, and the creation of a medical school in Midland would address that.

While her husband sits in Parliament for almost half the year, Mrs Porter said she would often travel with him, having given up her position as a prosecutor with the Department of Public Prosecutions and starting PhD studies in Sydney.

‘That is allowing me to travel before we have a family (after which) it might be a little bit of a single mum lifestyle for me,’ she said.