Peter Dutton

The Honourable Peter Dutton MP
Dutton in 2024
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
Succeeded by
Ministerial offices held 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 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 Minister for Revenue and Assistant Treasurer 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]

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Peter Craig Dutton (born 18 November 1970) is an Australian politician who has been the leader of the Liberal Party of Australia and leader of the opposition since 2022. He has been the member of parliament (MP) for the Queensland division of Dickson since the 2001 federal election. He previously held ministerial office in the Howard, Abbott, Turnbull and Morrison governments, including as a cabinet minister from 2013 to 2022.

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, Dutton was promoted to 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 new role of Minister for Home Affairs, heading a new "super" department with broad responsibilities brought together from other existing departments.

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

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