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Peter Craig Dutton (born 18 November 1970) is an Australian former politician who served as the
Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the Opposition (parliamentary), largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the ...
and the leader of the Liberal Party from 2022 to 2025. He was the member of parliament (MP) for the Queensland seat of Dickson between the
2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...
and
2025 So far, the year has seen the continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudanese civil war, and the Gaza war. Internal crises in Bangladesh post-resignation v ...
elections. He previously held ministerial office in the
Howard Howard is a masculine given name derived from the English surname Howard. ''The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names'' notes that "the use of this surname as a christian name is quite recent and there seems to be no particular reason for ...
, Abbott, Turnbull, and
Morrison Morrison may refer to: People * Morrison (surname), people with the Scottish surname Morrison * Morrison Heady (1829–1915), American poet * Morrison Mann MacBride (1877–1938), Canadian merchant Places in the United States * Morrison, Colorad ...
governments, including as a cabinet minister from 2013 to 2022. Dutton grew up in
Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...
. He worked as a police officer in the
Queensland Police The Queensland Police Service (QPS) is the principal law enforcement agency responsible for policing the Australian state of Queensland. In 1990, the Queensland Police Force was officially renamed the Queensland Police Service and the old motto ...
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, Dutton was promoted to Assistant Treasurer under
Peter Costello Peter Howard Costello (born 14 August 1957) is an Australian businessman, lawyer and former politician who served as the treasurer of Australia in Howard government, government of John Howard from 1996 to 2007. He is the longest-serving trea ...
. 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 A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health and providing welfare spending and other social security services. Some governments have separate ministers for mental heal ...
and Minister for Sport. He was moved to the role of
Minister for Immigration and Border Protection The Minister for Immigration and Citizenship is a ministerial post of the Australian Government and is currently held by Tony Burke since July 2024 in the First Albanese ministry, Albanese ministry. The post was created in 1945 and its inaugur ...
in December 2014, where he played a key role in overseeing Operation Sovereign Borders. He was kept in that position after
Malcolm Turnbull Malcolm Bligh Turnbull (born 24 October 1954) is an Australian former politician and businessman who served as the 29th prime minister of Australia from 2015 to 2018. He held office as Liberal Party of Australia, leader of the Liberal Party an ...
replaced
Tony Abbott Anthony John Abbott (; born 4 November 1957) is an Australian former politician who served as the 28th prime minister of Australia from 2013 to 2015. He held office as the leader of the Liberal Party of Australia and was the member of parli ...
as Prime Minister in September 2015. In December 2017, he was also given the new role of
Minister for Home Affairs An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...
, 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 Scott John Morrison (born 13 May 1968) is an Australian former politician who served as the 30th prime minister of Australia from 2018 to 2022. He held office as leader of the Liberal Party of Australia, leader of the Liberal Party and was ...
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. Dutton went on to succeed Morrison as party leader unopposed after the Coalition's defeat at the 2022 election, becoming leader of the opposition. He was the first Liberal leader to come from
Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...
, and the first leader since
Alexander Downer Alexander John Gosse Downer (born 9 September 1951) is an Australian former politician and diplomat who was leader of the Liberal Party from 1994 to 1995, Minister for Foreign Affairs from 1996 to 2007, and High Commissioner to the United Ki ...
to represent a seat outside New South Wales. Dutton led the Coalition to a landslide defeat at the
2025 Australian federal election The 2025 Australian federal election was held on Saturday, 3 May 2025, to elect members of the 48th Parliament of Australia. All 150 seats in the Australian House of Representatives, House of Representatives were up for election, along with 40 ...
, and lost his seat of Dickson to
Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...
candidate Ali France, becoming the first federal Opposition Leader to lose their seat at an election.


Early years

Dutton was born on 18 November 1970 in the northern
Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...
suburb of
Boondall Boondall ( ) is a northern suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was formerly known as Cabbage Tree Creek (after the creek that flows through the area). In the , Boondall had a population of 9,603 people. Geography Situate ...
. Dutton is the great-great-grandson of the pastoralist
squatter Squatting is the action of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied area of land or a building (usually residential) that the squatter does not Land ownership and tenure, own, rent or otherwise have lawful permission to use. The United Nations estima ...
and politician Charles Boydell Dutton. He is also a descendant of Captain Richard James Coley, who was Queensland's first
Sergeant-at-Arms A serjeant-at-arms or sergeant-at-arms is an officer appointed by a deliberative body, usually a legislature, to keep order during its meetings. The word "serjeant" is derived from the Latin , which means "servant". Historically, serjeants-at-a ...
, 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 A butcher is a person who may Animal slaughter, slaughter animals, dress their flesh, sell their meat, or participate within any combination of these three tasks. They may prepare standard cuts of meat and poultry for sale in retail or wholesale ...
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 1989 Queensland state election was held in the Australian state of Queensland on 2 December 1989 to elect the 89 members of the state's Legislative Assembly. This was the first election following the downfall of eight-term premier Sir Joh B ...
, the 19-year-old Dutton ran unsuccessfully as the Liberal candidate against Tom Burns, a former state
Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...
leader, in the safe Labor seat of Lytton.


Education

According to a leaked transcript of his academic record, in 1989 Dutton failed four of six subjects in his first year of a
Bachelor of Business A Bachelor of Business (BBus, BBus (Major)) is a three to four year undergraduate degree in the field of business offered by universities from the post-Dawkins era in Australia, New Zealand and Ireland. It is similar in format and structure to a B ...
degree at
Queensland University of Technology The Queensland University of Technology (QUT) is a public university, public research university located in the city of Brisbane in Queensland, Australia. It has two major campuses, a modern city campus in Gardens Point, Brisbane, Gardens Point ...
. This prompted him to join the police force and study business part time, graduating a decade later.


Police career

Dutton graduated from the Queensland Police Academy in 1990. He was a
Queensland Police The Queensland Police Service (QPS) is the principal law enforcement agency responsible for policing the Australian state of Queensland. In 1990, the Queensland Police Force was officially renamed the Queensland Police Service and the old motto ...
officer for nearly a decade, working in the drug squad in Brisbane in the early 1990s. He also worked in the sex offenders squad and with the National Crime Authority. In 1999, Dutton left the Queensland Police, having reached 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 after a
car crash A traffic collision, also known as a motor vehicle collision, or car crash, occurs when a vehicle collides with another vehicle, pedestrian, animal, road debris, or other moving or stationary obstruction, such as a tree, pole or building. T ...
in August 1998. During a covert surveillance operation, he rolled his unmarked
Mazda 626 __NOTOC__ Year 626 (Roman numerals, DCXXVI) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 626 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent ...
car while in pursuit of an escaped prisoner who was driving erratically. Dutton suffered numerous injuries in the accident, and was hospitalised briefly and bedridden for a week. He sought damages of , equivalent to in , from the escaped prisoner's insurance company but dropped the claim in 2005.


Business activities

On leaving the police, 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. In 2002 it sold three childcare centres to the now defunct ABC Learning, which continued to pay annual rent of , equivalent to in , to Dutton Holdings. Dutton Holdings continued to trade under the name Dutton Building & Development.


