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Tony Abbott

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.

The Honourable

Tony Abbott

MP
28th Prime Minister of Australia
In office
18 September 2013 – 15 September 2015
MonarchElizabeth II
Governor-GeneralQuentin Bryce
Peter Cosgrove
DeputyWarren Truss
Preceded byKevin Rudd
Succeeded byMalcolm Turnbull
Leader of the Liberal Party
In office
1 December 2009 – 14 September 2015
DeputyJulie Bishop
Preceded byMalcolm Turnbull
Succeeded byMalcolm Turnbull
Leader of the Opposition
In office
1 December 2009 – 18 September 2013
DeputyJulie Bishop
Preceded byMalcolm Turnbull
Succeeded byChris Bowen
Minister for Health and Ageing
In office
7 October 2003 – 3 December 2007
Prime MinisterJohn Howard
Preceded byKay Patterson
Succeeded byNicola Roxon
Leader of the House
In office
26 November 2001 – 3 December 2007
Prime MinisterJohn Howard
Preceded byPeter Reith
Succeeded byAnthony Albanese
Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Public Service
In office
26 November 2001 – 7 October 2003
Prime MinisterJohn Howard
Preceded byDavid Kemp
Succeeded byKevin Andrews
Minister for Employment, Workplace Relations and Small Business
In office
21 October 1998 – 7 October 2003
Prime MinisterJohn Howard
Preceded byPeter Reith
Succeeded byKevin Andrews
10th Chairperson of the Commonwealth of Nations
In office
18 September 2013 – 15 November 2013
Preceded byKevin Rudd
Succeeded byMahinda Rajapaksa
Member of the Australian Parliament
for Warringah
In office
26 March 1994 – 18 May 2019
Preceded byMichael MacKellar
Succeeded byZali Steggall
Majority27,421 (15.35%)
Personal details
Born
Anthony John Abbott

(1957-11-04) 4 November 1957 (age 66)
London, United Kingdom
NationalityAustralian
Political partyLiberal
Other political
affiliations		Coalition
Spouse(s)Margie Aitken (1988–present)
Children3
ResidenceKirribilli House (Sydney)
Australian Federal Police College (Canberra)[1]
Alma materUniversity of Sydney
Queen's College, Oxford
St Patrick's Seminary, Manly
Signature
WebsitePrime Minister's website
Official website

Early life

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]

Politics

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]

Opposition leader

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.

Prime Minister

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]

Beliefs

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]

Personal life

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.

Tony Abbott Media

  • Portrait of Tony Abbott

  • Attending the 2010 Anzac Day National Service at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra

  • Lake to Lagoon competitors at the starting line, including Tony Abbott, Wagga Wagga, 2012

  • Abbott as Leader of the Opposition

  • Tony Abbott being sworn in as Prime Minister by Quentin Bryce, 18 September 2013

  • Abbott and Andrew Robb signing the Free Trade Agreement with president and Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping, November 2014

  • Abbott meeting with US Secretary of State John Kerry

  • The Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott (left) and the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi at a Joint Press Statement in New Delhi, during the former's state visit to India.

  • Abbott speaking at the 2015 National Flag Raising and Citizenship Ceremony

  • Bronze bust of Tony Abbott at the Prime Minister's Avenue in the Ballarat Botanical Gardens

References

  1. ↑ Hurst, Daniel (15 September 2013). Tony Abbott opts for modest lodgings. http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/tony-abbott-opts-for-modest-lodgings-20130915-2tsfw.html. Retrieved 16 September 2013. 
  2. ↑ "Tony Abbott — Prime Ministers". Australian Prime Ministers. Retrieved 21 September 2017.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Woolford, Don (26 November 2009). "Tony Abbott, Mad Monk and honest larrikin". perthnow.com.au. Archived from the original on 14 July 2010. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
  4. ↑ BBC profile
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 "The facts of Tony Abbott's life". ABC News (Australia). 1 December 2009. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2009-12-01/the-facts-of-tonys-life/1164632. Retrieved 31 July 2012. 
  6. ↑ Warne-Smith, Drew (10 August 2010). "Top Lib wins respect by degrees". theaustralian.com.au. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 "Tony Abbott MHR - Biography". tonyabbott.com.au. 2013. Archived from the original on 12 September 2013. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
  8. ↑ "Warringah - 2010 Federal Election". abc.net.au. 2013. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
  9. ↑ ttp://www.theage.com.au/national/abbott-quits-as-new-leadership-revolt-escalates-20091126-jtzh.html
  10. ↑ Tony Abbott calls for end to all energy subsidies, including on coal. 14 September 2017. ISSN 0261-3077 . https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/sep/14/tony-abbott-calls-for-end-to-all-energy-subsidies-including-on-coal. Retrieved 21 September 2017. 
  11. ↑ Abbott, Tony (2004). "Rate of abortion highlights our moral failings". tonyabbott.com.au. Archived from the original on 21 April 2013. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
  12. ↑ Burnside, Julian (11 July 2012). "Boat people un-Christian? Wrong, Mr Abbott". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
  13. ↑ Salna, Karlis (14 October 2012). "I'll turn the boats back, Abbott insists". news.smh.com.au. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Gordon, Michael (4 May 2013). "No revisiting gay marriage: Abbott". smh.com.au. Retrieved 20 May 2013.

Other websites

  Media related to Tony Abbott at Wikimedia Commons

Prime Ministers of Australia  
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