Peter Dutton facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Peter Dutton
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Dutton in 2023
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| Leader of the Opposition | |
| Assumed office 30 May 2022 |
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| Prime Minister | Anthony Albanese |
| Deputy | Sussan Ley |
| Preceded by | Anthony Albanese |
| 15th Leader of the Liberal Party | |
| Assumed office 30 May 2022 |
|
| Deputy | Sussan Ley |
| Preceded by | Scott Morrison |
| Minister for Defence | |
| In office 30 March 2021 – 23 May 2022 |
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| Prime Minister | Scott Morrison |
| Deputy | Andrew Hastie |
| Preceded by | Linda Reynolds |
| Succeeded by | Richard Marles |
| Leader of the House | |
| In office 30 March 2021 – 23 May 2022 |
|
| Prime Minister | Scott Morrison |
| Preceded by | Christian Porter |
| Succeeded by | Tony Burke |
| Minister for Home Affairs | |
| In office 20 December 2017 – 30 March 2021 |
|
| Prime Minister | Malcolm Turnbull Scott Morrison |
| Preceded by | Jason Clare |
| Succeeded by | Karen Andrews |
| Minister for Immigration and Border Protection | |
| In office 23 December 2014 – 21 August 2018 |
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| Prime Minister | Tony Abbott Malcolm Turnbull |
| Preceded by | Scott Morrison |
| Succeeded by | David Coleman |
| Minister for Health | |
| In office 18 September 2013 – 23 December 2014 |
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| Prime Minister | Tony Abbott |
| Preceded by | Tanya Plibersek |
| Succeeded by | Sussan Ley |
| Minister for Sport | |
| In office 18 September 2013 – 23 December 2014 |
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| Prime Minister | Tony Abbott |
| Preceded by | Don Farrell |
| Succeeded by | Sussan Ley |
| Assistant Treasurer of Australia | |
| In office 27 January 2006 – 3 December 2007 |
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| Prime Minister | John Howard |
| Preceded by | Mal Brough |
| Succeeded by | Chris Bowen |
| Minister for Workforce Participation | |
| In office 26 October 2004 – 27 January 2006 |
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| Prime Minister | John Howard |
| Preceded by | Fran Bailey |
| Succeeded by | Sharman Stone |
| Member of the House of Representatives for Dickson | |
| Assumed office 10 November 2001 |
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| Preceded by | Cheryl Kernot |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Peter Craig Dutton
18 November 1970 Brisbane, Queensland, Australia |
| Political party | Liberal (federal) LNP (state) |
| Other political affiliations |
Liberal-National Coalition |
| Spouse |
Kirilly Brumby
(m. 2003) |
| Children | 3 |
| Education | Queensland University of Technology (BBus) |
| Signature |  |
Peter Craig Dutton (born 18 November 1970) is an Australian politician and former police detective serving as the current Leader of the Opposition, holding office as the leader of the Liberal Party of Australia since May 2022. He has been the member of Parliament (MP) for the division of Dickson since 2001. Dutton previously served as the minister for Defence from 2021 to 2022 and the minister for Home Affairs from 2017 to 2021. He held various ministerial positions from 2004 to 2022 in the governments of Howard, Abbott, Turnbull and Morrison.
Dutton grew up in Brisbane. He worked as a police officer in the Queensland Police for nearly a decade upon leaving school, and later ran a construction business with his father. He joined the Liberal Party as a teenager and was elected to the House of Representatives at the 2001 election, aged 30. Following the 2004 election, he was appointed as Minister for Employment Participation. In January 2006, he was promoted to become Assistant Treasurer under Peter Costello. After the defeat of the Liberal-National Coalition at the 2007 election, he was appointed to the Shadow Cabinet as Shadow Minister for Health, a role he held for the next six years.
Upon the victory of the Coalition at the 2013 election, Dutton was appointed Minister for Health and Minister for Sport. He was moved to the role of Minister for Immigration and Border Protection in December 2014, where he played a key role in overseeing Operation Sovereign Borders. He was kept in that position after Malcolm Turnbull replaced Tony Abbott as Prime Minister in September 2015. In December 2017, he was also given the restored role of Minister for Home Affairs, heading a new 'super' department with broad responsibilities brought together from other existing departments.