Howard government (2001–07)


Backbencher, 2001–2004

In early 2001, Dutton won Liberal
preselection Preselection is the process by which a candidate is selected, usually by a political party, to contest an election for political office. It is also referred to as candidate selection. It is a fundamental function of political parties. The presel ...
for the seat of Dickson in Brisbane's northern suburbs, reportedly with the support of Liberal powerbroker Santo Santoro. He was elected to the House of Representatives at the 2001 election, aged 30. He defeated the high-profile incumbent
Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also known as the Labor Party or simply Labor, is the major Centre-left politics, centre-left List of political parties in Australia, political party in Australia and one of two Major party, major parties in Po ...
(ALP) MP
Cheryl Kernot Cheryl Zena Kernot (née Paton, formerly Young; born 5 December 1948) is an Australian politician, academic, and political activist. She was a member of the Australian Senate representing Queensland for the Australian Democrats from 1990 to 199 ...
, a shadow cabinet minister and former leader of the
Australian Democrats The Australian Democrats is a centrist political party in Australia. Founded in 1977 from a merger of the Australia Party and the New Liberal Movement, both of which were descended from Liberal Party splinter groups, it was Australia's lar ...
, with Dickson regarded as a key target seat for the Coalition. Dutton's first overseas trip as an MP was a visit to the site of the
September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...
in New York City. In his
maiden speech A maiden speech is the first speech given by a newly elected or appointed member of a legislature or parliament. Traditions surrounding maiden speeches vary from country to country. In many Westminster system governments, there is a convention th ...
in February 2002 he stated that the "
silent majority The silent majority is an unspecified large group of people in a country or group who do not express their opinions publicly. The term was popularized by U.S. President Richard Nixon in a televised address on November 3, 1969, in which he said, "A ...
" and " forgotten people" were dissatisfied with "the boisterous minority and the politically correct" and "the dictatorship of the
trade union movement The labour movement is the collective organisation of working people to further their shared political and economic interests. It consists of the trade union or labour union movement, as well as political parties of labour. It can be considere ...
". He was also critical of members of the Queensland Council for Civil Liberties, who he said were "obsessed with the rights of criminals yet do not utter a word of understanding or compassion for the victims of crime". Dutton had a relatively high profile as a first-term
backbencher In Westminster system, Westminster and other parliamentary systems, a backbencher is a member of parliament (MP) or a legislator who occupies no Minister (government), governmental office and is not a Frontbencher, frontbench spokesperson ...
. He was appointed to the House Standing Committee on Family and Community Affairs in 2002 and served on an inquiry into
family law Family law (also called matrimonial law or the law of domestic relations) is an area of the law that deals with family matters and domestic relations. Overview Subjects that commonly fall under a nation's body of family law include: * Marriag ...
and the
Child Support Agency The Child Support Agency (CSA) was a delivery arm of the Department for Work and Pensions (Child Maintenance Group) in Great Britain and the former Department for Social Development (Northern Ireland), Department for Social Development in Nor ...
, where he advocated for lawyers to have less of a role in determining parental custody. The inquiry's report was publicly criticised by
Alastair Nicholson Alastair Bothwick Nicholson, (born 19 August 1938) is a retired Australian jurist who served as the Chief Justice of the Family Court of Australia from 1988 until 2004. Early life and education Nicholson was born in 1938 in Melbourne returning ...
, the chief justice of the
Family Court of Australia The Family Court of Australia was a superior Australian federal court of record which deals with family law matters, such as divorce applications, parenting disputes, and the division of property when a couple separate. Together with the Fed ...
, who said its proposals were "impractical and naive". Dutton also spoke frequently on crime topics, including supporting the death penalty for the perpetrators of the
2002 Bali bombings The 2002 Bali bombings were a series of terrorist attacks on 12 October 2002 in the tourist district of Kuta on the Indonesian island of Bali. The attacks killed 202 people (including 88 Australians, 38 Indonesians, 23 Britons, and people ...
and supporting legislation that would allow businesses to refuse service to drug addicts. In 2004, following the High Court decision in ''
R v Carroll ''R v Carroll'' (2002) 213 CLR 635; [2002] HCA 55 is a decision of the High Court of Australia which unanimously upheld the decision by a Queensland appellate court to stay an indictment for perjury as the indictment was found to contr ...
'', he accompanied Faye Kennedy, the mother of murdered infant Deidre Kennedy, on a statewide tour to promote "Deirdre's Law", which sought to amend the
double jeopardy In jurisprudence, double jeopardy is a procedural defence (primarily in common law jurisdictions) that prevents an accused person from being tried again on the same (or similar) charges following an acquittal or conviction and in rare cases ...
provisions of Queensland's criminal code.


Minister, 2004–2007

On 26 October 2004, Dutton was appointed Minister for Workforce Participation in the
Howard government The Howard government refers to the Government of Australia, federal executive government of Australia led by Prime Minister John Howard between 11 March 1996 and 3 December 2007. It was made up of members of the Liberal Party of Australia, Li ...
, following the Coalition's re-election at the 2004 election. He was seen as politically close to Prime Minister
John Howard John Winston Howard (born 26 July 1939) is an Australian former politician who served as the 25th prime minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007. He held office as leader of the Liberal Party of Australia. His eleven-year tenure as prime min ...
. In July 2005, he was one of the few government ministers to support Howard's suggestion that a national identity card be introduced as an anti-terrorism measure, with a number of cabinet ministers publicly opposing the idea. Dutton was responsible for the government's suite of "welfare-to-work" policies, which were intended to break generational poverty and
welfare dependency Welfare dependency is the state in which a person or household is reliant on government welfare benefits for their income for a prolonged period of time, and without which they would not be able to meet the expenses of daily living. The United Sta ...
. In November 2004, he flagged that the government would be looking at measures to encourage disability support pensioners to enter the workforce. The following year he announced that disability support pensioners deemed capable of working more than 15 hours per week would be moved to the Newstart Allowance. Changes were also made to rules for single parents, with recipients required to prove that they were not in a ''de facto'' relationship or face a reduced payment. In April 2005, Dutton announced that single parents would be required to seek employment once their youngest children entered school or receive a decrease in welfare payments. He stated that the changes were necessary to "ensure welfare dependency is not entrenched". Following a ministerial reshuffle, Dutton was appointed Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Revenue on 27 January 2006. He had previously worked closely with Treasurer
Peter Costello Peter Howard Costello (born 14 August 1957) is an Australian businessman, lawyer and former politician who served as the treasurer of Australia in Howard government, government of John Howard from 1996 to 2007. He is the longest-serving trea ...
on the welfare reforms, and was reportedly a "strident proponent" of
WorkChoices WorkChoices was the name given to changes made to the federal industrial relations laws in Australia by the Howard government#Fourth term: 2004–2007, Howard government in 2005, being amendments to the ''Workplace Relations Act 1996'' by the '' ...
, the government's industrial relations reform package. He successfully retained Dickson at the 2007 election, which saw the government lose office; however, his margin was reduced to 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 Brendan John Nelson (born 19 August 1958) is an Australian business leader, physician and former politician. He served as the federal Leader of the Opposition from 2007 to 2008, going on to serve as Australia's senior diplomat to the European ...
, as Shadow Minister for Finance, Competition Policy and Deregulation. In 2008, he chose not to be present in the chamber during the apology to the
Stolen Generations The Stolen Generations (also known as Stolen Children) were the children of Aboriginal Australians, Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, Torres Strait Islander descent who were removed from their families by the Australian Gover ...
, which enjoyed bipartisan support. He said "I regarded it as something which was not going to deliver tangible outcomes to kids who are being raped and tortured in communities in the 21st century." Later, in a 2014 interview with the ''
Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper in ...
'', Dutton said he regretted boycotting the apology: "I underestimated the symbolic and cultural significance of it." In 2023 Dutton apologised for skipping the apology, saying he had "failed to grasp" its significance. In September 2008, Nelson was replaced as Liberal leader by
Malcolm Turnbull Malcolm Bligh Turnbull (born 24 October 1954) is an Australian former politician and businessman who served as the 29th prime minister of Australia from 2015 to 2018. He held office as Liberal Party of Australia, leader of the Liberal Party an ...
, who appointed Dutton as Shadow Minister for Health and Ageing. He retained that position when
Tony Abbott Anthony John Abbott (; born 4 November 1957) is an Australian former politician who served as the 28th prime minister of Australia from 2013 to 2015. He held office as the leader of the Liberal Party of Australia and was the member of parli ...
succeeded Turnbull as leader in December 2009. In June 2010, Dutton released the
Coalition A coalition is formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political, military, or economic spaces. Formation According to ''A G ...
's mental health policy. ''
The Australian ''The Australian'', with its Saturday edition ''The Weekend Australian'', is a broadsheet daily newspaper published by News Corp Australia since 14 July 1964. As the only Australian daily newspaper distributed nationally, its readership of b ...
'' 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 election, despite an unfavourable redistribution. In the lead-up to the 2013 election, he announced a range of Coalition health policies, which were received favourably by industry groups. The
Australian Medical Association The Australian Medical Association (AMA) is an independent professional association for Australian physician, doctors and medical school#Medical students, medical students. The association is not a government authority and does not regulate or ...
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, there was a risk that Dutton would lose to the Labor candidate due to a redistribution of division boundaries that had erased his majority and made Dickson notionally Labor. As a result, 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 criticized the decision, and according to a Dickson LNP member, "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 by those constituents abandoned in the first place." Dutton lost the McPherson pre-selection to Karen Andrews, reportedly due to misgivings from former Nationals in the area. He then asked the LNP for a seat with an uncontested pre-selection, which Liberal MP Alex Somlyay (the chief Opposition whip of the time) said was "unusual". When the state executive did not provide Dutton an uncontested pre-selection, Dutton 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 A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health and providing welfare spending and other social security services. Some governments have separate ministers for mental heal ...
and Minister for Sport. As Health Minister, Dutton announced the $20 billion
Medical Research Future Fund The Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) is a research fund established in Australia by the Abbott government. It is managed by the Future Fund, with interest generated going to medical research. In 2020-2021, the MRFF reached its capitalisation t ...
. 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 The Minister for Immigration and Citizenship is a ministerial post of the Australian Government and is currently held by Tony Burke since July 2024 in the First Albanese ministry, Albanese ministry. The post was created in 1945 and its inaugur ...
after a cabinet reshuffle. In September 2015, Dutton cancelled the visa of
anti-abortion Anti-abortion movements, also self-styled as pro-life movements, are involved in the abortion debate advocating against the practice of abortion and its Abortion by country, legality. Many anti-abortion movements began as countermovements in r ...
activist Troy Newman, over remarks in his 2000 book ''Their Blood Cries Out''. In 2016,
News Corp The second and current incarnation of News Corporation, doing business as News Corp, is an American mass media and publishing company headquartered at 1211 Avenue of the Americas in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The company was formed on ...
Sunday political editor Samantha Maiden wrote a column critical of Jamie Briggs. Dutton drafted a text message to Briggs describing Maiden as a "mad fucking witch" but inadvertently sent it to Maiden. Maiden accepted an apology from Dutton.


