Tony Abbott
Anthony John Abbott is an Australian former politician who served as the 28th prime minister of Australia from 2013 to 2015. He led the Liberal Party from 2009 to 2015 and represented the New South Wales seat of Warringah from 1994 until 2019.
Abbott studied economics and law at the University of Sydney before attending Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar. Prior to entering politics, he trained briefly for the priesthood and worked in journalism and political advisory roles.
Abbott entered parliament via a 1994 by-election and rose through the ranks during the Howard government, serving in various ministerial roles including Health and Ageing. In 2009, he challenged Malcolm Turnbull for the Liberal leadership over opposition to Labor’s Emissions Trading Scheme, winning by a narrow margin. He led the Coalition through the 2010 election, which resulted in a hung parliament, and then to a landslide victory at the 2013 election.
As prime minister, Abbott's government introduced Operation Sovereign Borders, repealed the carbon pricing scheme and the mining tax, and pursued budget austerity measures. His administration launched several initiatives including the Medical Research Future Fund, trade agreements with China, Japan and South Korea, and the New Colombo Plan. Abbott also committed troops to the fight against ISIS and pledged to resettle 12,000 Syrian refugees. Domestically, he advocated for constitutional recognition of Indigenous Australians and a plebiscite on same-sex marriage.
Abbott’s leadership faced criticism over unpopular budget cuts and declining public support, culminating in his replacement by Malcolm Turnbull in 2015. He remained in parliament until his defeat in 2019 by independent Zali Steggall. In 2020, Abbott was appointed to the UK Board of Trade and continues to engage in public discourse as a writer and speaker, championing conservative viewpoints.
Early life
Birth and family background
Abbott was born on 4 November 1957 at the General Lying-In Hospital in Lambeth, London, England. He is the oldest of four children born to Fay and Richard Henry "Dick" Abbott. He has three younger sisters, including Christine Forster, who has also been involved in politics. His mother was born in Sydney, while his father was born in Newcastle upon Tyne, England.At age 16, Dick Abbott moved to Australia with his parents. Two years later, in 1942, he was called up to the Royal Australian Air Force. Dick Abbott and his mother returned to the UK in 1954 where he met and married Fay Peters, a dietitian.
Childhood and education
On 7 September 1960, Abbott, his parents, and younger sister Jane, left the UK for Australia on the Assisted Passage Migration Scheme ship. Settling in Sydney, the family first lived in the suburb of Bronte and later moved to Chatswood. Dick Abbott established what was to become one of the largest orthodontics practices in Australia, retiring in 2002.Abbott attended primary school at St Aloysius' College at Milsons Point, before completing his secondary school education at St Ignatius' College, Riverview, both Jesuit schools. During his time at St Ignatius' College, one was his teachers was John Kennedy, who would later go on to serve as the member for Hawthorn. He graduated with a Bachelor of Economics in 1979 and a Bachelor of Laws in 1981 from the University of Sydney. He resided at St John's College and was president of the Student Representative Council. Influenced by his chaplain at St Ignatius', Father Emmet Costello, he then attended The Queen's College, Oxford, as a Rhodes Scholar, where in June 1983 he graduated as a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy, Politics and Economics and on 21 October 1989 proceeded by seniority to Master of Arts.
During his university days, Abbott gained media attention for political opposition to the then dominant left-wing student leadership. Once he was violently beaten at a university conference. According to the Sun-Herald newspaper, it was "an ugly and often violent time", and Abbott's tactics in student politics were like "an aggressive terrier". Abbott organised rallies in support of Governor-General John Kerr after he dismissed the Whitlam government in November 1975, as well as a pro-Falklands War demonstration during his time at Oxford. At St. Ignatius College, Abbott had been taught and influenced by the Jesuits. At university, he encountered B. A. Santamaria, a Catholic layman who led a movement against Communism within the Australian labour movement in the 1950s, culminating in the 1955 Labor Party split and the formation of the Democratic Labor Party. Santamaria has been described as Abbott's "political hero". He wrote the foreword to a novelisation of Santamaria's life written by Alan Reid, and in 2015 launched a biography of Santamaria written by Gerard Henderson. In 1977, Abbott faced charges of common and indecent assault after allegedly groping trainee teacher Helen Wilson while she was making a speech at the College of Advanced Education in Kuring-gai, Sydney. Abbott pleaded not guilty, and the charges were ultimately dropped.
Abbott was a student boxer, earning two Blues for boxing while at Oxford.
When Abbott was a student, on one occasion he rescued a child who had been pulled out into the sea by the current. On another occasion, while drinking at a pub, he helped rescue children from the burning house next door. On both of these occasions, he left the scene after the rescues and did not wait to be thanked.
