By Makayla Muscat For Daily Mail Australia
10:22 24 Jun 2024, updated 11:32 24 Jun 2024
Peter Dutton‘s 18-year-old son Tom has been pictured holding a bag containing ‘white powder’.
The image of Tom, which shows the wide-eyed teenager holding up the bag for the camera, was shared on Snapchat by a friend alongside the caption: ‘Birthday day treat. Hello how u goin.’
The photo was taken on a balcony in Surfers Paradise and was swiftly removed, but not before it was screenshotted by a recipient.
Daily Mail Australia doesn’t suggest the white substance is drugs.
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When asked about the photo, Mr Dutton’s office told the Daily Telegraph: ‘This is a private matter for the Dutton family.’
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Mr Dutton’s office for further comment.
Snapchat is popular among young people because posts usually disappear after they have been read. Recipients can screenshot posts, but the person who shared it will be notified.
Mr Dutton has two sons – Tom and Harry – with his wife Kirilly, as well as daughter Rebecca from a previous relationship.
He told the ABC last year about how being a police officer before entering politics had influenced his parenting style, admitting that he was stricter than most.
‘Even in the way that you bring up your children… You know, not letting them out of your sight because you’ve seen some horrific cases where kids have been abducted or assaulted,’ he told Annabel Crabb during an interview at his home.
He added that he would not let his children use public toilets when they were out.
Mr Dutton hit out at soft drug laws in September last year, accusing the ACT government of ‘rolling out the red carpet for drug use’.
‘It is effectively welcoming more ice, heroin, cocaine, MDMA and speed on our streets,’ he said.
When Mr Dutton applied to become the Liberal Opposition leader in 2022, he spoke of his time fighting crime as a police officer.
‘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,’ he said.
‘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.’