Sarah Hanson-Young spying incident

On 5 June 2015, Dutton denied claims made by Greens Senator
Sarah Hanson-Young Sarah Coral Hanson-Young (née Hanson; born 23 December 1981) is an Australian politician who has been a Senator for South Australia since July 2008, representing the Australian Greens. She is the youngest woman to be elected to federal parlia ...
that she was spied on during a visit to
Nauru Nauru, officially the Republic of Nauru, formerly known as Pleasant Island, is an island country and microstate in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies within the Micronesia subregion of Oceania, with its nearest neighbour being Banaba (part of ...
. He called into question Hanson-Young's credibility, saying "I have evidence that Senator Hanson-Young over-states every issue. She gets her facts wrong most of the time. And I just think you need to look at it in the light of experience with Senator Hanson-Young. If she's got evidence, produce it." He also said that "What Sarah Hanson-Young is about is publicity. She loves the camera and she loves to see her own name in the paper. That's the start and finish of Sarah Hanson-Young." Hanson-Young responded that "Peter Dutton can attack and insult me as much as he likes, but nothing will change the fact that my work has revealed systemic child abuse and the rape of young women on Nauru under his watch." The spying claims were later confirmed by the Immigration Department and Wilson Security who carried out the spying operation.


Au pair cases

In June 2015, an
au pair An au pair (; : au pairs) is a person working for, and living as part of, a homestay, host family. Typically, au pairs take on a share of the family’s responsibility for child care as well as some homemaking, housework, and receive a monetary ...
who was detained at Brisbane Airport made a phone call and had her tourist visa reinstated. In November, in a second case, Dutton granted a visa to another au pair, despite his department warning him that she was at risk of breaching her work conditions on her tourist visa. Dutton indicated that he knew neither tourist. In August 2018, Roman Quaedvlieg indicated that he had personal knowledge of one of the cases, and was seeking to correct Hansard if it did not match his knowledge. A third au pair was granted a visa due to lobbying by AFL chief Gillon McLachlan; she was due to stay with his relative Callum Maclachlan. Dutton's department again warned him there were indications that she was intending to work for Callum's family. A Senate inquiry into two of the cases published a report on 11 September 2018. It recommended "that the Senate consider censuring the Minister for Home Affairs (the Hon Peter Dutton MP) ... for failing to observe fairness in making official decisions as required by the Statement of Ministerial Standards."


Rising seas joke

On 11 September 2015, Dutton was overheard on an open microphone, before a community meeting on Syrian refugees, joking about rising sea levels in the Pacific Islands, saying: "Time doesn't mean anything when you're about to have water lapping at your door". Dutton apologised, after initially refusing to, as the statement was made in a private conversation. The Foreign Minister of the
Marshall Islands The Marshall Islands, officially the Republic of the Marshall Islands, is an island country west of the International Date Line and north of the equator in the Micronesia region of the Northwestern Pacific Ocean. The territory consists of 29 c ...
, Tony deBrum, responded by writing: "insensitivity knows no bounds in the big polluting island down outh and the "Next time waves are battering my home ndmy grandkids are scared, I'll ask Peter Dutton to come over, and we'll see if he is still laughing".


Manus Island

On 15 April 2017, shots were fired by the Papua New Guinea defence force into the Manus Island Detention Centre. Dutton responded saying "There was difficulty, as I understand it, in the community. There was an alleged incident where three asylum seekers were alleged to be leading a local five-year old boy back toward the facility and there was a lot of angst around that, if you like, within the local PNG community." "I think there was concern about why the boy was being led or for what purpose he was being led away back into the regional processing centre. So I think it's fair to say that the mood had elevated quite quickly. I think some of the local residents were quite angry about this particular incident and another alleged sexual assault." The regional police commander on Manus Island said a young boy who was ten, not five, had gone to the centre two weeks earlier to ask for food. He said "It's a total separate incident altogether". The Greens senator Nick McKim said Dutton had lied. "This has disturbing echoes of the children overboard affair lies." On 31 October 2017, the Papuan government closed down the Manus Island regional processing centre. However, 600 men residing in the processing centre refused to be moved to alternative accommodation in the town of Lorengau and staged a protest. Dutton defended the closure of the processing centre and said that the Papuan authorities had given notice of the camp's impending closure in May 2017. He also rejected Australian Greens Senator Nick McKim's report that there was no safe alternative accommodation available and claimed McKim was causing trouble. Following a prolonged standoff with Papuan security forces, the remaining men were evacuated, many forcibly, to new accommodation. Arrangements have been made to resettle an unspecified number of the asylum seekers in the United States. The others will be moved to either a different part of Papua New Guinea or a different country. In mid-November 2017, Dutton rejected an offer by the newly-elected New Zealand Prime Minister
Jacinda Ardern Dame Jacinda Kate Laurell Ardern ( ; born 26 July 1980) is a New Zealand politician and activist who was the 40th prime minister of New Zealand and Leader of the New Zealand Labour Party, leader of the Labour Party from 2017 to 2023. She was ...
to resettle 150 asylum seekers from the Manus Island detention centre in New Zealand and warned that it would have repercussions for the two countries' bilateral relations. He also claimed that New Zealand's offer would encourage people smugglers. Dutton also criticised a New Zealand offer to provide $3 million for services for asylum seekers on Manus and Nauru as a "waste of money" that could be spent elsewhere, such as displaced people in Indonesia. In addition, Dutton criticised Australia's Opposition Leader
Bill Shorten William Richard Shorten (born 12 May 1967) is an Australian former politician and trade unionist. He was the leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and Leader of the Opposition (Australia), Leader of the Opposition from 2013 to 2019. He also ...
's call for Australia to accept the New Zealand offer as an attempt to appease the
Labor Left The Labor Left (LL), also known as the Progressive Left, Socialist Left or simply the Left, is one of the two major political factions within the Australian Labor Party (ALP). It is nationally characterised by social progressivism and democra ...
with "cheap political stunts and mealy-mouthed words".


