By Kirsty Needham

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Peter Dutton, who seeks to become Australia's prime minister in a May 3 national election, is known as a plain-speaking conservative who has attracted suburban voters with tough crime and border protection policies over two decades in parliament.

A former policeman and small business owner, Dutton, 54, was defence minister in the conservative Liberal-National coalition government that struck the AUKUS nuclear submarine deal with the United States and Britain in 2021.

"Peter is driven by a really strong resonance with middle Australia," said Steve Ciobo, a former trade minister and friend since both entered parliament together as young Queensland Liberals in 2001.

"He has always been motivated by serving the community and that manifested well before his time in politics," Ciobo said in a telephone interview, adding that Dutton's police training imparted him the ability to stay "calm under intense pressure".

Dutton became leader of the Liberal Party when moderate voices were significantly weakened after the 2022 national election loss to Labor, as wealthy inner urban seats shifted to independents who had supported action on climate change.

Dutton focused on the concerns of outer urban voters and cost of living issues.

His popularity, and his party's chances of re-election, rose in 2024 as home mortgage interest rates, electricity and grocery prices soared, squeezing households, polls showed.

By February, an Australian Financial Review poll showed the Liberal and National coalition had a 52% to 48% lead over Labor. A Yougov poll in March showed the parties tied at 50%.

Married with three adult children, Dutton lives in a semi-rural community on the fringe of Brisbane city in the northeastern state of Queensland, where census data shows there are few migrants.

Dutton called small business "the backbone of the Australian economy", in his first speech to parliament after winning the seat from Labor.

He described a middle-class upbringing, in which his father was a bricklayer turned business owner and his mother ran a childcare centre.

He joined the Liberal Party at 18, and bought his first home the following year. After nine years as a police officer, he joined his father's home building company.

TRUMP-LIKE?

Dutton's election campaign has highlighted his track record of cancelling the visas of migrants with criminal records, said he plans to cut immigration to free up housing, and also cut 36,000 government jobs and force public servants to return to the office if elected.

He has criticised Labor's push for "renewable only" energy as driving up electricity prices, and wants Australia, which has the world's largest uranium resources but a ban on nuclear power, to add nuclear to its energy mix.

In a television interview with 60 Minutes Australia last month, Dutton rejected the label of a "Trump-lite" politician, saying instead he was in the mould of conservative Australian Liberal leader John Howard.

Dutton entered politics in the shadow of the September 11 terrorist attacks in New York. His profile rose in 2014 after the Liberal and National parties returned to power and, as immigration minister, became the face of a contentious policy to turn asylum seeker boats back at sea.

The government said it stopped refugees from making the dangerous voyage.

"The right decisions aren't always popular," Dutton is quoted as saying in Liberal election promotion material.

Michael Keenan, who was justice minister at the time, said, "You often get a series of poor choices and you have to take the least worst one. He had good judgement."

Dutton has "a tremendous sense of humour and is very loyal", added Keenan.

"This is not a time to have a weak government. The Chinese warships is the latest example of that," Keenan said, referring to February's unprecedented live fire drills by China's navy in international waters between Australia and New Zealand.

In 2018, Dutton's role expanded to oversee national security agencies.

As defence minister, he sent military equipment to Ukraine when Russia invaded. In February, Dutton said U.S. President Donald Trump had "got it wrong" on President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, whom he described as a modern-day hero.

Dutton says his work with the previous Trump administration gives him the credentials to build a strong relationship with security ally the United States.

"He has an innate understanding not only of Australia's role in the world, but also what Aussies expect of their political leadership," added Ciobo.

(Reporting by Kirsty Needham in Sydney; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Lincoln Feast.)