Member for Port Macquarie

Leslie has lived in Lake Cathie with her husband Don for 14 years, after moving to the region to take over the Lake Cathie Post Office in 1996.

Operating a small business and raising two children in the area has given Leslie a natural understanding of the problems facing local families.

In 2002 Leslie began training as a nurse and before the election was employed at Port Macquarie Base Hospital.

Leslie has not always been attracted to politics. In 1996 she became involved in the campaign to secure a primary school at Lake Cathie. Her frustration with the lack of action on the project convinced her that the needs of our region would be ignored as long as we remained on the fence.

Leslie joined The Nationals to give local people a voice in a government that could fix NSW. In 2007 she stood for the Nationals and was the first candidate to achieve a swing against the sitting independent. In 2008 she came very close to winning the Port Macquarie by-election in one of the largest swings in NSW history. Finally, in 2011 she was elected as the Member for Port Macquarie with a margin of 6.4%.

Since then she has been fighting hard for the people of Port Macquarie, the Camden Haven and surrounding areas (and Lord Howe Island) to make sure that the government is well aware of the issues facing her local communities.