Christian Porter

The Honourable Christian Porter
Official portrait, 2015
Attorney-General of Australia
In office 20 December 2017 – 30 March 2021
Prime Minister	Malcolm Turnbull Scott Morrison
Preceded by	George Brandis
Succeeded by	Michaelia Cash
Minister for Industry, Science and Technology
In office 30 March 2021 – 19 September 2021 Serving with Scott Morrison
Prime Minister	Scott Morrison
Preceded by	Karen Andrews
Succeeded by	Melissa Price (Science and Technology) Angus Taylor (Industry)
Leader of the House
In office 26 May 2019 – 30 March 2021
Prime Minister	Scott Morrison
Deputy	Darren Chester
Preceded by	Christopher Pyne
Succeeded by	Peter Dutton
Minister for Industrial Relations
In office 29 May 2019 – 30 March 2021
Prime Minister	Scott Morrison
Preceded by	Kelly O'Dwyer
Succeeded by	Michaelia Cash
Minister for Social Services
In office 21 September 2015 – 20 December 2017
Prime Minister	Malcolm Turnbull
Preceded by	Scott Morrison
Succeeded by	Dan Tehan
Member of the Australian Parliament for Pearce
In office 7 September 2013 – 11 April 2022
Preceded by	Judi Moylan
Succeeded by	Tracey Roberts
Parliament of Western Australia Treasurer of Western Australia In office 14 December 2010 – 12 June 2012 Premier Colin Barnett Preceded by Colin Barnett Succeeded by Colin Barnett Attorney-General of Western Australia In office 23 September 2008 – 12 June 2012 Premier Colin Barnett Preceded by Jim McGinty Succeeded by Michael Mischin Minister for Corrective Services In office 23 September 2008 – 14 December 2010 Premier Colin Barnett Preceded by Margaret Quirk Succeeded by Terry Redman Member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly for Bateman In office 6 September 2008 – 9 March 2013 Preceded by District created Succeeded by Matt Taylor
Personal details
Born	Charles Christian Porter (1970-07-11) 11 July 1970 (age 53)[1] Perth, Western Australia, Australia
Political party	Liberal
Spouses	Lucy Gunn (divorced) Jennifer Negus ​ ​ (m. 2008; sep. 2020)​ [2] Karen Espiner ​ (m. 2022)​ [3]
Children	2
Parent	Chilla Porter (father)
Relatives	Charles Robert Porter (grandfather)
Alma mater	Hale School University of Western Australia (BEc, BA (Hons), LLB)[4] London School of Economics (MSc)[4]
Profession	Politician, lawyer
Website	christianporter.com.au

Charles Christian Porter (born 11 July 1970) is an Australian former politician and lawyer who served as the 37th Attorney-General of Australia from 2017 to 2021 in the Turnbull government and the subsequent Morrison government. He was a Member of Parliament (MP) for the Division of Pearce from 2013 to 2022 and a member of the Liberal Party of Australia. Porter also served as Leader of the House and Minister for Industrial Relations from 2019 to 2021, and Minister for Industry, Science and Technology in 2021 following his resignation as attorney-general.

From Perth, Porter attended Hale School, the University of Western Australia and later the London School of Economics, and practised law at Clayton Utz and taught law at the University of Western Australia before his election to parliament. He is the son of the 1956 Olympic silver medallist, Charles "Chilla" Porter and the grandson of Queensland Liberal politician, Charles Porter, who was a member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly from 1966 to 1980.^[5][6]

Before his election to the federal House of Representatives, Porter had served in the Parliament of Western Australia. He first entered the Legislative Assembly after winning the seat of Murdoch in a 2008 by-election following the death of the sitting member, Trevor Sprigg, and he was subsequently elected to the new seat of Bateman at the 2008 general election. After the Liberals formed government, Porter was appointed Attorney-General in the Barnett Ministry. In December 2010, he was also appointed Treasurer and held both portfolios until June 2012, when he resigned from the ministry to contest the 2013 federal election.

Before assuming his current position, Porter was Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister in the Abbott government from December 2014 to September 2015,^[7][8] and then Minister for Social Services in the Turnbull government from September 2015 to December 2017. In March 2021 a historical rape allegation against Porter became public in the midst of the 2021 Australian Parliament House sexual misconduct allegations. Porter denied the claim and launched a defamation case against the ABC. The case was later dropped, with the ABC agreeing to pay all of Porter's mediation costs and appending an editor's note to the original article. Porter resigned from the front bench in September 2021, after media reports revealed that he was a beneficiary of a blind trust relating to his legal action against the ABC.^[9] Following much controversy and media scrutiny, in December of that year, Porter announced his retirement from politics.^[10][11]