Peter Dutton has launched a personal TikTok page to connect with younger voters, despite once calling for the platform to be banned in Australia.

In his first, and currently only, post on TikTok, Dutton said that he had joined “for one reason”.

“It’s to tell you that we do not have to live in a country where you spend your whole life renting,” he said.

“Owning a home is not just financially a smart decision but also a truly foundational part of life.”

At time of publication he had only 127 followers, with just over 1000 views on his first video.

The Opposition Leader called for the platform to be banned in March, following a push by the US government for the Chinese-owned platform to be divested and bought by a domestic company. He urged a bipartisan ban.

“We’d be really happy to work with the Prime Minister and the government to see the outcome and send a very clear message that both sides of parliament stand united against the scourge of social media,” he said.

Dutton said that the platform was “exploitative” and “not a safe platform”.

“If photos of young kids are being scraped from their accounts and stored by a third party, whether it’s a country or state actor or whether it’s an organised crime group, then the Prime Minister has to act,” he said.

“If data is being scraped by the terabytes off these accounts and young people are being exposed to extortion at some point, or just their personal data being collected, it’s not a safe platform.”

James Patterson, Liberal senator for Victoria, once called the platform a “risk to our national security” as long as it remained Chinese-owned and operated.

New normal

Dr Susan Grantham, a researcher at Griffith University who focuses on social media, said that Dutton joining the platform is likely because of Labor’s success in reaching younger voters at the 2022 election, and strong political campaigning using TikTok before the Queensland state election.

“Quite a few elections are occurring or have occurred this year and we’ve seen countries where bans have taken place. The political parties have done a U-turn and used it as a campaigning tool,” she said.

“Ultimately, it is because that’s where the younger generations are and a lot of those people are considered sway [swinging] voters who aren’t necessarily politically aligned.”

The Liberal Party of Queensland made headlines earlier in the year when it posted an AI-generated video of Premier Steven Miles dancing in a popular meme format. It drew scorn from Labor until it revealed that Miles’ federal colleagues had posted similar content of Dutton in the past.

Grantham said the content is often different between a politician and his party’s official accounts.

“When parties do their election campaigning, that is where pop culture and fun, technologically-driven content comes in,” Grantham said.

“The individual has to really draw on a sense of authenticity and they have to create this performed persona.”

Liberal ‘brain rot’

This distinction is immediately apparent between Dutton and the Liberal Party’s account, which has been regularly posting a mixture of pop culture references, Gen Alpha bait and bizarre mashups.

@liberalaus

LATEST 🚨 #australia #politics #taylorswift #fyp #brainrot

♬ News, news, seriousness, tension(1077866) – Lyrebirds music

Grantham said TikTok has become a normal channel to humanise political candidates.

“We see a lot of leaders inviting us into their homes or talking about their loved ones or taking you on a journey,” she said.

“We only have one video and don’t know where he is going, but the fact he is sitting there [for a] piece to camera somewhat suggests that’s the path he’s going to take.”

The Liberal Party has struggled to win over younger voters in recent years with reports showing that millennials are not voting for the party as they become older, as previous generations have.

Dutton was contacted for comment.