By Jorian Gardner
MOST politicians will say that any other politician who says they don’t have political leadership ambitions is lying; that every politician has hopes of higher office.
Not that Mary Porter wouldn’t make a great minister, even a chief minister, but you get the impression that this always smiling and delightful member of the Assembly is happy doing what she does – representing and fighting for her constituents in Ginninderra. 
“I get the most satisfaction and the most enjoyment in my job from talking to members of the public and helping them address their concerns,” says Porter. She has been identified as the Assembly’s hardest-working politician having answered 1655 enquiries from constituents over the past four years, more than any other member and more than the entire Liberal Party’s output (1448).
“Sometimes I understand that that can kind of sound a bit corny – but that’s why I do it.  It’s the truth. I try my very best to help the community.
“I am currently holding discussion forums and seeking submissions on the need for a clear legal framework which sets out the rights and obligations of a retirement village resident and operators alike, whilst also improving consumer protection,” she says.
“There are many matters of concern here – contracts, residents’ and operators’ rights and responsibilities, financial information, village rules and dispute resolution. One could perhaps expect that such matters could be dealt with through voluntary codes and self regulation; however, it has been found that this method of regulation, currently employed, has not led to a satisfactory experience for the parties involved.”
Porter arrived in the ACT from the NT in 1977 where she was working in remote parts as a volunteer nursing sister.  She was founding member of the Volunteering Association in 1986, a cause (volunteering) for which Porter is widely seen as the chief advocate for in Canberra still, and was employed by that organisation, now Volunteering ACT, as CEO after it gained initial funding for 10 years until October, 2004, when she was elected to the Assembly.
Porter is a keen reader and a poet and has a published book of short poems.
“When I am not involved with all this ‘stuff’, ” she says. “I would love to get back to writing much more.”
She is the mother of three adult children and two adult stepchildren, and the grandmother to eight.
Her chief advisor is Ian De Landelles, her husband.
How do they do it?  “We have a special way of dealing with it, actually,” says Porter. “It’s like we swap over our roles to husband and wife as we are coming to and from work.
“Every night, when we get inside the front door at home we give each other a kiss and a hug and welcome each other home as husband and wife.  It just works for us.”