What photo of Peter Dutton’s son really proves

A leaked Snapchat pic of Peter Dutton’s son holding a bag of white powder has sparked a media storm - but there’s an uncomfortable truth about the furore.

OPINION

Did you hear the news? Peter Dutton’s teenage son’s mates tested positive for being d*ckheads on Monday.

As news broke that the offspring of the Liberal Party leader had been photographed holding a bag of white powder, there it was.

Proof, if you needed it, that teenage boys’ frontal lobes don’t fully form until they are 25, or a few decades later depending on the bloke.

Peter Dutton’s son Tom was photographed with a bag of white powder. Picture: Supplied/

As a parent of teenage boys, I have seen this movie before. Every dumb thing kids do they film and put on Snapchat.

It’s a nightmare with profound implications for teenagers’ mental health.

Like most people of my generation I got up to all sorts of stupidity

Luckily for me, it wasn’t all recorded for posterity on Facebook.

Call me old fashioned, but I found myself profoundly uncomfortable with some of the news coverage of Peter Dutton’s son.

If the child of a politician was charged with a crime, for example domestic violence, there’s no question in my mind it should be reported.

But to my mind, this is in a different category. The fact that Peter Dutton has adopted a tough on drugs approach in his public commentary is irrelevant.

Peter Dutton and his son Tom. Picture: Zak Simmonds

It doesn’t give us carte blanche to start crawling through the private lives of his kids.

Whatever you think of Peter Dutton, does anyone seriously propose that there’s some sort of profound public interest in what his 18 year old son is doing on the weekend?

I think not. He didn’t ask to have Peter Dutton as his dad and he didn’t ask to have his Snapchat image splashed across the media.

Do we know what’s in the bag? Nope. But we all know what many will assume.

Peter Dutton with his wife Kirilly, daughter Rebecca and sons Tom and Harry. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen/The Australian

As an aside, Queensland relaxed drug laws in recent years to ensure anyone caught carrying small quantities of illicit substances like heroin, cocaine or ice, is given three chances before facing a criminal charge.

A warning will be given the first time someone is caught carrying a small amount of a dangerous drug.

The offer to complete a drug diversionary program will be made on the second and third occasion.

There’s all sorts of debates you can have over whether that’s a good or bad policy and what sort of message that sends to teenagers, but we can have it without dragging politicians kids into the mix.

And most of us, who have sometimes lived less than exemplary lives, should reflect on how lucky we were that we grew up before smartphones existed.

Originally published as What photo of Peter Dutton’s son really proves