Liberal Party leader Peter Dutton admits his son made a ‘bad mistake’ to become embroiled in a ‘white powder’ scandal, but says it is unfair for the children of public figures to be dragged into the public spotlight.
Tom Dutton, 18, was photographed with what was described in a caption as a ‘birthday day treat’ at a Surfer’s Paradise apartment on the Gold Coast during schoolies week.
In the photo, he was holding a bag containing white powder in his right hand.
Daily Mail does not suggest the white substance in the bag was drugs.
When the photograph first emerged in June, the Opposition leader’s office issued a statement saying ‘This is a private matter for the Dutton family’.
Now, almost three months later, Mr Dutton spoke about the effect on his family during the Neil Mitchell Asks Why podcast, and revealed that Prime Minister Anthony Albanese generously offered his support at the time.
When Mitchell asked if media and wider society puts too much attention on the personal lives of politicians – and their families – Mr Dutton replied: ‘I think we do.’
‘And to the credit of – I was very grateful for – a call from the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister, other ministers and my own colleagues who shared that view,’ he said.
‘Those of us in public life deserve to be scrutinised and I would expect to be on the front page in that circumstance (that faced his son), or if it was a footy star or something.
‘But that’s not how the media operates, and I’m not complaining about the rules of the game.
‘When you see that impact on your own kids, it’s tough because they know that but for their surname, no one would be interested in it.
‘Tom was at schoolies and made a bad mistake and we’ve spoken to our kids about social media and the rest of it,’ he said.
Mr Dutton said he ‘never had a day’s trouble with any of our kids’.
The photo was taken on a balcony and was swiftly removed, but not before it was screenshotted by a recipient.
As well as Tom, Mr Dutton also has another son, Harry, with his wife Kirilly, as well as daughter Rebecca from his first marriage.
He told the ABC’s Kitchen Cabinet show last year that being a police officer before entering politics had made him a strict parent.
Mr Dutton said this included ‘not letting them out of your sight because you’ve seen some horrific cases where kids have been abducted or assaulted’.