After the defeat of Abbott, Dutton became widely seen as the leader of the conservative faction in the Liberal Party, and began to be spoken of as a potential leader. In August 2018, after a period of poor opinion polling for the Coalition, Dutton unsuccessfully challenged Turnbull for the leadership. He then was defeated by Scott Morrison in a second leadership ballot days later after Turnbull chose to resign. He was retained as Minister for Home Affairs by Morrison, later becoming Minister for Defence and Leader of the House in March 2021. He went on to succeed Morrison as party leader unopposed after the Coalition's defeat at the 2022 election, becoming leader of the opposition. He is the first Liberal leader to come from Queensland, and the first leader since Alexander Downer to represent a seat outside of New South Wales.
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Early years
Dutton was born on 18 November 1970 in the northern Brisbane suburb of Boondall. Dutton is the great-great-grandson of the pastoralist squatter and politician Charles Boydell Dutton. He is also a descendant of Captain Richard James Coley, who was Queensland's first Sergeant-at-Arms, who built Brisbane's first private dwelling and who gave evidence confirming the mass poisonings of Aboriginal Australians at Kilcoy in 1842.
Dutton is the eldest of five children, with one brother and three sisters. His mother Ailsa Leitch worked in childcare and his father Bruce Dutton was a builder. Dutton finished high school at the Anglican St Paul's School, Bald Hills. He worked cash in hand at a butcher shop during his school years, and his parents separated shortly after he graduated.
Dutton joined the Young Liberals in 1988 aged 18. He became the policy vice-chair of the Bayside Young Liberals the following year and chair of the branch in 1990. At the 1989 Queensland state election, the 19-year-old Dutton ran unsuccessfully as the Liberal candidate against Tom Burns, a former state Labor leader, in the safe Labor seat of Lytton.
Police career
Upon leaving high school, Dutton graduated from the Queensland Police Academy in 1990. He served as a Queensland Police officer for nearly a decade.
In 1999, Dutton left the Queensland Police, having achieved the rank of detective senior constable. Documentation filed in the District Court of Queensland in 2000 describes his resignation as being prompted by a loss of driving confidence resulting from an incident in August 1998. He was driving an unmarked Mazda 626 during a covert surveillance operation, before rolling his car while in pursuit of an escaped prisoner who was driving erratically. Dutton also suffered numerous physical injuries during the accident, and as a result, was hospitalised briefly and bedridden for a week. He had sought damages of $250,000 from the escaped prisoner's insurance company but dropped the claim in 2005.
Business activities
On leaving the police, Dutton completed a Bachelor of Business at the Queensland University of Technology. He and his father founded the business Dutton Holdings, which was registered in 2000; it operated under six different trading and business names. The company bought, renovated, and converted buildings into childcare centres, and in 2002 it sold three childcare centres to the now defunct ABC Learning. ABC Learning continued to pay rent of A$100,000 to Dutton Holdings. Dutton Holdings continues to trade under the name Dutton Building & Development.
Howard government (2001–07)
Dutton was elected to the Division of Dickson at the 2001 election, defeating Labor's Cheryl Kernot. He was elevated to the ministry after the 2004 election as Minister for Workforce Participation, a position he held until January 2006. He was then appointed Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Revenue. He successfully retained Dickson at the 2007 election, which saw the government lose office. However, his margin was reduced to just 217 votes more than Labor's Fiona McNamara.
Opposition (2007–2013)
Following the 2007 election, Dutton was promoted to shadow cabinet by the new Liberal leader Brendan Nelson, as Shadow Minister for Finance, Competition Policy and Deregulation.
In September 2008, Nelson was replaced as Liberal leader by Malcolm Turnbull, who appointed Dutton as Shadow Minister for Health and Ageing. He retained that position when Tony Abbott succeeded Turnbull as leader in December 2009. In June 2010, Dutton released the Coalition's mental health policy. The Australian described it as "the most significant announcement by any political party in relation to a targeted, evidence-based investment in mental health", but not all experts agreed.
Dutton retained his seat with a positive swing at the 2010 federal election, despite an unfavourable redistribution. In the lead-up to the 2013 federal election, he announced a range of Coalition health policies, which were received favourably by industry groups. The Australian Medical Association said "the Coalition has delivered a strong package of practical, affordable health policies that would strengthen general practice", while Cancer Council Australia said that "Dutton's promise to finalise the bowel cancer screening program by 2020 would save an additional 35,000 lives over the next 40 years."
