Peter Dutton: Australia's 'Trump-lite' PM-in-waiting

Once called a "thug" by a former PM and leader of his own party, Peter Dutton is now the frontrunner to become the next leader of Australia.

Heading the main centre-right Liberal Party, the 54-year-old father of three has embraced the rhetoric and policies of Donald Trump in the hopes of ousting incumbent Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in an election that must be held by 17 May.

From policeman to politician

Born in Brisbane in 1970, Dutton abandoned his business studies course at university to become a police officer, working in the National Crime Authority and Drug and Sex Offenders Squads, "with a focus on protecting women and children", according to his official website.

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Elected to Parliament in 2001, he used his maiden speech to set out a worldview informed by his time spent in the Queensland force that, he said, had shown him the best and worst of society. "I have seen the sickening behaviour displayed by people who, frankly, barely justify their existence in our sometimes over tolerant society".

He went on to serve in a series of ministerial posts in the Liberal governments of the 2010s including health, sport, home affairs and defence, where he compared Beijing's military build-up to the rise of Nazism in the 1930s. As minister for immigration and border protection, he was responsible for using the military to intercept small boats carrying asylum seekers from Asia and infuriated New Zealanders by forcibly returning Kiwi-born criminals, a process he described as "taking the trash out".

"Dutton's time in government, the conservative media interviews, the constant dragging of progressive causes and those who promoted them, the combative statements and an unwillingness to compromise his positions, have painted a very strong image of who Dutton is and what he does with power," said Amy Remeikis, Guardian Australia's political reporter, in 2022 after he was elected Liberal leader.

Donald Trump meets Lord Voldemort

After an inauspicious start as leader of the opposition, Dutton has managed to revive his party's fortunes by leaning into his straight-talking "hard man" image and imitating Donald Trump, said The Times.

He has combined his long-standing hardline stance on asylum seekers with criticism of "woke" progressive causes such as DEI and indigenous rights. He has vowed to banish the Aboriginal flag from government press conferences, cut immigration and prohibit foreigners from buying houses, all policies that "appeal to those struggling with rising prices, sluggish wage growth and the 13 interest rate rises that have inflated mortgage repayments since Albanese came to power".

As they do with Trump, voters seem to appreciate his "bluntness", said the New York Times, with parallels between the two men "drawn by both supporters and critics". Dutton has, however, "drawn the line" at some of Trump's "language and priorities", resisting pressure to campaign on transgender issues, and indicating he would not consider withdrawing Australia from the Paris climate agreements.

For his critics, the comparisons don't stop there. In 2022, Labor's then education spokesperson Tanya Plibersek compared him to Lord Voldemort in a radio interview, adding "I think there will be a lot of children who have watched a lot of Harry Potter films who will be very frightened of what they are seeing on TV at night".

Plibersek later apologised and Dutton labelled the comments "unfortunate" but that they were "water off a duck's back", yet this has not stopped him being repeatedly confronted by members of the public making the same comparison, reported the Daily Mail Australia.

But it could well be Dutton who has the last laugh, with the latest polls suggesting he is now the "frontrunner" in the upcoming election and "the man most likely to be Australia's next prime minister", said The Times.