Minister for Home Affairs (2017–2021)

On 20 December 2017, Dutton was appointed the
Minister for Home Affairs An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...
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 Afrikaners () are a Southern African ethnic group descended from predominantly Dutch settlers who first arrived at the Cape of Good Hope in 1652.Entry: Cape Colony. ''Encyclopædia Britannica Volume 4 Part 2: Brain to Casting''. Encyclopæd ...
rights organisation AfriForum, which stated that the future of Afrikaners was in Africa, as well as by the
survivalist Survivalism is a social movement of individuals or groups (called survivalists, doomsday preppers or preppers) who proactively prepare for emergencies, such as natural disasters, and other disasters causing disruption to social order (that is, ...
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
backbencher In Westminster system, Westminster and other parliamentary systems, a backbencher is a member of parliament (MP) or a legislator who occupies no Minister (government), governmental office and is not a Frontbencher, frontbench spokesperson ...
s and Liberal Democrat Senator
David Leyonhjelm David Ean Leyonhjelm ( "lion-helm"; born 1 April 1952) is an Australian former politician. He was a Senator for New South Wales, representing the Liberal Democratic Party from 2014 to 2019. Having been elected at the 2013 federal election, he ...
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 The National Party of Australia, commonly known as the Nationals or simply the Nats, is a Centre-right politics, centre-right and Agrarianism, agrarian List of political parties in Australia, political party in Australia. Traditionally represe ...
MP Andrew Broad warned that the mass migration of South African farmers would result in food shortages in South Africa.
Economic Freedom Fighters The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) is a South African communist and black nationalist political party. It was founded by expelled former African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) president Julius Malema, and his allies, on 26 July 20 ...
leader
Julius Malema Julius Sello Malema (born 3 March 1981) is a South African politician. He is the founder and leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), a communist political party known for the red berets and military-style outfits worn by its members. Be ...
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 The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) was an Australian tribunal that conducted independent merits review of administrative decisions made under Commonwealth laws of the Australian Government. The AAT reviewed decisions made by Australian G ...
.


Immigration from New Zealand

As both Immigration Minister and Home Affairs Minister, Peter Dutton has defended an amendment to the
Migration Act 1958 The ''Migration Act 1958'' (Cth) is an Act of the Parliament of Australia that governs immigration to Australia. It set up Australia’s universal visa system (or entry permits). Its long title is "An Act relating to the entry into, and pre ...
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 The Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP) was a department of the Government of Australia that was responsible for immigration, citizenship and border control (including visa issuance). It has now been subsumed into the Depar ...
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. The Skilled Independent subclass 189 visa was criticised by Australian Greens Senator Nick McKim as a stealth means of favouring "English-speaking, white and wealthy" migrants. In February 2018, Dutton used his discretionary powers as Minister of Home Affairs to deport New Zealander Caleb Maraku on the grounds that he breached the "character test" provision of the Migration Act 1958. Maraku had been sentenced to 12 months probation for committing a one punch attack on another youth in Queensland's Gold Coast in November 2017. Maraku's perceived lenient sentencing and insensitive behaviour following his sentence had drawn substantial media and public attention, including a 50,000 strong petition calling for his deportation. In response to Maraku's case, Dutton stated: In early July 2018, Dutton ordered the deportation of controversial New Zealand
Baptist Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...
Pastor Logan Robertson, who had disrupted services at two mosques in Kuraby and Darra in Brisbane. Dutton approved Robertson's visa cancellation on the grounds that he had violated the conditions of his visa, stating that "we have a wonderful tradition in our country of freedom of speech, but we're not going to tolerate people going to a place of worship and harassing others". Robertson had earlier drawn controversy in New Zealand for his
homophobic Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who identify or are perceived as being lesbian, Gay men, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, hatred, or ant ...
remarks and opposition to
same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same legal Legal sex and gender, sex. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 38 countries, with a total population of 1.5 ...
. In mid-July 2018, Dutton's immigration "character test" became the subject of a controversial
Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is Australia’s principal public service broadcaster. It is funded primarily by grants from the federal government and is administered by a government-appointed board of directors. The ABC is ...
documentary, entitled "Don't Call Australia Home", focusing on New Zealanders who had been deported from Australia. In response, Dutton issued a tweet defending his deportation policy and claiming that deporting 184 " bikies" saved Australia A$116 million. In response, the New Zealand
Minister of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...
Andrew Little, who also appeared in the documentary, criticised Australia's deportation laws for lacking "humanitarian ideals." The documentary's release also coincided with the release of a 17-year-old New Zealand youth from an Australian detention centre, which had caused friction between the two governments. In response, Dutton defended his government's policy of deporting non-citizen criminals and chastised New Zealand for not contributing enough to assist Australian naval patrols intercepting the "people smugglers." In mid-July 2019, Dutton defended Australia's right to deport criminal non-citizens in response to concerns raised by the visiting New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, stating: In response, Patrick Keyzer and Dave Martin of
La Trobe University La Trobe University is a public university, public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. Its main campus is located in the suburb of Bundoora, Victoria, Bundoora. The university was established in 1 ...
criticised Dutton's pedophilia remarks as misleading and contended that most deportees from Australia had spent most of their lives in Australia and had little ties to New Zealand.


Protests

In October and November 2019, Dutton expressed his views on protesters and police response. He stated that when protesters break the law "There needs to be mandatory or minimum sentences imposed... A community expectation is that these people are heavily fined or jailed." He also agreed with an on-air statement made by conservative 2GB radio presenter Ray Hadley that protesters should not receive social security payments. Leader of the Australian Greens Richard Di Natale responded by saying that "Peter Dutton doesn't know what living in a democracy means" and claimed that he's "starting to sound more like a dictator than he is an elected politician. Because somebody says something that he doesn't like, that he doesn't support, he's saying we're going to strip away income support." In November 2019, Dutton said that the States should make protesters pay for the cost of police response to demonstrations. He said of protesters: "For many of them they don't even believe in democracy... These people are completely against our way of life. These people can protest peacefully, as many people do, but the disruption that they seek to cause, the disharmony that they seek to sow within our society is unacceptable."


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 dogs 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. Earlier 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 The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...
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. On 22 August 2018, Dutton described what his policies would be if he were to be elected leader of the Coalition. These included scrapping the GST on
electricity Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter possessing an electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by Maxwel ...
, which Scott Morrison described as "an absolute budget blower". He also floated the idea of having a
royal commission A royal commission is a major ad-hoc formal public inquiry into a defined issue in some monarchies. They have been held in the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Norway, Malaysia, Mauritius and Saudi Arabia. In republics an equi ...
into electricity companies. 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 Scott John Morrison (born 13 May 1968) is an Australian former politician who served as the 30th prime minister of Australia from 2018 to 2022. He held office as leader of the Liberal Party of Australia, leader of the Liberal Party and was ...
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 In the trust law of England, Australia, Canada, and other common law jurisdictions, a discretionary trust is a trust where the beneficiaries and their entitlements to the trust fund are not fixed, but are determined by the criteria set out in ...
owned by Dutton operated a
child care Child care, also known as day care, is the care and supervision of one or more children, typically ranging from three months to 18 years old. Although most parents spend a significant amount of time caring for their child(ren), childcare typica ...
centre that received over $5.6 million in funding from the
Commonwealth government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government or simply as the federal government, is the national executive government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. The executive consists of the prime ...
, 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 In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...
referred the matter to the
Solicitor-General A solicitor general is a government official who serves as the chief representative of the government in courtroom proceedings. In systems based on the English common law that have an attorney general or equivalent position, the solicitor general ...
. On 23 August 2018, 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 David Robert Coleman (26 April 1926 – 21 December 2013) was a British sports commentator and television presenter who worked for the BBC for 46 years. He covered eleven Summer Olympic Games from 1960 to 2000 and six FIFA World Cups from 196 ...
.


2019 federal election

Dutton was re-elected at the 2019 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 that 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 21 May 2021, Dutton directed the department and serving military personnel to stop pursuing a "
woke ''Woke'' is an adjective derived from African-American English used since the 1930s or earlier to refer to awareness of racial prejudice and Racial discrimination, discrimination, often in the construction ''stay woke''. The term acquired p ...
agenda", and cease holding events to mark the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Interphobia and Transphobia where staff wore rainbow clothing. On 11 July 2021, Dutton announced the end of Australia's military presence in
Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...
. In October 2021, Dutton said Australia will back up any U.S. effort to defend
Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...
if
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
attacks. In November 2021, he branded the former Prime Minister
Paul Keating Paul John Keating (born 18 January 1944) is an Australian former politician and trade unionist who served as the 24th prime minister of Australia from 1991 to 1996. He held office as the leader of the Labor Party (ALP), having previously ser ...
as "Grand Appeaser Comrade Keating".


