Australia's Dutton focuses on suburban votes, was strict on borders before Trump

SYDNEY, May 1 (Reuters) - Peter Dutton, who seeks to become Australia's prime minister in Saturday's national election, is known as a plain-speaking conservative who has attracted suburban voters with tough crime and border protection policies over two decades in parliament.

A former policeman and business owner, Dutton, 54, was defence minister in the conservative Liberal-National coalition government that struck the AUKUS nuclear submarine deal with the United States and Britain in 2021.

Sign up here.

Dutton became leader of the Liberal Party when moderate voices were significantly weakened after the 2022 national election loss to Labor, as wealthy inner urban Liberal seats shifted to independents who had supported action on climate change.

Dutton focused on the concerns of outer urban voters and cost of living issues.

His party's chances of re-election rose in 2024 as home mortgage interest rates, energy and grocery prices soared, squeezing households, polls showed. By February, an Australian Financial Review poll showed the Liberal and National coalition had a 52% to 48% lead over Labor.

But an election campaign coinciding with U.S. President Donald Trump's stop-start tariffs and volatile diplomacy, which roiled global markets, saw Dutton's polling slip as Australian voters who disliked Trump rapidly became risk averse.

A Redbridge poll published by News Corp newspapers two days out from the election showed Labor ahead 53% to 47% on a two-party preferred basis, driven by global uncertainty.

"Dutton had long had a reputation as the hard man of Australian politics. His line on immigration is very Trump-like," said independent political analyst Simon Jackman.

Married with three adult children, Dutton lives in a semi-rural community on the fringe of Brisbane city in the northeastern state of Queensland, where census data shows there are few migrants.

Dutton called small business "the backbone of the Australian economy", in his first speech to parliament after winning the seat from Labor.

He described a middle-class upbringing, in which his father was a bricklayer turned business owner and his mother ran a childcare centre.

He joined the Liberal Party at 18, and bought his first home the following year. After nine years as a police officer, he joined his father's home building company.

"Peter is driven by a really strong resonance with middle Australia," said Steve Ciobo, a former trade minister and friend since both entered parliament together as young Queensland Liberals in 2001.

Dutton's police training imparted him the ability to stay "calm under intense pressure", he added.

TRUMP-LIKE?

The Liberal Party campaign focused on cutting petrol prices, but also highlighted Dutton's track record of cancelling the visas of migrants with criminal records, plans to cut immigration to free up housing, and also cut 41,000 government jobs.

Dutton said he wants Australia, which has the world's largest uranium resources but a ban on nuclear power, to add nuclear to its energy mix.

After Labor's social media campaign cast Dutton as "DOGEY", a reference to Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency, Dutton was shown a picture of Musk in a televised election debate.

He said the first words that came to mind were "evil genius".

"I haven't sought to be anybody other than myself," he said, when asked if he was distancing himself from Trump's style.

"Peter is basically a mainstream Australian conservative, he is not an extremist. Some people in the party got Trumpy in a trivial way," said a former Liberal campaign strategist who knows Dutton and declined to be named.

Dutton says he is in the mould of conservative Australian Liberal leader John Howard. He entered politics in Howard's government in the shadow of the September 11 terrorist attacks in New York.

His profile rose in 2014 after the Liberal and National parties returned to power and, as immigration minister, became the face of a contentious policy to turn asylum seeker boats back at sea. The government said it stopped refugees from making the dangerous voyage.

"The right decisions aren't always popular," Dutton is quoted as saying in Liberal election promotion material.

Michael Keenan, who was justice minister at the time, said, "You often get a series of poor choices and you have to take the least worst one. He had good judgement."

Dutton has "a tremendous sense of humour and is very loyal", added Keenan.

"This is not a time to have a weak government. The Chinese warships is the latest example of that," Keenan said, referring to February's unprecedented live fire drills by China's navy in international waters between Australia and New Zealand.

As defence minister, Dutton sent military equipment to Ukraine when Russia invaded. In February, he said Trump had "got it wrong" on President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, whom he described as a modern-day hero.

Dutton said he had worked with several U.S. administrations, which gives him the credentials to build a strong relationship with security ally the United States.

Reporting by Kirsty Needham in Sydney; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Lincoln Feast.

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab