Anthony John "Tony" Abbott (born 4 November 1957) is an Australian politician, who was Prime Minister of Australia from September 2013 until September 2015, serving for just under 2 years. He became the leader of the Liberal Party, taking over from Malcolm Turnbull on 1 December 2009, and was in turn succeeded by Turnbull as Liberal leader and Prime Minister on 15 September 2015.[2] He lost his parliament seat in the 2019 election.
 | Parts of this article (those related to June 2018) need to be updated. |
Tony Abbott | |
|---|---|
| 28th Prime Minister of Australia | |
| In office 18 September 2013 – 15 September 2015 | |
| Monarch | Elizabeth II |
| Governor-General | Quentin Bryce Peter Cosgrove |
| Deputy | Warren Truss |
| Preceded by | Kevin Rudd |
| Succeeded by | Malcolm Turnbull |
| Leader of the Liberal Party | |
| In office 1 December 2009 – 14 September 2015 | |
| Deputy | Julie Bishop |
| Preceded by | Malcolm Turnbull |
| Succeeded by | Malcolm Turnbull |
| Leader of the Opposition | |
| In office 1 December 2009 – 18 September 2013 | |
| Deputy | Julie Bishop |
| Preceded by | Malcolm Turnbull |
| Succeeded by | Chris Bowen |
| Minister for Health and Ageing | |
| In office 7 October 2003 – 3 December 2007 | |
| Prime Minister | John Howard |
| Preceded by | Kay Patterson |
| Succeeded by | Nicola Roxon |
| Leader of the House | |
| In office 26 November 2001 – 3 December 2007 | |
| Prime Minister | John Howard |
| Preceded by | Peter Reith |
| Succeeded by | Anthony Albanese |
| Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Public Service | |
| In office 26 November 2001 – 7 October 2003 | |
| Prime Minister | John Howard |
| Preceded by | David Kemp |
| Succeeded by | Kevin Andrews |
| Minister for Employment, Workplace Relations and Small Business | |
| In office 21 October 1998 – 7 October 2003 | |
| Prime Minister | John Howard |
| Preceded by | Peter Reith |
| Succeeded by | Kevin Andrews |
| 10th Chairperson of the Commonwealth of Nations | |
| In office 18 September 2013 – 15 November 2013 | |
| Preceded by | Kevin Rudd |
| Succeeded by | Mahinda Rajapaksa |
| Member of the Australian Parliament for Warringah | |
| In office 26 March 1994 – 18 May 2019 | |
| Preceded by | Michael MacKellar |
| Succeeded by | Zali Steggall |
| Majority | 27,421 (15.35%) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Anthony John Abbott 4 November 1957 London, United Kingdom |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Political party | Liberal |
| Other political affiliations | Coalition |
| Spouse(s) | Margie Aitken (1988–present) |
| Children | 3 |
| Residence | Kirribilli House (Sydney) Australian Federal Police College (Canberra)[1] |
| Alma mater | University of Sydney Queen's College, Oxford St Patrick's Seminary, Manly |
| Signature |  |
| Website | Prime Minister's website Official website |
Abbott was born in London, England to an Australian mother; her father was Dutch; her mother was Welsh. Abbott's father was born in Newcastle upon Tyne, moved to Australia during the Second World War and is an unconfirmed naturalized Australian citizen.[3] Abbott was raised in Sydney, Australia and is a Roman Catholic.[4] He studied economics and law at Sydney University, and then did a Master of Arts in politics and philosophy at Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar.[5][6] When he came back to Australia he entered St. Patricks Seminary in Manly where he began training as a priest.[5] He did not complete his priest training[5] and in 1990 he started work as a journalist writing for the Bulletin magazine and the Australian newspaper[7] From 1990-1993 Abbott worked as press secretary and an advisor to Dr. John Hewson, who was the Leader of the Opposition.[7] He then worked as the executive director of Australians for a Constitutional Monarchy.[7] He was elected to the Federal Parliament for the Division of Warringah in a by-election in 1994 after Michael McKellar resigned.[8]
in 1998, Prime Minister John Howard made Abbott the Minister for Employment Services and in 2001 was promoted to Minister for Employment, Workplace Relations and Small Business.[5] In 2003 Abbott was the Minister for Health and Ageing, and Leader of the House of Representatives in the Federal Parliament.[5] After the defeat of the Howard Government in 2007 he was Shadow Minister for Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs. He resigned on 26 November 2009 in protest against Liberal Party policy on climate change.[9] He then defeated the leader Malcolm Turnbull by only one vote in a Liberal Party leadership election on 1 December 2009.[5]
Abbott led the party to the 2010 Federal Election. Following the narrow victory of the Australian Labor Party, Abbott was re-elected leader of the Liberal Party and remained Leader of the Opposition.
At the 2013 federal election on 7 September, Abbott led the Coalition to victory and became Prime Minister on 18 September 2013. Abbott is no longer prime minister of Australia and has been succeeded by Malcolm Turnbull. In September 2017 Abbott declared that government should end all the subsidies for renewable energy, coal.[10]
Abbott has always held strong conservative and religious views and has not been afraid to speak out on controversial issues. Combined with his earlier training as a priest this has led to his being given the nickname of the "Mad Monk".[3] Abbott for example does not support the right of women to have an abortion.[11] As Minister for Health he created a huge protest in 2006 when he tried to ban a drug used for abortions.[5] In 2012 he was criticised by Australian lawyer Julian Burnside for saying that refugees trying to reach Australia were acting in an un-Christian way.[12] Abbott's policies for the 2013 Australian election includes a plan to stop refugee boats coming to Australia.[13] He does not support marriage equality which would let same sex couples get married.[14]
Abbott is a very keen sportsman, and regularly takes part in competitions. He is currently in training for the 2014 Port Macquarie Ironman contest. This is a race with a 3.9 km swim, 180 km bicycle ride, and finishing with a 42.2 km run.[14] Abbott is married with three daughters.
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