Defamation case

On 16 June 2021, in the Federal Court, Justice Richard White ordered Dutton to attend mediation over a defamation suit he brought against refugee activist Shane Bazzi over a tweet calling him a "rape apologist". In August 2021, it was announced that this mediation had failed. On 24 November 2021, White ruled in Dutton's favour and awarded $35,000 in defamation damages, but refused Dutton's bid for an injunction to prevent Bazzi tweeting about him. This decision was overturned on 17 May 2022 by the Full Court of the Federal Court, which found that the words "rape apologist", taken in the context of the whole message together with the ''Guardian'' article to which it was linked, referred to Dutton's attitude not to rape itself but toward claims of having been raped and accordingly did not amount to defamation.


Leader of the Opposition (2022–25)

The Coalition was defeated at the 2022 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 Sussan Penelope Ley (pron. , "Susan Lee"; ; born 14 December 1961) is an Australian politician who is the current Leader of the Opposition (Australia), Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Liberal Party of Australia, leader of the Liberal ...
elected as deputy. While in parliament in December 2022, Dutton repeatedly, after multiple corrections, referred incorrectly to Sharon Claydon as "Mr Speaker". On 1 April 2023, a
by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...
was held in the seat of
Aston Aston is an area of inner Birmingham, in the county of the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Located immediately to the north-west of Birmingham city centre, Central Birmingham, Aston constitutes a wards of the United Kingdom, war ...
, triggered by the resignation of Liberal MP Alan Tudge. In a surprise result, the Labor candidate Mary Doyle won the election, marking the first time since 1920 that an Australian government had won a by-election from the opposition. Having said during the campaign that the result would be a "verdict on the leaders", Dutton said afterwards that he accepted responsibility for the result, but still deserved to remain Liberal leader. In April 2023, Dutton announced that the Liberal Party would oppose the
2023 Australian Indigenous Voice referendum The 2023 Australian Indigenous Voice referendum was a Referendums in Australia, constitutional referendum held on 14October 2023 in which the proposed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice was rejected. Voters were asked to approve an Co ...
. Although members of the Liberal frontbench were forced to adopt this position, party backbenchers were free to campaign for the referendum. Dutton's stance on the referendum was immediately met with opposition from within the Liberal Party. On 6 April, former Liberal MP
Ken Wyatt Kenneth George Wyatt (born 4 August 1952) is an Australian former politician. He was a member of the House of Representatives (Australia), House of Representatives from 2010 to 2022, representing the Division of Hasluck for the Liberal Party of ...
resigned from the party in protest. The following week, shadow Attorney-General Julian Leeser quit the Liberal frontbench and moved to the backbenches so he could freely campaign in favour of the referendum. The next day, Simon Birmingham, the leader of the Liberal Party in the Senate, also announced that he would not be adopting the party position. Following a shadow cabinet reshuffle, Jacinta Nampijinpa Price was appointed the shadow Minister for Indigenous Australians on 18 April 2023. Following allegations of sexual harassment and assault made by independent Senator Lidia Thorpe, Dutton removed Liberal Senator David Van from the Liberal party room on 15 June 2023. In August 2023, Dutton said that ballot counting rules in the upcoming
2023 Australian Indigenous Voice referendum The 2023 Australian Indigenous Voice referendum was a Referendums in Australia, constitutional referendum held on 14October 2023 in which the proposed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice was rejected. Voters were asked to approve an Co ...
were "rigged", attracting criticism from MPs. On 3 September 2023, Dutton committed to hold a second referendum on Indigenous recognition if the Voice referendum failed, while also expressing support for his party's election proposal for a series of legislated local bodies (without a national one). However, following the defeat of the Voice proposal, Dutton stated that his party's prior commitment to symbolic constitutional recognition would be reviewed and that "it's clear the Australian public is probably over the referendum process for some time". On 10 January 2024, Dutton called for a
boycott A boycott is an act of nonviolent resistance, nonviolent, voluntary abstention from a product, person, organisation, or country as an expression of protest. It is usually for Morality, moral, society, social, politics, political, or Environmenta ...
of Woolworths after it confirmed that it will no longer stock
Australia Day Australia Day is the official national day of Australia. Observed annually on 26 January, it marks the 1788 landing of the First Fleet and raising of the Flag of Great Britain, Union Flag of Great Britain by Arthur Phillip at Sydney Cove, a ...
-themed merchandise due to reduced sales over recent years. In July 2024, Dutton's remarks relating to Fatima Payman were characterised by Laura Tingle as "an example of how to surgically hit every hot-button issue in one short grab for the cameras" (see ). On 29 July 2024, Dutton arrived in Israel for a three-day visit reimbursed by the Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council. He met Israeli prime minister
Benjamin Netanyahu Benjamin Netanyahu (born 21 October 1949) is an Israeli politician who has served as the prime minister of Israel since 2022, having previously held the office from 1996 to 1999 and from 2009 to 2021. Netanyahu is the longest-serving prime min ...
and other top officials.


Home Affairs revelations

In 2023 and 2024, a number of stories regarding Dutton's leadership of the Department of Home Affairs reached the public for the first time. It was revealed that a 2020 report had uncovered serious issues with the department's detention approach, but Dutton had chosen not to act. In February 2024, the independent Richardson Review was published, which uncovered a number of damning failures of governance at the Department of Home Affairs while Dutton was Minister. It was revealed that under Dutton's leadership: * The department had made multi-million dollar contracts with companies suspected of criminal activity, including drug smuggling, corruption, and bypassing US sanctions. * Dutton had personally intervened with the department to allow a criminal to stay in Australia, stating that it would be in the public interest. * The department had made an extremely lucrative contract with
Paladin The Paladins, also called the Twelve Peers (), are twelve legendary knights, the foremost members of Charlemagne's court in the 8th century. They first appear in the medieval (12th century) ''chanson de geste'' cycle of the Matter of France, wh ...
without a competitive tender process, and despite the company being registered to a beach shack on
Kangaroo Island Kangaroo Island (, ) is Australia's third-largest island, after Tasmania and Melville Island, Northern Territory, Melville Island. It lies in the state of South Australia, southwest of Adelaide. Its closest point to the mainland is Snapper Poi ...
. In two separate cases,
KPMG KPMG is a multinational professional services network, based in London, United Kingdom. As one of the Big Four accounting firms, along with Ernst & Young (EY), Deloitte, and PwC. KPMG is a network of firms in 145 countries with 275,288 emplo ...
had audited the wrong company when undergoing financial audits of contractors. An editorial in ''
The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...
'' noted that the department seemed to lack accountability, with nobody found responsible for any of the failings. However, media outlets including
News Corporation The original incarnation of News Corporation (abbreviated News Corp. and also variously known as News Corporation Limited) was an American Multinational corporation, multinational mass media corporation founded and controlled by media mogul Ru ...
and the ABC largely ignored the scandal. At the same time, the department was involved in another scandal, when $80 million intended for
Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...
disappeared. The payments were in return for resettling refugees from
Manus Island Manus Island is part of Manus Province in northern Papua New Guinea and is the largest of the Admiralty Islands. It is the fifth-largest island in Papua New Guinea, with an area of , measuring around . Manus Island is covered in rugged jungles w ...
, however, service providers stopped receiving payments in 2022, and neither government could explain why. Shortly after these revelations, a group of 30 men arrived in Australia by boat. Dutton blamed the
Albanese government The Albanese government is the current federal executive government of Australia, led by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of the Labor Party. The Albanese government was sworn in on 23 May 2022 by the Governor-General of Australia, David Hurl ...
, and misleadingly claimed that Labor had cut $600 million from Operation Sovereign Borders.


2025 federal election

Dutton led the Liberal-National Coalition to the 2025 election. He ran what was considered by numerous commentators to be a poor campaign. At the election on 3 May, the Coalition suffered its worst ever defeat at a federal election, losing at least 18 seats while Labor won an expanded majority. Dutton lost his own seat of Dickson, with Labor challenger Ali France defeating him on her third attempt. Going into the election, Dutton held Dickson on an extremely marginal 1.7 percent. However, he lost over seven percent of his primary vote from 2022 and was defeated on a swing of 7.7 percent after all preferences were distributed. It was the third time since Federation that a major-party leader had lost their own seat, and the first time an Opposition Leader had been defeated in their own seat. In his concession speech, Dutton accepted responsibility for the party's defeat. His defeat was compared to the loss of the Canadian Conservative Party in the
2025 Canadian federal election The 2025 Canadian federal election was held on April 28, 2025, to elect members of the House of Commons of Canada, House of Commons to the 45th Canadian Parliament. Governor General Mary Simon issued the writs of election on March 23, 2025, afte ...
held earlier that week, with both results being ascribed to a rise of hostile sentiment toward US President
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...
that had a negative effect on conservative parties worldwide. Parallels were also drawn from Dutton to Canadian Conservative party leader
Pierre Poilievre Pierre Marcel Poilievre (born June 3, 1979) is a Canadian politician who has been the Leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, Conservative Party since 2022. He was the Member of Parliament (Canad ...
, who also lost his own seat. On 7 May, Dutton spoke publicly for the first time since his election defeat. He stated that he planned to make a "graceful exit" from politics, but declined to comment on who should replace him as leader of the Liberal Party. Dutton's deputy Sussan Ley defeated Angus Taylor in a leadership election to succeed him as leader.


