The son of a former state premier, who was convicted of drink-driving and causing a violent car crash which was a factor in the end of his dad’s political career, has leapt to the defence of Peter Dutton’s son.
An image of Tom Dutton, 18, holding a bag of white powder was splashed across the news last week.
Steve Bracks was the Victorian Premier in 2007, when his son Nick, then aged 20 totalled the family car after a multi-day alcohol bender.
‘I feel sorry for him,’ Nick said of Tom on The Project on Monday night.
‘I wouldn’t condone the behaviour, but he is an 18-year-old kid experimenting with things like a lot of other kids.
‘Growing up being referred to as, “you are the son of this person”… it makes you think, well, what do I need to do for people to see me as Nick Bracks and not the son of Steve Bracks?’
‘Being that young and having people say these different things to you for something that you’ve done in your own private life can become a difficult thing to deal with.’
Last week an image, which went public via Tom Dutton’s social media wound up making newspaper front pages across the country.
A photo emerged on Snapchat a week ago of Tom Dutton, 18, (pictured) was seen holding a bag of white powder
Nick Bracks (pictured) told The Project that he feels sorry for the Opposition Leader’s son
‘Birthday day treat. Hello how u goin’, the quickly-deleted image was captioned.
‘I haven’t been in touch with Tom but I would love to speak to him, if he ever wanted to,’ Nick said on television.
Back in 2007, 20-year-old Nick suffered an injury which ended his dreams of being a professional athlete.
On his own admission, his behaviour spiralled and he leant on alcohol as a coping mechanism.
On a wet night in suburban Melbourne, after consecutive days of drinking, Nick spun out doing 90km/h in a 60 zone, smashed a tree and injured his friend in the passenger seat. He was convicted of drink-driving and fined $750.
As the Premier’s son, the incident hit the headlines quickly with reporters camped out outside the family home.
Premier Bracks already had plans to resign, but quit less than two weeks after the crash.
‘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 in defence of Peter Dutton’s son
‘But that pressure from other people really played on me. He became premier when I was 12, and I spent my entire teenage life having that follow me around.’
On television Monday night, Nick said he felt sorry for Tom Dutton being embroiled in scrutiny for having a prominent father.
‘So I felt sorry for the guy and felt I needed to speak out about it.’
The political response to Mr Dutton’s son’s incident has been similarly restrained and understanding by both sides of parliament.
‘I’ve got no comment at all. Peter Dutton’s a public figure, but his son’s not,’ Labor frontbencher Tanya Plibersek last week.
Mr Dutton’s office also batted away media inquiries other than to say the issue was a private matter.
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