Peter Dutton’s son Tom pictured holding bag containing ‘white powder’

Federal Opposition Leader Peter Dutton’s 18-year-old son has been photographed holding a bag containing a ‘white powder’. See the picture and his father’s response.

Peter Dutton with his family. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen/The Australian

Exclusive: Federal Opposition Leader Peter Dutton’s son has been photographed holding a clear zip lock bag containing a small amount of a white substance.

Tom Dutton, 18, was photographed with what was described as a “birthday day treat” at a Surfer’s Paradise apartment on the Gold Coast.

Wearing a plain white T-shirt, Tom was facing the camera while holding a bag in his right hand.

The caption read: “Birthday day treat. Hello how u goin”.

This masthead is not suggesting the white substance is drugs.

Tom Dutton is seen in a snapchat image. Supplied

Mr Dutton’s office was contacted about the photograph on Monday, later issuing a ​one-sentence statement: “This is a private matter for the Dutton family”.

The photograph was posted to a friend of Tom’s Snapchat account.

The image was deleted shortly after being put online but it had been screenshot by one of the recipients who then circulated the image.

Snapchat has been a social media platform of choice for many younger people because posts usually disappear after they have been read.

However, recipients can take a screenshot of images they received but the person who posted the image gets notified.

There are ways to avoid being detected by taking a photograph of a Snapchat post with a second phone, using screen mirroring to add the image to another device or using private screenshots on an Android phone.

Mr Dutton with wife Kirilly, daughter Rebecca and sons Tom and Harry in 2022 as he was about to become Federal Opposition Leader. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen/The Australian

Mr Dutton hit out at soft drug laws introduced in Canberra last year, saying “the ACT government is rolling out the red carpet for drug use and more crime.”

“It is effectively welcoming more ice, heroin, cocaine, MDMA, and speed, on our streets,” he said in September.

Mr Dutton, a former police officer, was photographed with his family when he applied to become the Liberal Opposition leader in 2022.

“We believe in families – whatever their composition,” he said in an Instagram post announcing his leadership push.

“I’ve had tough jobs – firstly as a policeman dealing with serious sexual assaults and murders, to home affairs minister where I deported drug traffickers and child sex offenders.

“Most people have only seen that side of me. I hope now, in moving from such tough port­folios, the Australian public can see the rest of my character, the side my family, friends and colleagues see. The side my community sees, where they have elected me eight times.

“I come from the suburbs and I have never changed my values or forgotten where I come from.”

Mr Dutton’s family feature on his LinkedIn page.

Mr Dutton has two sons, Tom, and Harry with wife Kirilly and a daughter, Rebecca, from a previous relationship.

His LinkedIn profile includes a photograph of his family and he describes himself as: “Dad of 3, Proud Northside, Federa lMP for Dickson and Leader of the Opposition.”

Mr Dutton has been closing in on Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in recent months, with the Coalition’s primary vote rising to 39 per cent in the most recent Newspoll.

Labor and the Coalition now have a 50-50 split on a two party preferred basis.

His bold policies on nuclear power have been setting the agenda amid renewed debate about how Australia will reach its carbon reduction targets.

Mr Dutton had previously referenced his family in media interviews.

The Duttons on a family holiday on the Gold Coast in 2018. Picture: Nigel Hallett

Speaking of his parents in a Triple M interview in 2018, Mr Dutton said: “We were brought up in a wonderful family environment, so family is incredibly important to me.”

Mr Dutton was a Queensland Police officer for nine years where he worked stints in the drug squad.

He quit the force in 1999 to attend university and then set up a childcare business in 2000.

Mr Dutton’s wife sold her childcare centres in 2022, clearing the way for him to take over the leadership and avoid Labor’s claims he had a conflict of interest.

The Liberal Party’s bid to overturn the ACT’s new drug laws failed last year.

Originally published as Peter Dutton’s son Tom pictured holding bag containing ‘white powder’