Mary Porter (politician)

Mary Edith Porter AM (née Pannell; born 8 August 1942) is a former Labor member of the ACT Assembly. She was first elected to the Assembly in October 2004. Prior to that, she was CEO of the Volunteering Association (now Volunteering ACT) from 1993 until October 2004

Born in Caterham, England of a Scottish background, Mary arrived in Australia when she was 12. In 1963 Mary graduated as a nurse from Wollongong Hospital and went on to work in New South Wales, Queensland and in the Aboriginal Community of Oenpelli, Northern Territory.

In 1967 she again graduated from Wollongong Hospital, this time as a midwife. Mary returned to the Northern Territory and used her midwifery skills in many remote and isolated Aboriginal community's before accepting the role of sister in charge of the Dhupuma Residential College for Aboriginal students in Gove. In 1979 Mary moved to Canberra and a change of career working for the Federal Member for Canberra, Ros Kelly.

Mary represented the electorate of Ginninderra and was a member of ACT Labor's Right Faction Centre Coalition.

As a member of the ACT Assembly she prepared and introduced legislation to provide a statutory framework for retirement villages in the ACT. Her efforts were strongly supported by the ACT Retirement Village Residents Association under the presidency of Pam Graudenz and eventually saw the passage of legislation by the Legislative Assembly on 22 August 2012. The legislation came into effect on 4 March 2013.

In October 2015, Porter announced her intention to retire at the next ACT election due to illness, however in January 2016, she brought her retirement forward due to medical advice and resigned from the Legislative Assembly on 19 February.