Attempted seat shift
As the 2010 election approached, it looked like Dutton would lose to the Labor candidate due to a redistribution of division boundaries that had erased his majority and made Dickson notionally Labor. To safeguard himself, Dutton sought pre-selection for the merged Liberal National Party in the safe Liberal seat of McPherson on the Gold Coast (despite not living in or near McPherson). Some constituents complained, "The abandoning of a seat by a sitting MP halfway through a parliamentary term to contest pre-selection in a seat over 100 kilometres to the south is not looked upon favourably."
Dutton lost the McPherson pre-selection to Karen Andrews, reportedly due to misgivings from former Nationals in the area. He then asked the LNP to "deliver him a seat for which he does not have to fight other preselection candidates". Liberal MP Alex Somlyay (the chief Opposition whip of the time) said that Dutton's expectation of an uncontested preselection was "unusual". When the state executive did not provide Dutton an unchallenged preselection, Dutton reluctantly returned to campaign for the seat of Dickson. In the election, he won the seat with a 5.9% swing towards him.
Cabinet Minister (2013–2022)
Minister for Health
Dutton retained his seat at the 2013 election. He was appointed to the new ministry by Prime Minister Tony Abbott as Minister for Health and Minister for Sport.
As Health Minister, Dutton announced the $20 billion Medical Research Future Fund. As announced, the capital and any ongoing capital gains of the Medical Research Future Fund will be preserved in perpetuity.
Under Dutton, projected funding in the health portfolio increased in the 2014–15 Budget to $66.9 billion, an increase of 7.5 percent from $62.2 billion in 2012–13, the final full year of the Labor government. Projected expenditure on Medicare increased over 9.5 percent from $18.5 billion in 2012–13 under Labor to a projected $20.32 billion in 2014–15 under Dutton. Funding for public hospital services increased by nearly 14 percent under Dutton in the 2014–15 Budget to a projected $15.12 billion compared to $13.28 billion in the last full year of the Labor government in 2012–13.
In a 2015 poll by Australian Doctor magazine, based on votes from over 1,100 doctors, Dutton was voted the worst health minister in the last 35 years by 46 percent of respondents.
Minister for Immigration (2014–17)
On 23 December 2014, Dutton was sworn in as the Minister for Immigration and Border Protection after a cabinet reshuffle.
Minister for Home Affairs (2017–2021)
On 20 December 2017, Dutton was appointed the Minister for Home Affairs with responsibilities of overseeing the Department of Home Affairs which was established on 20 December 2017 by Administrative Arrangement Order. The Home Affairs portfolio is a major re-arrangement of national security, law enforcement, emergency management, transport security, border control, and immigration functions.
South African farm attacks
In March 2018, Dutton made calls to treat white South African farmers as refugees, stating that "they need help from a civilised country". However, his offer was rejected by Afrikaner rights organisation AfriForum, which stated that the future of Afrikaners was in Africa, as well as by the survivalist group the Suidlanders, which took credit for bringing the issue of a purported "white genocide" to international attention and for Dutton's decision, and was met with "regret" by the South African foreign ministry. The Australian High Commissioner was subsequently summoned by the South African foreign ministry, which expressed its offence at Dutton's statements, and demanded a "full retraction".
His proposal got support from some of his party's backbenchers and Liberal Democrat Senator David Leyonhjelm with Leyonhjelm later clarifying that he thought that South African farmers should be admitted under existing visa programmes, and could not be regarded as refugees. National Party of Australia MP Andrew Broad warned that the mass migration of South African farmers would result in food shortages in South Africa. Economic Freedom Fighters leader Julius Malema encouraged white farmers to take up Dutton's offer. After initially leaving the door open to changes, Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop subsequently ruled out any special deals for white South African farmers, emphasising the non-discriminatory nature of Australia's humanitarian visa programme. In a subsequent interview, Dutton vowed to push forward with his plans, saying that his critics were "dead to me".
In April 2018, it emerged that Dutton's department had previously blocked asylum applications by a white farmer, and another white South African woman, with the decisions upheld by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.
