The opposition leader was at Sanctuary Point on the NSW south coast to announce a pavilion upgrade for a junior rugby league team when it was gatecrashed by a trio of unionists in hazmat suits wielding mock Geiger counters.
The pantomiming protesters, led by South Coast Labour Council secretary Arthur Rorris, sidled onto the field and shouted warnings about radiation in reference to the coalition's plan to build a series of nuclear reactors.
"Stay back, everybody," they warned, pretending to measure out a site for a power plant.
"We're just checking for radiation."
Mr Dutton was about to hold a press conference alongside the Liberal candidate for Gilmore, Andrew Constance, who is making his second attempt to seize the ultra-marginal electorate won by Labor's Fiona Phillips in 2022 by just 373 votes.
A few more days of campaigning remain before the federal election on Saturday.
One supportive attendee, Michael King, said Mr Constance had his vote while hinting at his disappointment with Labor's climate policy.
"We cannot make any difference in our global environment, so why would you shoot yourself in the foot?" he told reporters.
The environment is a contentious issue in the electorate, with Climate 200-backed independent Kate Dezarnaulds taking aim at Mr Constance for retreating from his support for climate action following the 2019-20 bushfires.
But some elements of the electorate are vocally against Labor's renewable energy push, including offshore wind farm developments off the picturesque coast.Â
Unable to clear the protesters - local police were powerless to move them on from a public space - Mr Dutton's media advisers bundled the press pack back onto the campaign bus.
In Whitlam - a safe Labor electorate that has been held by the party since its creation in 1984 - he held one of the shortest press conferences of the campaign so far, ostensibly to announce $113.6 million in funding for a road bypass to ease traffic in the region.
Mr Dutton evaded questions about his party preferencing One Nation, controversy surrounding a candidate in western Sydney and earlier comments attacking "activist" journalists, before abruptly leaving after less than 15 minutes..
His electorate office in Brisbane was earlier vandalised with red paint and posters criticising his stance on the war in Gaza and purported closeness to US President Donald Trump.
An 18-year-old woman has been charged with one count of wilful damage and is due to face Brisbane Magistrates Court on May 20.
Mr Dutton called the vandalism "outrageous", saying it went against democratic processes.
"To see Greens supporters and others out there shouting at booths ... we employ security guards now at booths because (electrical and construction union) workers intimidate older ladies," he said.
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