James Robert Porter (born 19 February 1950) is an Australian politician. He was a

Liberal Party of Australia The Liberal Party of Australia is a centre-right political party in Australia, one of the two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-left Australian Labor Party. It was founded in 1944 as the successor to the United Au ...

member of the

Australian House of Representatives The House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the upper house being the Senate. Its composition and powers are established in Chapter I of the Constitution of Australia. The term of members of the ...

from 1975 to 1990, representing the regional

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

n seat of Barker. Porter was born in

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

into a wealthy establishment family, and studied law and economics at the

University of Adelaide The University of Adelaide (informally Adelaide University) is a public research university located in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. The university's main campus is located on N ...

. He became a barrister and solicitor, as well as managing a large rural property owned by his family in the south-east of the state, where his family had large holdings. He also served as a lieutenant in the army reserve. Porter was elected to the House of Representatives in the Liberal victory at the 1975 federal election. He was promoted to the shadow ministry after the Liberal government was defeated at the 1983 election and served as opposition spokesperson for a succession of portfolios including Aboriginal affairs (1983-1984), health (1984-1987), family and community services and social security (1987) and housing and public administration (1987-1988). He was praised by conservatives for his performance in Aboriginal affairs at a time when the Labor government faced challenges relating to

native title Aboriginal title is a common law doctrine that the land rights of indigenous peoples to customary tenure persist after the assumption of sovereignty under settler colonialism. The requirements of proof for the recognition of aboriginal title, ...

and was later credited with leading the opposition's attack on the controversial

Australia Card The Australia Card was a proposal for a national identification card for Australian citizens and resident foreigners. The proposal was made in 1985, and abandoned in 1987. History The idea for the card was raised at the national Tax Summit in 1 ...

proposal. In 1987, he was briefly raised as a potential candidate for deputy leader of the party. However, he was downgraded to shadow parliamentary secretary to the Leader of the Opposition in his last two years from 1989 to 1990. In June 1989 Porter was resoundingly defeated for Liberal preselection to recontest his seat at the 1990 federal election by

Ian McLachlan Ian Murray McLachlan (born 2 October 1936) is a former Australian politician who served as a member of the House of Representatives from 1990 to 1998, representing the Liberal Party. He was Minister for Defence in the Howard Government from ...

, the high-profile and ambitious former president of the

National Farmers' Federation The National Farmers' Federation (NFF) is an Australian non-profit membershipbased organization that represents farmers and the agricultural sector in Australia. Historically, NFF was a key player in a number of industrial relations disputes, inc ...

. He faced strong pressure to resign immediately to allow McLachlan to enter parliament at a by-election, with rumours that he would be offered another position such as High Commissioner in London so that he would resign, but refused and remained until the 1990 election. Porter was elected as a vice-president of the state branch of the Liberal Party in August 1989 while still an MP. In 1992, he narrowly lost a bitter battle for the state presidency of the party to

Vickie Chapman Vickie Ann Chapman is a former Australian politician, representing the South Australian House of Assembly seat of Bragg for the South Australian Division of the Liberal Party of Australia between the 2002 election and May 2022. Chapman served ...

amidst infighting between the "wet" and "dry" factions of the party.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Porter, James 1950 births Living people Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Barker Members of the Australian House of Representatives 20th-century Australian politicians Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia Officers Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany