The son of a former state premier who was convicted of drink-driving and causing a violent car crash that was a factor in the end of his father’s political career has come to the defence of Peter Dutton’s son.
Last week, a picture of 18-year-old Tom Dutton holding a bag of white powder appeared in the news.
Steve Bracks was Victoria’s premier in 2007 when his son Nick, then 20, wrecked the family car after a days-long drunken bender.
“I feel sorry for him,” Nick said of Tom on The Project Monday night.
“I wouldn’t condone that behavior, but he’s an 18-year-old kid who experiments with things like a lot of other kids.
‘When I was a kid, they told you “you’re this person’s son”… it makes you think, well, what do I have to do to make people see me as Nick Bracks and not Steve Bracks’ son?’
“Being so young and having people say different things to you because of something you’ve done in your private life can be difficult to deal with.”
Last week, an image made public through social media of Tom Dutton ended up on the front pages of newspapers across the country.
A photo of 18-year-old Tom Dutton (pictured) holding a bag of white powder appeared on Snapchat last week.
Nick Bracks (pictured) told The Project he feels sorry for the opposition leader’s son.
‘Birthday present. Hi, how are you?’ the quickly deleted image was captioned.
“I haven’t been in touch with Tom, but I would love to talk to him if he ever wanted to,” Nick said on television.
In 2007, 20-year-old Nick suffered an injury that ended his dream of being a professional athlete.
By his own admission, his behavior worsened and he turned to alcohol as a coping mechanism.
On a rainy night in a Melbourne suburb, after several days of drinking, Nick went out of control at 90 km/h in a 60 km/h zone, crashed into a tree and injured his friend who was in the car. passenger seat. He was convicted of driving under the influence and fined $750.
As the prime minister’s son, the incident quickly made headlines and journalists camped outside the family home.
Prime Minister Bracks already had plans to resign, but resigned less than two weeks after the accident.
“Dad has always been amazing,” Nick wrote in an opinion piece this week for Nine Newspapers.
Nick Bracks (pictured in 2007), who was caught drink-driving when he was 20, has spoken out in defense of Peter Dutton’s son.
“But that pressure from other people affected me a lot. He became prime minister when I was 12 and I spent my entire adolescence with that pressure around me.”
On Monday night’s television, Nick said he felt sorry for Tom Dutton coming under scrutiny for having a prominent father.
“I felt sorry for that guy and I felt like I needed to talk about it.”
The political response to the Dutton son incident has been equally measured and understanding from both sides of parliament.
“I have no comment on that. Peter Dutton is a public figure, but his son is not,” Labor minister Tanya Plibersek said last week.
Dutton’s office also declined media inquiries other than to say the matter was a private matter.