Throughout his political career, Peter Dutton’s wife Kirilly and three children have been a constant.
While there is plenty out there about his stances on certain issues and policies, the Liberal Party leader is much more private about his personal life.
Read more below about how he met his wife, and his family life.
Who is Kirilly Dutton?
When the couple first met, Kirilly was working 14-hour days as the personal assistant of Sarina Russo.
Also a former part-time babysitter, she now owns and operates two Camelia Avenue Childcare Centres. Both are owned by Dutton Building & Development, which was started by the politician and his father.
The couple also has an impressive property portfolio together, which includes a shopping centre in Townsville.
How did Peter Dutton meet his wife?
Peter was first introduced to his future wife by a friend of Kirilly’s when he ran for the seat of Dickson in 2001.
Speaking to 60 Minutes in February 2025, the couple said their first date was at the Port Office Hotel in Brisbane back in 2001, when Peter approached her with a vodka Red Bull drink in hand.
At the time, he was expecting his daughter Rebecca with a former partner.
“I think we hit it off pretty quickly. And there was, even to this day, just an instinctive understanding of each other and allowing ourselves of our respective space,” he has previously shared with Peta Credlin on Sky News.
Who was Peter Dutton’s first wife?
The Opposition leader has previously revealed in an interview with Sky News that his marriage to Rebecca’s mother crumbled as he didn’t have enough time to be fully present in the relationship due to his busy work schedule.
“It was a tough issue at the time, because I’d been married when I was about 23 for about six months, and picked up my then wife from a night shift, and she said: ‘I don’t love you anymore’,” he said.
“It was … pretty shocking at the time but we just got married too young, I was working too hard and didn’t have enough time for the relationship and it was just one of those things,” he added.
Kirrily has become a stepmother to Rebecca with Peter sharing, “In terms of how Kirilly responded to that, again, all in a stride and … [the kids] have never seen each other as stepbrother and sister, that has never been language in our household,” Dutton said. “The kids have always been treated equally by me, by Kirilly and I think that’s been an important thing as well.”
The identity of Peter Dutton’s ex-wife and mother of his daughter Rebecca is not public information.
Who are Peter Dutton’s kids?
In 2023, he provided more insight into his personal life with ABC’s Kitchen Cabinet. He said it was a difficult time when his daughter Rebecca was born in 2002, but he had no regrets, and that she had “turned into the most beautiful young lady.”
“You describe it as a mistake at the time, but the best mistake I ever made. She’s just a gorgeous girl,” he said at the time.
Kirilly and Peter tied the knot in 2003, and went on to welcome sons Harry and Tom soon after in 2004 and 2006.
Although he spends a lot of time on the road and away from his family, Kirrily has previously admitted to the Courier Mail that when he isn’t working, Peter is in “full father mode.”
“There’s a lot of dad jokes. He loves to give them a hard time at the dinner table. They pretend to find it completely horrifying but they actually love it and laugh like crazy,” she said.
What has Peter Dutton said about the impact of politics on his family?
His high-profile position and staunch stances have meant Peter Dutton cannot please everybody. While criticism and threats have come his way, it has also become personal.
“The worst part, the absolute worst part of this job is that your family, your wife, your children, your friends, your cousins with the same surname, are all sucked into that vortex, that you’ve created,” he shared with 60 Minutes in early 2025 when death threats were sent to the childcare centre his wife managed.
“But that’s the reality of it.”
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