Immigration from New Zealand
As both Immigration Minister and Home Affairs Minister, Peter Dutton has defended an amendment to the Migration Act 1958 that facilitates the denial or cancellation of Australian visas for non-citizens on "character" grounds. This stringent "character test" also affects non-citizens who have lived most of their lives in Australia or who have families living in the country. New Zealand nationals living in Australia were disproportionately affected by this "character test" with over 1,300 New Zealanders having been deported from Australia in the period between January 2015 and July 2018. According to a Home Affairs Department report, 620 New Zealanders had their visas cancelled on character grounds in 2017 alone.
In July 2017, Dutton's Department of Immigration and Border Protection introduced a special Skilled Independent subclass 189 visa to provide a pathway for New Zealanders holding a Special Category Visa to acquire Australian citizenship. The visa requires NZ nationals to have held a Special Category Visa for five years and to maintain an annual income of $53,900. Between 60,000 and 80,000 New Zealanders residing in Australia are eligible for the Skilled Independent subclass 189 visa. By February 2018, 1,512 skilled independent visas had been issued by late February 2018 with another 7,500 visas still being processed.
Policing
In December 2019, Dutton announced that airport security measures were to be increased to detect, deter and respond to potential threats to aviation safety. Measures include greater use of canines and the deployment of extra protective services personnel armed with MK18 short-barreled rifles. Dutton appeared in a video alongside police personnel to announce the policy, sparking criticism of the potential use of police for political purposes.
In March 2019, the Australian Federal Police Association had claimed that the AFP should be removed from the Department of Home Affairs to preserve its integrity and its ability to carry out investigations without government influence. Association president Angela Smith described it as "an embarrassing situation... We look the least independent police force in Australia, surely the other police forces are laughing at us."
Leadership challenges
On 21 August 2018, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull called a snap ballot of the leadership of the Liberal Party following several days of feverish leadership speculation, of which Dutton was at the centre. Dutton responded to Turnbull's ballot call by formally challenging for the leadership of the party and won 35 of 83 votes available, 7 short of a majority. Dutton then resigned from the Ministry despite being offered by Turnbull to retain his position of Minister for Home Affairs, and the media speculated that Dutton and his conservative backers in the party were likely to challenge for the leadership again in the near future. Three days later, Dutton called for another leadership spill, and Malcolm Turnbull tendered his resignation to the Governor-General. Dutton was defeated by Treasurer and Acting Home Affairs Minister Scott Morrison by 45 votes to 40.
Doubts surrounding Dutton's eligibility to be elected to parliament emerged on the grounds of section 44(v) of the Australian Constitution, as the family trust owned by Dutton operated a child care centre that received over $5.6 million in funding from the Commonwealth Government, in a situation similar to Bob Day's case. Although Dutton had received legal advice stating that he was not in breach of section 44(v), Labor had received contrary advice; at Turnbull's request, the Attorney-General referred the matter to the Solicitor-General. On 23 August, Labor attempted to move a motion to refer Dutton's eligibility as an MP to the High Court, in a similar manner to referrals made during the recent parliamentary citizenship crisis. The motion failed by 69 votes to 68. On 24 August, the Solicitor-General advised that in terms of section 44(v) Dutton was "not incapable" of sitting as an MP, although he added that he had been provided with limited factual information and that, owing to differences of judicial opinion in earlier decisions of the High Court on section 44(v), Dutton's legal position could not be entirely clear without a referral to the High Court. Dutton was reappointed to his former Home Affairs portfolio by Scott Morrison in the Morrison Ministry; however, responsibility for Immigration was stripped from the role and was assigned to David Coleman.
2019 federal election
Dutton was re-elected at the 2019 federal election. The political think tank GetUp! identified Dutton as "Australia's most unwanted hard-right politician" after surveying more than "30,000 members". GetUp! mounted a campaign in an attempt to defeat Dutton in Dickson. In response, Dutton said GetUp! was, "deceptive", "undemocratic" and "unrepresentative" and that he would back "parliamentary processes to bring the activist group to heel." GetUp! has defended the effectiveness of its campaigning in Dutton's electorate.
Minister for Defence (2021–22)
In March 2021, Dutton was appointed Minister for Defence.