Political positions

Dutton is aligned with the " National Right" faction of the Liberal Party, which he led and was considered the pre-eminent member of. He has been described as a
right-wing populist Right-wing populism, also called national populism and right populism, is a political ideology that combines right-wing politics with populist rhetoric and themes. Its rhetoric employs anti- elitist sentiments, opposition to the Establishm ...
, with some of his positions being compared to those of
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...
and
Trumpism Trumpism, also referred to as the Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement, is the political movement and ideology behind U.S. president Donald Trump and his political base. It comprises ideologies such as right-wing populism, right-wing ...
, leading to him being mockingly dubbed " Temu Trump" by some media outlets. 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".


Social issues


Drug prohibition

On 26 September 2019, one day after the partial decriminalisation of personal cannabis use by the
Australian Capital Territory The Australian Capital Territory (ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory until 1938, is an internal States and territories of Australia, territory of Australia. Canberra, the capital city of Australia, is situated within the territory, an ...
(ACT) government, Dutton called the decision "unconscionable" and "dangerous" in a 2GB interview. In September 2023, Dutton characterised ACT legislation on the limited decriminalisation of illicit substances as "crazy", saying that Canberra would become a "boom market" for drug gangs.


LGBT rights

In March 2017, ''
The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuous ...
'' reported Dutton had privately expressed the view that the legal recognition of same-sex marriage was inevitable, and that he contended that the Coalition taking the initiative was better than allowing Labor to oversee the process. In March 2017, 31 CEOs signed a letter to Prime Minister
Malcolm Turnbull Malcolm Bligh Turnbull (born 24 October 1954) is an Australian former politician and businessman who served as the 29th prime minister of Australia from 2015 to 2018. He held office as Liberal Party of Australia, leader of the Liberal Party an ...
calling for a free vote in the Australian Parliament on same-sex marriage. In response to this letter, on 16 March, Dutton said that the CEOs "shouldn't shove their views down our throats" and that CEOs who were "doing the wrong thing" should "be publicly shamed". Dutton repeated his criticism at a speech to the LNP State Council in Queensland on 18 March. The ''Herald'' then reported that "the forcefulness of Mr Dutton's attack on corporate chief executives last weekin which he told them to "stick to their knitting"has aroused suspicion among some colleagues who believed he was committed to achieving a breakthrough on ame-sex marriage. The following month, ''
The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...
'' reported that Dutton was asked by a lesbian for clarification on his position, and he "told her he had been clear that he was against same-sex marriage". Writing in ''
The Conversation ''The Conversation'' is a 1974 American neo-noir mystery thriller film written, produced, and directed by Francis Ford Coppola. It stars Gene Hackman as a surveillance expert who faces a moral dilemma when his recordings reveal a potential ...
'',
Michelle Grattan Michelle Grattan (born 30 June 1944) is an Australian journalist who was the first woman to become editor of an Australian metropolitan daily newspaper. Specialising in political journalism, she has written for and edited many significant List ...
remarked, "those calling for more free speech are squealing increasingly loudly when others exercise their freedom in a way they don't like", comparing Dutton's public confrontation against his stance on Section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act. Former New South Wales Premier
Kristina Keneally Kristina Marie Kerscher Keneally (born 19 December 1968) is an American-born Australian politician who served as the first female Premier of New South Wales from 2009 to 2011 and was later a Labor Senator for New South Wales from February 2018 u ...
commented in ''The Guardian'', "In Dutton's Australia ..Free speech is great and should be expanded, unless it's an Australian corporate CEO speaking about same-sex marriage. Then they need to shut up." Simon Birmingham expressed disagreement with Dutton's comments. On 28 September 2017, following the news that US rapper
Macklemore Benjamin Hammond Haggerty (born June 19, 1983), better known by his stage name Macklemore ( ; formerly Professor Macklemore), is an American rapper. A native of Seattle, Washington, he started his career in 2000 as an independent artist rele ...
would sing a pro-marriage equality song at the
NRL Grand Final The NRL Grand Final is an annual rugby league match to determine the premiers of every National Rugby League season. It is a major sport event in Australia and regarded as the biggest showcase of rugby league football in the world. Since 1999 ...
, Dutton said in the name of free speech that "two songs should be played, one for gay marriage and one against gay marriage". After becoming Liberal leader in 2022, Dutton stated "We are the Liberal Party. We believe in families – whatever their composition."


Gender

After US President
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...
signed an executive order which stated that the United States federal government will only recognize two genders, male and female, Nationals leader
David Littleproud David Kelly Littleproud (born 4 September 1976) is an Australian politician who has been the leader of the National Party since May 2022. He has represented the regional Queensland seat of Maranoa since the 2016 federal election and was a cab ...
called on Australia to adopt a similar policy. Dutton dismissed Littleproud's comments saying that "We don't have any plans to change our position in relation to that issue."


Voting

In August 2023, Dutton said that ballot counting rules in the upcoming
2023 Australian Indigenous Voice referendum The 2023 Australian Indigenous Voice referendum was a Referendums in Australia, constitutional referendum held on 14October 2023 in which the proposed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice was rejected. Voters were asked to approve an Co ...
were "rigged", referring to the possibility for certain ticks in addition to writing "yes" to be sporadically treated as valid responses. In response, the
Australian Electoral Commission The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) is the independent statutory agency of the Australian Government responsible for the management and oversight of Australian federal elections, plebiscites, referendums and some trade union A ...
stated that they rejected the assertions "completely and utterly". Senators David Pocock and
Sarah Hanson-Young Sarah Coral Hanson-Young (née Hanson; born 23 December 1981) is an Australian politician who has been a Senator for South Australia since July 2008, representing the Australian Greens. She is the youngest woman to be elected to federal parlia ...
called the allegations a "new low". Independent MP Monique Ryan remarked that Dutton "will do anything, even undermine faith in our democratic processes, to score cheap political points". Rachel Withers, writing in ''
The Monthly ''The Monthly'' is an Australian national magazine of politics, society and the arts, which is published eleven times per year on a monthly basis except the December/January issue. Founded in 2005, it is published by Melbourne property developer ...
'', characterised the claims as "Trumpian".


Indigenous affairs

In December 2024, Dutton stated his opposition to flying the Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander Torres Strait Islanders ( ) are the Indigenous Melanesians, Melanesian people of the Torres Strait Islands, which are part of the state of Queensland, Australia. Ethnically distinct from the Aboriginal Australians, Aboriginal peoples of the res ...
flags alongside the
national flag A national flag is a flag that represents and national symbol, symbolizes a given nation. It is Fly (flag), flown by the government of that nation, but can also be flown by its citizens. A national flag is typically designed with specific meanin ...
, viewing them as "a symbol of division" and saying that he would remove them from the official Australian government
press conferences A press conference, also called news conference or press briefing, is a media event in which notable individuals or organizations invite journalists to hear them speak and ask questions. Press conferences are often held by politicians, corporat ...
.


Education

In 2018, Dutton expressed support for school-aged children to be required to make a pledge similar to an
Oath of Allegiance An oath of allegiance is an oath whereby a subject or citizen acknowledges a duty of allegiance and swears loyalty to a monarch or a country. In modern republics, oaths are sworn to the country in general, or to the country's constitution. For ...
.