Early adult life and pre-political career
Following his time in Britain, Abbott returned to Australia and told his family of his intention to join the priesthood. In 1984 at the age of 26, he entered St Patrick's Seminary, Manly. Abbott did not complete his studies at the seminary, leaving the institution in 1987. Interviewed before the 2013 election, Abbott said of his time as a trainee priest: "The Jesuits had helped to instil in me this thought that our calling in life was to be, to use the phrase: 'a man for others'. And I thought then that the best way in which I could be a 'man for others' was to become a priest. I discovered pretty soon that I was a bit of a square peg in a round hole... eventually working out that, I'm afraid, I just didn't have what it took to be an effective priest."Abbott worked in journalism, briefly ran a concrete plant, and began to get involved in national politics. Throughout his time as a student and seminarian, he was writing articles for newspapers and magazines—first for Honi Soit and later The Catholic Weekly and national publications such as The Bulletin. He eventually became a journalist and wrote for The Australian.
At birth, Abbott was a British citizen by birth in the UK and by descent from his British-born father. He did not hold Australian citizenship from birth, as at the time Australian citizenship by descent could only be acquired from the father. Abbott became a naturalised Australian citizen on 26 June 1981, apparently so as to become eligible for a Rhodes scholarship. On 12 October 1993, he renounced his British citizenship to be eligible to run for parliament under section 44 of the constitution.
Political career
Early career
Abbott began his public life when he was employed as a journalist for The Bulletin, an influential news magazine, and later for The Australian newspaper. While deciding his future career path, Abbott developed friendships with senior figures in the New South Wales Labor Party, and was encouraged by Bob Carr, as well as Johno Johnson, to join the Labor Party and run for office. Abbott felt uncomfortable with the role of unions within the party, however, and wrote in his biography that he felt Labor "just wasn't the party for me".From 1990 to 1993, he was press secretary to Liberal Leader John Hewson, helping to develop the Fightback! policy. Prime Minister John Howard wrote in his autobiography that Abbott considered working on his staff before accepting the position with The Bulletin, and it was on Howard's recommendation that Hewson engaged Abbott. According to Howard, he and Abbott established a good rapport, but Hewson and Abbott fell out shortly before the 1993 election, and Abbott ended up in search of work following the re-election of the Keating government. He was approached to head Australians for Constitutional Monarchy, the main group organising support for the maintenance of the Monarchy in Australia amidst the Keating government's campaign for a change to a republic. Abbott renounced his British citizenship in 1993. Between 1993 and 1994, Abbott was Executive Director of ACM. According to biographer Michael Duffy, Abbott's involvement with ACM "strengthened his relationship with John Howard, who in 1994 suggested he seek pre-selection for a by-election in the seat of Warringah". Howard provided a glowing reference and Abbott won pre-selection for the safe Liberal seat.
Despite his conservative leanings, Abbott acknowledged he voted for Labor in the 1988 NSW state election as he thought that "Barrie Unsworth was the best deal Premier that New South Wales had ever had". Nevertheless, Abbott then clarified that he has never voted for Labor in a federal election.
Member of Parliament, 1994–2009
Abbott won Liberal preselection for the federal Division of Warringah by-election in March 1994 following the resignation of Michael MacKellar. He easily held the safe Liberal seat in the Liberals' traditional Northern Beaches heartland, suffering a swing of only 1 percentage point in the primary vote. He easily won the seat in his own right at the 1996 general election. Before 2019, he only dropped below 59 percent of the two-party vote once, in 2001; that year independent Peter Macdonald, the former member for the state seat of Manly, held Abbott to only 55 percent.Abbott was the parliamentary secretary to the Minister for Employment, Education, Training and Youth Affairs, Minister for Employment Services, Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations and Small Business, Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations and Minister for Health and Ageing from 2003 to November 2007. From early 2002 to October 2007, he was also the Leader of the House in the House of Representatives.
In 1998, Abbott established a trust fund called "Australians for Honest Politics Trust" to help bankroll civil court cases against the One Nation Party and its leader Pauline Hanson. Prime Minister John Howard denied any knowledge of existence of such a fund. Abbott was also accused of offering funds to One Nation dissident Terry Sharples to support his court battle against the party. However, Howard defended the honesty of Abbott in this matter. Abbott conceded that the political threat One Nation posed to the Howard government was "a very big factor" in his decision to pursue the legal attack, but he also claimed to be acting "in Australia's national interest". Howard also defended Abbott's actions saying "It's the job of the Liberal Party to politically attack other parties – there's nothing wrong with that."
As a Parliamentary Secretary, Abbott oversaw the establishment of the Green Corps program which involved young people in environmental restoration work. As Minister for Employment Services, he oversaw the implementation of the Job Network and was responsible for the government's Work for the Dole scheme. He also commissioned the Cole Royal Commission into "thuggery and rorts" in the construction industry and created the Office of the Australian Building and Construction Commissioner in response and to lift productivity.
The Liberal Party allowed members a free choice in the 1999 republic referendum. Abbott was one of the leading voices within the party campaigning for the successful "No" vote, pitting him against future parliamentary colleague and leading republican Malcolm Turnbull.