Peter Dutton

The Honourable Peter Dutton MP
Dutton in 2023
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
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
Leader of the House
In office 30 March 2021 – 23 May 2022
Prime Minister	Scott Morrison
Preceded by	Christian Porter
Succeeded by	Tony Burke
Minister for Home Affairs
In office 20 December 2017 – 30 March 2021
Prime Minister	Malcolm Turnbull Scott Morrison
Preceded by	Jason Clare
Succeeded by	Karen Andrews
Minister for Immigration and Border Protection
In office 23 December 2014 – 21 August 2018
Prime Minister	Tony Abbott Malcolm Turnbull
Preceded by	Scott Morrison
Succeeded by	David Coleman
Minister for Health
In office 18 September 2013 – 23 December 2014
Prime Minister	Tony Abbott
Preceded by	Tanya Plibersek
Succeeded by	Sussan Ley
Minister for Sport
In office 18 September 2013 – 23 December 2014
Prime Minister	Tony Abbott
Preceded by	Don Farrell
Succeeded by	Sussan Ley
Assistant Treasurer of Australia
In office 27 January 2006 – 3 December 2007
Prime Minister	John Howard
Preceded by	Mal Brough
Succeeded by	Chris Bowen
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 House of Representatives for Dickson
Incumbent
Assumed office 10 November 2001
Preceded by	Cheryl Kernot
Personal details
Born	Peter Craig Dutton (1970-11-18) 18 November 1970 (age 54) Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Political party	Liberal (federal) LNP (state)
Other political affiliations	Liberal-National Coalition
Spouse	Kirilly Brumby ​ (m. 2003)​
Children	3
Education	Queensland University of Technology (BBus)
Signature
Website	peterdutton.com.au
Police career
Allegiance	Queensland
Department	Queensland Police
Branch	National Crime Authority, Drug Squad, Sex Offenders Squad
Service years	1990–1999
Rank	Detective Senior Constable[a]

Peter Craig Dutton (born 18 November 1970) is an Australian politician. He is the current Leader of the Opposition, holding office as the leader of the Liberal Party of Australia since May 2022. He has been the member of Parliament (MP) for the division of Dickson since 2001. Dutton previously served as the minister for Defence from 2021 to 2022 and the minister for Home Affairs from 2017 to 2021. He held various ministerial positions from 2004 to 2022 in the governments of Howard, Abbott, Turnbull and Morrison.

Dutton grew up in Brisbane. He worked as a police officer in the Queensland Police for nearly a decade upon leaving school, and later ran a construction business with his father. He joined the Liberal Party as a teenager and was elected to the House of Representatives at the 2001 election, aged 30. Following the 2004 election, he was appointed as Minister for Employment Participation. In January 2006, he was promoted to become Assistant Treasurer under Peter Costello. After the defeat of the Liberal-National Coalition at the 2007 election, he was appointed to the Shadow Cabinet as Shadow Minister for Health, a role he held for the next six years.

Upon the victory of the Coalition at the 2013 election, Dutton was appointed Minister for Health and Minister for Sport. He was moved to the role of Minister for Immigration and Border Protection in December 2014, where he played a key role in overseeing Operation Sovereign Borders. He was kept in that position after Malcolm Turnbull replaced Tony Abbott as Prime Minister in September 2015. In December 2017, he was also given the restored role of Minister for Home Affairs, heading a new "super" department with broad responsibilities brought together from other existing departments.

After the defeat of Abbott, Dutton became widely seen as the leader of the National Right faction in the Liberal Party, and began to be spoken of as a potential leader. In August 2018, after a period of poor opinion polling for the Coalition, Dutton unsuccessfully challenged Turnbull for the leadership. He then was defeated by Scott Morrison in a second leadership ballot days later after Turnbull chose to resign. He was retained as Minister for Home Affairs by Morrison, later becoming Minister for Defence and Leader of the House in March 2021. He went on to succeed Morrison as party leader unopposed after the Coalition's defeat at the 2022 election, becoming leader of the opposition. He is the first Liberal leader to come from Queensland, and the first leader since Alexander Downer to represent a seat outside of New South Wales.
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