Social media

In 2024, Dutton supported moves for
age verification An age verification system, also known as an age gate, is any technical system that externally verifies a person's age. These systems are used primarily to restrict access to content classified, either voluntarily or by local laws, as being inappr ...
on social media. Dutton's Coalition supported the '' Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Act 2024'', which banned users under sixteen years old from creating social media accounts. As Opposition Leader, he pledged to introduce laws that would make it an offence to post content on social media that promoted crime.


Environment


Climate change and energy

Dutton has been characterised as a
climate change denier Climate change denial (also global warming denial) is a form of science denial characterized by rejecting, refusing to acknowledge, disputing, or fighting the scientific consensus on climate change. Those promoting denial commonly use rhetor ...
, and has said he would "let scientists pass that judgment" when questioned if he believed climate change had contributed to increasing
extreme weather Extreme weather includes unexpected, unusual, severe weather, severe, or unseasonal weather; weather at the extremes of the historical distribution—the range that has been seen in the past. Extreme events are based on a location's recorded weat ...
events. In 2024 and 2025, Dutton expressed his rejection of the
Albanese government The Albanese government is the current federal executive government of Australia, led by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of the Labor Party. The Albanese government was sworn in on 23 May 2022 by the Governor-General of Australia, David Hurl ...
's climate policy, the
Paris Agreement The Paris Agreement (also called the Paris Accords or Paris Climate Accords) is an international treaty on climate change that was signed in 2016. The treaty covers climate change mitigation, adaptation, and finance. The Paris Agreement was ...
, and COP 31. In a July 2023 address to the
Institute of Public Affairs The Institute of Public Affairs (IPA) is a conservative non-profit free market public policy think tank, Political links and networking The IPA Victoria was founded during World War II by businessmen in response to the feared growing power of ...
, Dutton argued for the adoption of nuclear power, calling it "the only feasible and proven technology" that can "firm up renewables and help us achieve the goals of clean, cost effective and consistent power". ABC journalist Monte Bovill characterised it as "ramping up calls for nuclear power in Australia". Dutton claimed that small modular reactors could be installed at decommissioned coal power plants, saying, "We can convert or repurpose coal-fired plants to use the transmission connections that already exist on those sites." In October 2023, he expressed opposition to a proposed off-shore wind farm of New South Wales'
Hunter Region The Hunter Region, also commonly known as the Hunter Valley, Newcastle Region, or simply Hunter, spans the region in northern New South Wales, Australia, extending from approximately to north of Sydney. It contains the Hunter River (New Sout ...
, saying that the environmental impacts to "rare bird species" and the seabed were unknown. "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", Dutton remarked. In February and March 2024, Dutton expressed opposition to Labor's proposal to introduce new vehicle fuel efficiency standards. He called it "Mr Albanese's new ute tax and new family car tax". Dutton said that the proposal would increase the price of new vehicles. Asked at a press conference on 12 March 2024 regarding the annual ''GenCost'' report from the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) identifying nuclear reactors as being more expensive than fossil fuels and renewable sources, Dutton called the report "discredited" and said that it was "well documented" that the CSIRO was unreliable. CSIRO chief executive
Doug Hilton Douglas James Hilton (born 13 June 1964 in England) is an Australian molecular biologist. He is the CEO of CSIRO and immediate past Director of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research in Melbourne, Australia. His research has fo ...
repudiated the allegations. In November 2022, former Liberal prime minister
Malcolm Turnbull Malcolm Bligh Turnbull (born 24 October 1954) is an Australian former politician and businessman who served as the 29th prime minister of Australia from 2015 to 2018. He held office as Liberal Party of Australia, leader of the Liberal Party an ...
called Dutton's claims about the necessity of nuclear power "complete and utter nonsense". On 23 September 2024, Dutton remarked in a speech, "Labor tells you that renewables and nuclear can't work together. It's utter nonsense."


Migration


Humanitarian entrants

Before the 2016 election, Dutton voiced opposition to proposals to increase humanitarian visas, saying it could lead to large numbers struggling to integrate. "For many people, they won't be numerate or literate in their own language let alone English", Dutton remarked, adding "These people would be taking Australian jobs, there's no question about that." Turnbull defended Dutton by stating he is an "outstanding Immigration Minister".


Muslim LebaneseAustralians

Asked in November 2016 during question time to clarify his earlier controversial comments regarding the "mistakes" made by the
Malcolm Fraser John Malcolm Fraser (; 21 May 1930 – 20 March 2015) was an Australian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Australia from 1975 to 1983. He held office as the leader of the Liberal Party of Australia, and is the fourth List of ...
government "in bringing some people in", Dutton replied that the majority of people charged with terrorist-related offences were "from second and third generation LebaneseMuslim background".
Tony Burke Anthony Stephen Burke (born 4 November 1969) is an Australian politician serving as Leader of the House, Minister for Home Affairs and Minister for the Arts. He is a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP), and has served as member of ...
criticised Dutton, saying that Australian security agencies "would be devastated and shocked that a minister would do that". Foreign Minister
Julie Bishop Julie Isabel Bishop (born 17 July 1956) is an Australian former politician who served as Minister for Foreign Affairs (Australia), Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2013 to 2018 and Leader of the Liberal Party of Australia#Federal deputy leader ...
defended Dutton, saying that he was referring to the lack of "significant services" in Fraser's time, and specifically to people charged with terrorism offences, "He made it quite clear that he respects and appreciates the contribution that the Lebanese community make in Australia." According to former national security official Clark Jones, Dutton's remarks risked "creating the terrorists of the future". On 25 November 2016, 30 Lebanese organisations met in Auburn to discuss the issue. According to '' The Sydney Morning Herald '' (''SMH''), Dutton was criticised for reversing "years of hard work in building cohesion" and "belittling the entire community". One anonymous group leader characterised the comments as "a smear on the 99.99 per cent of Australian Lebanese Muslims who are resiliently getting on with life despite the constant attacks on their identity". He added, "If Mr Dutton wants to play this game perhaps he can release the top three cultural backgrounds of the perpetrators of domestic violence, drunken assaults, paedophilia and rape. He might find the numbers slightly over representative of his own cultural cohort white males." The Lebanese Muslim Association (LMA) demanded Dutton to either meet with community groups for an "open discussion", or "remain silent". In a 2023 episode of ''
Kitchen Cabinet Kitchen cabinets are the built-in furniture installed in many kitchens for storage of food, cooking equipment, and often Silver (household), silverware and Dishware, dishes for table service. Home appliance, Appliances such as refrigerators, dis ...
'',
Annabel Crabb Annabel Crabb is an Australian political journalist, commentator and television host who is the ABC's chief online political writer. She has worked for Adelaide's '' The Advertiser'', ''The Sydney Morning Herald'', ''The Age'', the '' Sunday A ...
asked Dutton about the 2016 comments. He replied, "I have apologised for that". Asked by the ''SMH'' in August and September 2024, various community leaders said they were unaware of an apology; one likened the 2016 comments to Dutton's 2024 comments on Gazan refugees. However, Rifi expressed gratitude for Dutton's efforts to repatriate Australian orphans from Syria, saying "The guy is not heartless". Lech Blaine, author of a 2024 ''
Quarterly Essay ''Quarterly Essay'', founded in 2001, is an Australian periodical published by Black Inc., concentrating primarily on Australian politics in a broad sense. Printed in a book-like page size and using a single-column format, each issue features a ...
'' piece about Dutton, said that she was unaware of an apology. Mehal Krayem, co-author of a 2019 paper on the subject of Dutton's comments and the media framing, doubted the existence of an apology. According to the ''SMH'', no apology was identified after searches of newspaper archives, Dutton's Twitter publications and speech transcripts on his website. One day after the ''SMH'' article was published, Dutton said at a press conference that he had apologised to an unnamed "senior person".


