Peter Dutton has described the living conditions of First Nations people in Alice Springs as 'absolute squalor'.

The Opposition leader made the admission to ABC journalist Annabel Crabb with his interview to be aired on the channel's program Kitchen Cabinet at 8pm on Tuesday.

Mr Dutton will touch on his personal and professional life and address topics like his first marriage as a teenager, controversial comments about Lebanese immigration in 2016 and how he most likely suffers from post-traumatic stress syndrome from his time on the police force - in a surprise admission.

The 52-year-old Liberal leader also spoke about Indigenous culture and his surprise by the amount of 'squalor' some communities are living in.

His comment marks the latest criticism against conditions in the Northern Territory after he claimed in April sexual assault of Indigenous children was 'rampant', prompting him to call for a Royal Commission.

Mr Dutton (right) explains he is struck by the 'absolute squalor' of how some indigenous communities in Alice Springs are living in a new episode of ABC's Kitchen Cabinet hosted by Annabel Crabb (left)

The Liberal Opposition Leader (centre) also defended his comments about 'African gangs' in Melbourne but admitted he regrets his remarks about the resettling of Lebanese migrants

Mr Dutton expanded on his claims about some communities living in squalor.

'Well, it depends on where you go,' he told Crabb.

'If you go to East Arnhem Land, kids at school 90 per cent of the time they've got an attendance rate equivalent to what we would see in a capital city.'

'There's employment programs and a building company that has been established, this up in Yunupingu land and there's a functioning society.

'It's quite remarkable that you hop on the plane and then go to Alice Springs and people living in town camps or in absolute squalor.

'The health system's not functioning. The law-and-order system is not functioning. And there's a complete breakdown. It is literally heartbreaking'.

Crabb described Mr Dutton's comments as interesting pointing out she had asked for him to comment on Aboriginal culture.

The ABC host noted the Opposition leader went 'straight to law and order' - with Mr Dutton previously serving in the police force between 1990 and 1999.

Mr Dutton said he found it remarkable that a community rich in culture and history could 'mask an underbelly'.

'You ask what sort of strikes you most when you go into that community. It is the squalor,' he said.

'And the culture, the arts, dance, the storytelling, all of that is remarkable when you go into a community.

'But in some communities, it masks an underbelly, which is something that none of us in the part of Australia that we live we would tolerate.'

Mr Dutton then told the ABC host he regrets not voting for the national apology and that he now appreciates its symbolism for First Nations people.

The ABC host noted the Opposition leader went 'straight to law and order' - with Mr Dutton previously serving in the police force between 1990 and 1999

Former prime minister Kevin Rudd made a formal apology to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples with Mr Dutton notably absent.

Mr Dutton was a shadow minister under Opposition leader Brendan Nelson at the time and boycotted the apology. It would take 14 years before he changed his tune and admitted to making a mistake in May 2022.

Ms Crabb then asked Mr Dutton if he is at risk of making the same mistake by voting against the Indigenous Voice to Parliament, to which he replied: 'I don't think I am'.

'This is inserting a new chapter into the Constitution,' Mr Dutton said.

'It's a nation's rule book. And I think if you're going to do that, the onus is on the proposer to have the detail available.'

'People in our country should have the ability to air their views without being shouted down.'

Mr Dutton added the biggest issue in relation to the referendum was the 'form of words' arguing its open to 'significant interpretation' by the High Court.

He suggested a Voice in legislation would work better because it would allow amendments to be dialled up or down.

'I believe in the principle, of wanting to hear from Indigenous Australians, particularly at the coalface,' Mr Dutton said.

'I'm strongly in favour of hearing that voice and acting on it. And the question, when you speak to a lot of Indigenous people in communities is not about their voice being heard or not, it's whether it's acted upon. And I think that's failing in the system at the moment.'

Ms Crabb also questioned Mr Dutton on controversial remarks he made in relation to Melbourne residents being too scared to go to dinner because of 'African gangs' in 2018.

Street violence was rampant at the time with then-prime minister Malcolm Turnbull blaming premier Daniel Andrews for 'growing gang violence and lawlessness'.

Crabb asked if Mr Dutton had ever thought his comments would make an African Australian mum worry that her teenage boy would be perceived as a thug.

Mr Dutton doubled down on the remark explaining the comment was made after he spoke to friends in Melbourne about incidents where cars were stolen and people were going into restaurants causing havoc.

'The incidents in Victoria at the time were related to kids, predominantly from a particular community,' he said.

It comes after host Annabel Crabb (right) received backlash on Twitter for featuring Mr Dutton on her popular talk show

'It didn't come from a place of hatred, it came from a place of seeing people suffering at the hands of crime. And that's what motivated me.

'Could it have been said more sensitively. Yes, of course.'

Mr Dutton was then questioned about his controversial claims that the Fraser government made a mistake by resettling Lebanese Muslim migrants.

Mr Dutton was immigration minister at the time and was critical of former prime minister Malcolm Fraser's immigration policy in the 1970s.

He argued the context of the comment was during a time when a number of terrorist attacks were thwarted.

'At the time it was in the context of an attempted attack to bring down an A380,' Mr Dutton said.

'There were a number of terrorist attacks that were thwarted in our country and there was an overrepresentation. And you can sort of tiptoe around it and pretend that it's not an issue.'

Crabb questioned the appropriateness of the comments prompting Mr Dutton to respond: 'You know they're comments that I shouldn't have made. I've apologised for that.'

'But again, when you're in the thrust of it and in the thick of it, we were dealing with people who had been radicalised and many of them shared a background and that's sort of the factual reality of what we were dealing with.'

Mr Dutton also touched on his time with the force revealing he likely suffers with PTSD

Crabb has also come under fire on Twitter for hosting the federal Liberal leader on her popular talk show Kitchen Cabinet.

In particular, she has faced backlash for describing Dutton's politics as 'muscular' during a promotional interview for Kitchen Cabinet on ABC News.

Mr Dutton also touched on his time with the force revealing he likely suffers with PTSD as he recalled a traumatic incident where he responded to the crime scene of a young woman who had been raped.

He told Ms Crabb that he remembered the victim's name and birth date and could 'still picture that scene'.

'It jars and I think it scars as well,' Mr Dutton said.

'I mean people would refer to it, I suppose, more frequently now as sort of a PTSD or just the mental hangover of seeing that repeatedly.'

Mr Dutton joined Queensland’s police force as an 18-year-old and served for nearly a decade.

He worked as a young detective on the infamous murder case of 17-month-old Deidre Kennedy, an experience that he said “changed him”.