Who is Peter Dutton? The Liberal leader and his top team for the 2025 federal election explained
The former Queensland police officer has built his brand on his tough stance against crime, aptitude for hard work and his unrelenting approach to borders and national security.
Peter Dutton is in a race to fill in the blanks around his hardman persona and show the nation he can be a prime minister for all occasions.
The former Queensland police officer has built his brand on his tough stance against crime, aptitude for hard work and his unrelenting approach to borders and national security.
After entering parliament at 30, the MP of 23 years has made a name for himself as a ruthless operator, especially following his stints a minister for home affairs, immigration and defence.
This election may be his last chance of achieving his dream of entering The Lodge, after just losing out to the Liberal leadership in 2018 to Scott Morrison.
His treatment of asylum seekers and oversight of offshore processing facilities has led him to be criticised for being heartless and has contributed to his tough public persona.
He also led the Coalition to oppose an Indigenous voice to parliament, ultimately causing its defeat at the referendum.
But the man once deemed unelectable is now closing in on Anthony Albanese in what is shaping up to be a tight election race.
The Liberal leader has entrusted his political fortunes to the Coalition’s plan to build nuclear reactors on seven sites across the country to reach net-zero emissions, proposed cuts to the public service, and cuts to immigration. He has also vowed not to stand beside the Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander flags at press conferences.
In the lead-up to the election campaign, Mr Dutton has come under fire for his property transactions and the timing of his decision to purchase shares in the days before a government bailout of the major banks.
After a series of media stories raised the subjects, the Liberal leader was forced to defend his personal wealth, describing himself as a self-made man with a voracious work ethic who did not grow up with a “silver spoon in my mouth”.
After the Hamas October 7, 2023 terrorist attack, Mr Dutton locked on to the issue of domestic anti-Semitism and has been steadfast in his support for Israel.
He and Coalition MPs have repeatedly attacked the Prime Minister and Labor ministers for their failure to respond to the crisis, amid a surge in anti-Semitic graffiti and arson attacks across the country.
Angus Taylor, opposition Treasury spokesman
Former consultant Angus Taylor has led the Coalition’s attacks on Labor’s economic plan.
The Oxford-educated economist has criticised Jim Chalmers’ push to achieve a “soft landing” – bringing down inflation without driving up unemployment – attacking Labor for allowing prices for essentials to hover too high for too long.
The Hume MP, who entered parliament in 2013 after a career in consulting, has accused the Treasurer of failing to restore the living standards of Australians.
He has also been critical of Dr Chalmers’ use of energy rebates to address the cost of living, arguing the high-spending approach would damage the budget bottom line.
After the Reserve Bank cut interest rates in February, Mr Taylor said the fall offered welcome relief to households but it was “too little, too late” for many Australians who had endured a gruelling cycle of 13 rate hikes.
Mr Taylor came under fire for generating confusion over the Coalition’s immigration policy, after he declared in May last year the government would cut net overseas migration by 25 per cent.
Peter Dutton had the week before announced cuts to permanent migration, a smaller subset of the migration program, and cut net overseas migration to 160,000.
His comments have also stoked uncertainty over the Coalition’s plans to crack down on insurance companies and bring premiums down, after he appeared to take divestiture plans off the table.
Mr Taylor also came under fire with his claim that the Coalition’s nuclear policy would cut electricity bills by 44 per cent, after the Opposition Leader claimed the plan would cost the same percentage less than Labor’s renewable push.
In question time he is repeatedly the target of attacks by the Labor frontbench.
Sussan Ley, deputy Liberal leader and skills, women, small business spokeswoman
The deputy Liberal leader has gained a reputation as a Coalition attack dog and argumentative performer during question time in the House of Representatives.
The trained pilot, who has held the seat of Farrer since 2001, has repeatedly attacked Labor for its track record in supporting small businesses and overseeing a rise in insolvencies.
The most senior female Coalition MP has also been a leading critic of Labor’s fee-free TAFE policy, arguing that the scheme only supports students to attend government-run trainers at a cost of $1.5bn.
The position has exemplified the key philosophical difference between Labor and the Coalition, with Ms Ley declaring if “you don’t pay for something, you don’t value it”.
The daughter of a British intelligence agent who was born in Nigeria and raised largely in the Middle East before emigrating to Australia, has described herself as a former punk rocker who once wore purple hair, black lipstick and a dog collar to her Canberra high school.
Ms Ley once said she is a believer in numerology as explanation as to why she added an “s” to her first name. She later clarified that she had been joking when she said the additional letter would ensure she would lead an “exciting, interesting life”, and the move was an act of youthful rebellion.
Ahead of a shadow ministerial reshuffle in January, Ms Ley is understood to have contemplated exercising her prerogative as deputy leader to choose her own portfolio and take on foreign affairs. But a well-timed story emerged portraying Ms Ley as a supporter of Palestine, who had once failed to declare accommodation, meals and transport paid for by the Palestinian Authority for a visit to the West Bank in 2011.
She was forced to resign from her portfolios of Health and Aged Care and Sport in January 2017, following revelations she had purchased a $795,000 apartment on a taxpayer-funded trip to the Gold Coast.
Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, Indigenous Australians and government efficiency spokeswoman
Since skyrocketing to national recognition as a campaigner against the Indigenous voice to parliament, Jacinta Nampijinpa Price has continued to dominate the headlines from the Coalition frontbench.
Promoted to be opposition spokeswoman for Indigenous Australians in 2023 and handed the Donald Trump-inspired portfolio of government efficiency in January in a Coalition reshuffle, Senator Price has had a meteoric rise from her time as Alice Springs deputy mayor.
After being catapulted to the national stage after she posted an impassioned defence of Australia Day on social media in 2016 when she was a councillor, the former singer and performer was elected as an NT senator in the 2022 election for the Country Liberal Party.
The firebrand senator has been outspoken in her criticism of the government’s approach to addressing Indigenous inequality, the “racism of low expectations” First Nations people are held to, and the misogyny that exists in remote Aboriginal communities.
Her views have placed her in opposition to many Indigenous Australians, and have seen her criticised as a traitor who is being used by conservatives to support their own views.
Senator Price made headlines again when she went public with her personal experience of domestic violence, addiction and redemption in her memoir in February, which details her journey from a single mother of three in remote communities to a political force to be reckoned with.
Her mother, Bess Price, was an activist and minister in the NT Legislative Assembly.
David Littleproud, Nationals Leader and agriculture spokesman
Since assuming the Nationals leadership following the Coalition’s 2022 election defeat, David Littleproud has pushed for more support for the regions, campaigned for the divestment of the major supermarkets, and opposed large-scale renewables.
Following a tumultuous few years for the Nationals after Barnaby Joyce held two stints as leader, Mr Littleproud emerged victorious from the post-election leadership spill by offering a clean slate for the party.
The relatively new MP, who won the Queensland seat of Maranoa in the 2016 election, has largely brought stability to the Nationals during the parliamentary term.
Tensions flared after Nationals backbencher Keith Pitt announced that he was quitting politics and criticised Mr Littleproud for drifting away from the party’s regional constituents by maintaining a commitment to net-zero emissions.
Mr Littleproud first emerged as a compromise candidate for the Nationals leadership during a spill in 2021 that ultimately saw Mr Joyce topple Michael McCormack to reclaim the top job.
He has also thrown his support behind a push to boost the gas supply, and recently promised energy prices would be cheaper under a first-term Coalition government.
As opposition agriculture spokesman he has pushed for action to break up the monopoly of the major supermarkets, which he says has hurt farmers and ordinary Australians by driving up the cost of food.
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