"African gang violence" in Victoria

In January 2018, Dutton said that people in Melbourne were scared of going out because of "gang violence" involving African Australians. In an ABC interview, Jason Wood, Liberal MP representing the
Division of La Trobe The Division of La Trobe is an Electorates of the Australian House of Representatives, Australian electoral division in the States and territories of Australia, state of Victoria (Australia), Victoria. , it is a semi-urban electorate that cove ...
, repudiated suggestions that the rhetoric was an attempt at attracting race-based votes. Wood referred to the statistics he had obtained in a parliamentary migration inquiry. '' News.com.au'' reported that Dutton was "ridiculed" by Melbourne social media users. Dutton's comments formed part of a wider media discourse linking African immigrants to crime in Melbourne dating back to 2016, after violent disturbances at the Moomba Festival which were attributed by the press to the "Apex gang", a supposed African crime gang for which little evidence existed. According to a 2019 study by Monash University, Dutton's remarks followed a "flurry of 'sensationalist' media pieces about 'African gangs' in Melbourne" and members of the African-Australian community felt "stigmatised and labelled because of their race and perceived association with criminality". In 2020,
Malcolm Turnbull Malcolm Bligh Turnbull (born 24 October 1954) is an Australian former politician and businessman who served as the 29th prime minister of Australia from 2015 to 2018. He held office as Liberal Party of Australia, leader of the Liberal Party an ...
expressed regret over defending Dutton for his comments at the time, suggesting that he was "too trusting" and that he used to attribute the "sometimes offensive remarks" from Dutton to "verbal clumsiness and awkwardness".


White South African farmers

In 2018, Dutton supported the intake of
White South African White South Africans are South Africans of European descent. In linguistic, cultural, and historical terms, they are generally divided into the Afrikaans-speaking descendants of the Dutch East India Company's original colonists, known as Afr ...
victims of farm attacks. He described the circumstances as "horrific".
BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...
reported that the message of 'white genocide', which had been promoted by the extremist Suidlanders, had resonated with Dutton, who claimed he was considering the provision of fast-track visas to white South African farmers. Dutton referred to the farmers as being "persecuted" and needing help from a "civilised" country.
Australian Greens The Australian Greens, commonly referred to simply as the Greens, are a Left-wing politics, left-wing green party, green Australian List of political parties in Australia, political party. As of 2025, the Greens are the third largest politica ...
leader Richard Di Natale denounced the proposal as racist, saying that it would be a return to the White Australia Policy.


"Anchor babies"

In September 2019, Dutton characterised the two children of the Biloela family asylum claimants detained at Melbourne Immigration Transit Accommodation as "anchor babies" who were being used to "leverage a migration outcome based on the children".


Muslim political alliance

In July 2024, Dutton remarked about Fatima Payman's departure from the Labor Party. To ''
Nine News Nine News (stylized as 9News) is a national News agency, news service on the Nine Network in Australia. Its flagship program is an hour-long ''9News'' bulletin at 6:00 pm, with editions produced by Nine's owned-and-operated stations in TCN, S ...
'', Dutton said that whilst he did not "have any problem with a party that has a religious view", there were "all sorts of problems" with supporting "a Palestinian cause or a cause outside of Australia" as "a first order of priority". At a press conference on 4 July, Dutton said of prime minister Anthony Albanese, "if he's in a minority government in the next term of parliament, it will include the Greens, it'll include the Green- teals, it'll include Muslim candidates from Western Sydney, it will be a disaster." Laura Tingle characterised the remarks as "an example of how to surgically hit every hot-button issue in one short grab for the cameras". Cricketer
Usman Khawaja Usman Tariq Khawaja (; born 18 December 1986) is an Australian international cricketer who represents the Australia national cricket team in Test cricket and Queensland cricket team, Queensland. Khawaja made his first-class cricket debut for N ...
called his comments "an absolute disgrace" and "bigotry at its finest", contending that he was "fuelling
Islamophobia Islamophobia is the irrational fear of, hostility towards, or hatred against the religion of Islam or Muslims in general. Islamophobia is primarily a form of religious or cultural bigotry; and people who harbour such sentiments often stereot ...
from the very top".


Gazan migration

On 14 August 2024, Dutton criticised the Labor government in a
Sky News Australia Sky News Australia is an Australian news channel owned by News Corp Australia. Originally launched on 19 February 1996, it broadcasts rolling news coverage throughout the day, while its prime time lineup is dedicated to opinion-based programs fe ...
interview over what he saw as inadequate vetting of people fleeing from Gaza, saying that he did not think "people should be coming in from that war zone at all at the moment" and that he thought "it puts our national security at risk". He contended that Australians "would be shocked to think that the government's bringing in people from a war zone" and asserted that the
Australian Security Intelligence Organisation The Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO ) is the Intelligence agency, domestic intelligence and national security agency of the Australian Government, responsible for protection from espionage, sabotage, acts of foreign inte ...
was "not conducting checks and searches on these people". Later that day,
Anthony Albanese Anthony Norman Albanese ( or ; born 2 March 1963) is an Australian politician serving as the 31st and current prime minister of Australia since 2022. He has been the Leaders of the Australian Labor Party#Leader, leader of the Labor Party si ...
reacted in an ABC ''
News Breakfast ''News Breakfast'' is an Australian news breakfast television program. It is broadcast on ABC TV and ABC News channel from 6:00 am to 9:00 am AEST or AEDT on weekdays and is hosted by James Glenday and Bridget Brennan. The program is also ...
'' interview, saying that Dutton "always seeks to divide". He said that the government took advice from intelligence agencies and not "from someone always looking for a fight, always looking for division".


Housing


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 The City of Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 201,313 as of 2024, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland and Northern Australia (specifically, the parts of Australia north of ...
.


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 Shared parenting, shared residence, joint residence, shared custody, joint physical custody, equal parenting time (EPT) is a child custody arrangement after divorce or separation, in which both parents share the responsibility of raising their ...
arrangement. In 2003, Dutton married his second wife, Kirilly (), with whom he has two sons. Dutton "identifies with the Catholic Church even if he does not attend church regularly". On 13 March 2020, Dutton announced that he had tested positive for
COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...
, becoming the first federal cabinet member to do so. Dutton suffers from the skin condition
alopecia totalis Alopecia totalis is the loss of all hair on the head and face. Its causes are unclear, but it is believed to be an autoimmune disorder. Research suggests there may be a genetic link: the presence of DRB1*0401 and DQB1*0301, both of which are hu ...
. Dutton supports the
Brisbane Broncos The Brisbane Broncos are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Red Hill, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland. Founded in April 1987, the Broncos compete in the National Rugby League (NRL) and play their home games at ...
in the
National Rugby League The National Rugby League (also known as the NRL Telstra Premiership for sponsorship reasons) is a professional rugby league competition in Oceania which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria (state), Victoria, the Austral ...
, but also backed the eventually successful membership bid for a second Brisbane team in the league (the
Dolphins A dolphin is an aquatic mammal in the cetacean clade Odontoceti (toothed whale). Dolphins belong to the families Delphinidae (the oceanic dolphins), Platanistidae (the Indian river dolphins), Iniidae (the New World river dolphins), Pontopori ...
). In the
Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the pre-eminent professional sports, professional competition of Australian rules football. It was originally named the Victorian Football League (VFL) and was founded in 1896 as a breakaway competition ...
, he supports the
Brisbane Lions The Brisbane Lions are a professional Australian rules football in Australia, Australian rules football club based in Brisbane, Queensland, that compete in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. Brisbane are the ...
.


Electoral performance


Notes


References


Sources

*


External links


Personal homepage
*

022FCAFC 84 (17 May 2022)
Dutton v Bazzi (No 2)
021 069 is: * in Brazil, the telephone area code for the city of Rio de Janeiro and surrounding cities (Greater Rio de Janeiro) * in China, the telephone area code for the city of Shanghai. * in Indonesia, the area code for the city of Jakarta and su ...
FCA 1560 (8 December 2021)
Dutton v Bazzi
021 069 is: * in Brazil, the telephone area code for the city of Rio de Janeiro and surrounding cities (Greater Rio de Janeiro) * in China, the telephone area code for the city of Shanghai. * in Indonesia, the area code for the city of Jakarta and su ...
FCA 1474 (24 November 2021) , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Dutton, Peter 1970 births Abbott government Ministers for health of Australia Australian monarchists Australian nationalists Australian police officers Leaders of the Liberal Party of Australia Liberal National Party of Queensland members of the Parliament of Australia Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia Living people Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Dickson Members of the Cabinet of Australia Leaders of the opposition (Australia) Morrison government Ministers for defence of Australia Leaders of the Australian House of Representatives Queensland University of Technology alumni Turnbull government Members of the Australian House of Representatives Australian MPs 2001–2004 Australian MPs 2004–2007 Australian MPs 2007–2010 Australian MPs 2010–2013 Australian MPs 2013–2016 Australian MPs 2016–2019 Australian MPs 2019–2022 Australian MPs 2022–2025