Christian Porter to quit politics

Former attorney-general Christian Porter has announced that he will quit politics at the next federal election in a lengthy Facebook post.

Porter was first elected to Parliament for the Western Australian electorate of Pearce in 2013, and was appointed as Attorney-General by Malcolm Turnbull in 2017.

Porter has had a tumultuous final year in politics. In March, the ABC published a story detailing historical rape allegations against an unnamed cabinet minister, following which Porter identified himself as the cabinet member in question. Vehemently denying the claims, Porter then sued the ABC for defamation, a case that was eventually settled, with the ABC adding a note to the story to say that it did not intend to suggest Porter “had committed the criminal offences alleged”. Porter was then moved from the office of attorney-general to industry minister.

Then, in September, it was revealed that anonymous donors paid part of Porter’s legal fees, and Porter opted to resign from cabinet rather than reveal who the donors were.

Porter used his resignation announcement on Facebook as an opportunity to ruminate on his time at the Department of Public Prosecutions and in Parliament, writing, “There are few, if any, constants left in modern politics. Perhaps the only certainty now is that there appears to be no limit to what some will say or allege or do to gain an advantage over a perceived enemy.

“This makes the harshness that can accompany the privilege of representing people, harder than ever before. But even though I have experienced perhaps more of the harshness of modern politics than most, there are no regrets.”

He ended the post by saying, “Before each election I have always asked myself whether I could absolutely guarantee another three years of total commitment to the electorate because people deserve that commitment, free of any reservations.

“After a long time giving everything I could to the people of Pearce it’s now time to give more of what is left to those around me whose love has been unconditional.”

Former WA premier Colin Barnett, who appointed Porter as state attorney-general during his time in office, said he was sad to see Porter leave politics. He said, “I think he would have become a prime minister had he stayed in the long term. So we’ve lost a potential West Australian Prime Minister, which would have been the second since John Curtin during the war.”

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