This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

Peter Dutton has sold his Canberra apartment, but insists he will stay in parliament if the government loses next month’s election.

Dutton, who is fighting to hang on to his marginal seat of Dickson in Brisbane’s outer northern suburbs, has previously said he would stay on as an MP even if the Coalition lost government.

But the sale of his Kingston apartment for $540,000 last month will fuel speculation that Dutton could call time on his 18-year political career if forced to the opposition benches.

Asked last week whether he would remain in parliament if he won Dickson but Bill Shorten became prime minister, Dutton told the ABC: “Without any doubt. I might look much older, but I am 49 this year and so I have got a way to go yet.”

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The margin in Dickson is 1.7% and Dutton has conceded he is preparing for a “close contest” at this year’s poll. The home affairs minister has contested and won six elections since he first entered parliament in 2001, holding on to the seat in 2007 by just 217 votes amid the so-called “Ruddslide”.

Dutton’s campaign to hang on to the seat got off to a rocky start, after he was forced to apologise to Labor’s candidate Ali France for suggesting she was using her disability as an “excuse” for not living in the electorate.

The senior conservative has become a feature of Labor attack ads, particularly in the southern states, where he has been targeted for his role in removing Malcolm Turnbull as leader.

Dutton, who unsuccessfully challenged Turnbull after last August’s leadership spill, has been unrepentant about his role in the coup, saying he believed it was necessary to improve the party’s chances of beating Labor.

“My judgment was we had to do whatever we could to stop Bill Shorten becoming prime minister, and I don’t resile from that today,” the home affairs minister said on Tuesday.

“I think Scott Morrison is doing a great job and we need to make sure we win this election – because there’s a lot riding on it.”

Dutton declined to comment about the apartment sale on Thursday, with a spokeswoman for the Coalition pointing to his earlier remarks.

According to his register of pecuniary interests, which is yet to be updated, Dutton maintains three other investment properties, as well as his family home at Camp Mountain.