On 11 July 2021, Dutton announced the end of Australia's military presence in Afghanistan.
In October 2021, Dutton said Australia will back up any U.S. effort to defend Taiwan if China attacks. In November 2021, he branded the former Prime Minister Paul Keating as "Grand Appeaser Comrade Keating".
Leader of the Opposition (2022–present)
The Coalition was defeated at the 2022 federal election, with Dutton retaining his seat despite a swing against him. After Scott Morrison resigned as leader of the Liberal Party, Dutton was elected unopposed as the new leader, with Sussan Ley elected as deputy.
Political views
Dutton is aligned with the "National Right" faction of the Liberal Party, which he leads. He has been described as a right-wing populist. Dutton is opposed to an Australian republic. In December 2018, Dutton told Sky News that for the prior seventeen years he had regarded "parliament as a disadvantage for sitting governments".
Energy and emissions
In 2023, Dutton began advocating for nuclear power in Australia, in particular small modular reactors, which he said could be placed at the sites of decommissioned coal-fired power plants.
In March 2024, Dutton criticised the CSIRO for its research, conducted every year as part of its "GenCost" report, demonstrating that nuclear power would be the most expensive source of new energy for Australia, going on to say that the national science agency was discredited and its scientific findings could not be relied on.
In 2023, he was opposed to a proposed wind farm off the coast of the New South Wales Hunter region, saying that the environmental impacts such as to the seabed and bird species were unknown. He said "We’re all in favour of renewable energy, but not at any cost, and not where you’re destroying jobs and livelihoods and the environment."
In 2022, former Coalition prime minister Malcolm Turnbull criticised Dutton’s pro-nuclear and renewable-sceptic stance on renewable energy as “complete and utter nonsense”, further criticising the “crazy sort of climate denying element” in the LNP and in the right wing media, particularly the Rupert Murdoch media.
Dutton’s nuclear proposal was further criticised by Australia’s big energy retailers, with AGL Energy, Alinta, EnergyAustralia and Origin Energy all dismissing nuclear as a viable source of power for their customers for at least a decade, pointing to the long lead time for development and very high cost compared to other energy options, including renewables. In June 2024, energy experts and investors described Dutton’s plan for nuclear energy in Australia as "virtually unworkable", with AGL Energy's CEO saying "There is no viable schedule for the regulation or development of nuclear energy in Australia, and the cost, build time and public opinion are all prohibitive."
In 2024, Dutton led the Liberals’ campaign against Labor’s proposal to introduce new vehicle efficiency standards, incorrectly labelling it a tax on vehicles. Dutton’s claim that it was a tax, and subsequent claims that fuel efficiency standards would dramatically increase the price of vehicles, was fact-checked and found to be wrong.
Negative gearing
Dutton opposes any changes to negative gearing which offers tax breaks to property investors, saying in May 2017 that changing it would harm the economy. He owns six properties with his wife, including a shopping centre in Townsville.
Pledge of allegiance
In 2018, Dutton said he supports Australian school children taking the Oath of Allegiance in schools, as is done by new Australian citizens.
Personal life
Dutton married his first wife when he was 22 years of age; the marriage ended after a few months. His eldest child, a daughter, was born in 2002 to another partner, and split time between her parents in a shared parenting arrangement. In 2003, Dutton married his second wife, Kirilly (née Brumby), with whom he has two sons.
On 13 March 2020, Dutton announced that he had tested positive for COVID-19, becoming one of the first high-profile cases of the pandemic in Australia.
Dutton suffers from the skin condition alopecia totalis.
Dutton supports the Brisbane Broncos in the National Rugby League, but also backed the eventually successful membership bid for a second Brisbane team in the league (the Dolphins).
Electoral performance
| Election | Division | First preference | Two-party vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Dickson | 45.58% | 55.97% |
| 2004 | Dickson | 52.09% | 57.83% |
| 2007 | Dickson | 46.15% | 50.13% |
| 2010 | Dickson | 48.96% | 55.13% |
| 2013 | Dickson | 48.01% | 56.72% |
| 2016 | Dickson | 44.56% | 51.60% |
| 2019 | Dickson | 45.93% | 54.64% |
| 2022 | Dickson | 42.07% | 51.70% |
See also
In Spanish: Peter Dutton para niños
