Peter Dutton is set to become the next Liberal leader when the party meets on Monday.
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Born in Brisbane in 1970, his career has spanned the police force, private business, and more than two decades in federal parliament.
After an unsuccessful tilt for Queensland parliament in 1989, Dutton spent nearly a decade in the state's police force across its drug and sex crimes divisions.
A brief stint as a businessmen was soon ended by a return to his passion: politics.
In 2001, Dutton entered federal parliament as the member for Dickson, a position he has held ever since, despite some close calls.
Frontbench roles in health, immigration, home affairs and defence have followed in a career in which he's served under four prime ministers.
Dutton has forged a reputation as a conservative hardliner, but colleagues - including those from the party's moderate flank - insists there's a decent and compassionate man underneath the tough exterior.
But if the former Queensland cop is to recast his image and help rebuild the Liberals after the federal election loss, he'll have to overcome a series of past controversies which have shaped the public perception of him.
Apology boycott
Dutton was the only opposition frontbencher not to show up for the apology to the Stolen Generation in 2007, though six other Coalition MPs stormed out in protest.
Three years later, he said he had no regrets of the boycott, framing the apology as a tokenistic distraction from fixing "rape and torture" in Indigenous communities.
"If I thought for a moment that it was going to deliver positive outcomes to those kids, to their families, to those communities, then I would support it in a heartbeat," he told ABC debate program Q&A. "But I thought it distracted us from that."
Dutton has since reportedly expressed regret about the boycott.
Immigration and race
Dutton suggested rape victims on Nauru were "trying it on" by seeking abortions on the Australian mainland, without providing specific numbers or details.
"They arrived in Australia and then decided they were not going to have an abortion. They have the baby here and the moment they step off the plane their lawyers lodge papers in the Federal Court, which injuncts us from sending them back," he said in 2019.
After shots were fired by PNG defence personnel during unrest at Manus Island in 2017, Dutton claimed asylum seekers had led a five-year old boy to the detention centre and locals were "quite angry about this particular incident and another alleged sexual assault". Local police later said a 10-year-old boy had asked for food two weeks prior, and the incident was unrelated to the shooting.
Dutton has also suggested Australia "made mistakes" by resettling Lebanese Muslim refugees, fleeing the country's bloody civil war, under Malcolm Fraser.
He took a less hardline stance on white South African farmers seeking asylum in Australia, claiming Afrikaners deserved a special protection status due to violent crime in the country.
Dutton also claimed in 2018 that Melbournians were "scared to go out to restaurants" because of African gang violence.
The next year, he described the two Australian-born Biloela children as "anchor babies", a term widely regarded as a pejorative.
'Prepare for war'
Australia's relationship with China has deteriorated over the past two years as Beijing has become more assertive.
As defence minister, Dutton was willing to take up the mantle as the Coalition's hawk-in-chief, using the frontbench's strongest language by comparing the situation to the lead-up to World War II.
"The only way you can preserve peace is to prepare for war and be strong as a country," he said in April, in comments he echoed this month.
Au pair saga
Despite his tough reputation on borders, Dutton used his powers to prevent the deportation of three au pairs in 2015.
His office was warned two, including one who was lobbied for by AFL chief Gillon McLachlan, were at risk of violating the terms of their visas.
Dutton denied misusing his powers as home affairs minister, which granted him the power to intervene if he believed doing so was in the national interest.
"Our family does not employ an au pair. My wife takes very good care, in my absence I must say, of our three children. We have never employed an au pair," he said.
A Senate inquiry suggested parliament consider censuring him over the matter.
Pacific Islands joke
The then-Immigration Minister did not endear himself to Australia's neighbours in 2015, caught on a hot mic joking about climate change - an existential threat to low-lying Pacific nations.
"I guess time doesn't mean anything when you're about to have water lapping at your door," he said to former prime minister Tony Abbott.
Dutton initially refused to apologise, saying the comments were made in a private conversation, but soon backtracked. He admitted he regretted the joke during the 2022 election campaign.
Disability comments
Dutton has headed off challenges in Dickson from Ali France at the past two elections.
France, who lost her leg in a car crash, in 2019 said she had not yet been able to move to the electorate because she was struggling to find a home accessible by wheelchair.
Dutton said there were "plenty of people living with a disability" living in Dickson.
"I think they are quite angry that Ms France is using her disability as an excuse for not moving into our electorate," he said.
He later apologised for the comments.
Turnbull's demise
Dutton triggered the chaos which saw Scott Morrison installed as prime minister in the first place.
In September 2018, Malcolm Turnbull spilled the Liberal leadership to head off an impending challenge as rumours swirled in the press. Dutton stood and lost, but the damage was done.
After three days of lobbying colleagues, Dutton came for his wounded leader again. This time, Morrison emerged through the middle as the consensus candidate.
Turnbull was gone, but Dutton was without the prize he sought.
If he's an effective opposition leader, that may change in three years.