Peter Dutton

Peter Craig Dutton (born 18 November 1970) is an Australian politician. He is a member and the 15th Leader of the Liberal Party. Dutton is also the 35th Leader of the Opposition since 2022.

The Honourable Peter Dutton MP
Dutton in 2022
35th Leader of the Opposition
Incumbent
Assumed office 30 May 2022
Prime Minister	Anthony Albanese
Deputy	Sussan Ley
Preceded by	Anthony Albanese
15th Leader of the Liberal Party
Incumbent
Assumed office 30 May 2022
Deputy	Sussan Ley
Preceded by	Scott Morrison
Previous offices 2004–⁠2022 57th Minister for Defence In office 30 March 2021 – 23 May 2022 Prime Minister Scott Morrison Deputy Andrew Hastie Preceded by Linda Reynolds Succeeded by Richard Marles 20th Leader of the House In office 30 March 2021 – 23 May 2022 Prime Minister Scott Morrison Preceded by Christian Porter Succeeded by Tony Burke 32nd Minister for Home Affairs In office 20 December 2017 – 30 March 2021 Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull Scott Morrison Preceded by Jason Clare Succeeded by Karen Andrews 32nd Minister for Immigration and Border Protection In office 23 December 2014 – 21 August 2018 Prime Minister Tony Abbott Malcolm Turnbull Preceded by Scott Morrison Succeeded by David Coleman 41st Minister for Health In office 18 September 2013 – 23 December 2014 Prime Minister Tony Abbott Preceded by Tanya Plibersek Succeeded by Sussan Ley 23rd Minister for Sport In office 18 September 2013 – 23 December 2014 Prime Minister Tony Abbott Preceded by Don Farrell Succeeded by Sussan Ley 8th Assistant Treasurer of Australia In office 27 January 2006 – 3 December 2007 Prime Minister John Howard Preceded by Mal Brough Succeeded by Chris Bowen 10th Minister for Workforce Participation In office 26 October 2004 – 27 January 2006 Prime Minister John Howard Preceded by Fran Bailey Succeeded by Sharman Stone
Member of the Australian Parliament for Dickson
Incumbent
Assumed office 10 November 2001
Preceded by	Cheryl Kernot
Personal details
Born	(1970-11-18) 18 November 1970 (age 54) Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Political party	Liberal (federal) LNP (state)
Spouse(s)	Kirilly Brumby ​ (m. 2003)​
Children	3
Education	Queensland University of Technology (BBus)
Signature
Website	Official website
Police career
Department	Queensland Police
Allegiance	Queensland
Years of service	1990–1999
Rank	Detective Senior Constable

Political career

Dutton has been a member of the Australian House of Representatives representing the Division of Dickson, Queensland since November 2001. From 2017 to 2018, he was the Minister for Home Affairs. He served as the Minister for Immigration and Border Protection from 2014 to 2017. He was also the Minister for Health and Sport from 2013 to 2014.

In May 2022, after the Liberal Party lost the 2022 election and Scott Morrison resigned as party leader, Dutton announced his candidacy for the party leadership.^[1][2] He was elected party leader unopposed on 30 May 2022 and became Opposition Leader shortly afterwards.^[3] He is the first Liberal leader to come from Queensland.^[4]

During his time as Opposition Leader, stories of Dutton's leadership of the Department of Home Affairs started to be publish. It was revealed that a 2020 report had uncovered serious issues with the department's detention approach, but Dutton had chosen not to act.^[5] In February 2024, the independent Richardson Review^[6][7] was published, which found some failures of Dutton's role as 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 went against US sanctions.^[8] Dutton had personally got involved with the department to allow a criminal to stay in Australia, saying that it would be in the public interest.^[9]

Personal life

Dutton was born in Brisbane, Queensland. He was a police officer before he entered politics. He has been married twice and has three children.^[10]

On 13 March 2020, during the 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic, Dutton was diagnosed with COVID-19.^[11]