Peta-Louise Mary Credlin was born on March 1971 and is an Australian former political advisor who served as Chief of Staff to Tony Abbott during his term as prime minister of Australia from 2013 to 2015.
24 Facts About Peta Credlin
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Peta Credlin was born to Len and Brenda Credlin in the small Victorian country town of Wycheproof.
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Peta Credlin's family moved closer to Geelong, and she attended Sacred Heart College, where she was a member of the debating team and elected deputy school captain in her second year.
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Peta Credlin graduated with a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Melbourne with a concentration in constitutional law, politics and history in 1998.
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At university, Credlin resided at Newman College, won a number of prizes and awards, and was a member and national finalist of the 1995 Philip C Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition Team.
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Peta Credlin obtained a Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice with distinction from the Australian National University in 2010, where she won the ACT Law Society Prize for the top student of 2009.
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Peta Credlin then left politics, and worked for three years as public relations manager for Racing Victoria.
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Tired of the commute between Melbourne and Canberra, where her husband Brian Loughnane was based, Peta Credlin returned to her career as a political staffer, working for senators Robert Hill and Helen Coonan.
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When Turnbull himself was challenged and defeated by Tony Abbott in December 2009, Peta Credlin joined Abbott's staff as chief of staff.
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Peta Credlin rose to prominence when the Coalition won the 2013 federal election and she became Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister.
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Peta Credlin continued in that role until the Liberal Party leadership ballot of 14 September 2015, in which Abbott was defeated and replaced as leader by Malcolm Turnbull.
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Peta Credlin became a Sky News Australia contributor in May 2016, with her first appearance on 7 May 2016 during a special weekend edition of PM Agenda.
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Peta Credlin has been an ardent critic of the Victorian government response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and particularly of then-Victorian premier Daniel Andrews.
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Peta Credlin has been lauded by fellow Sky News hosts for her aggressive questioning of Andrews during his daily press conferences during the pandemic.
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In 2020, Peta Credlin was criticised for claiming that South Sudanese Australians were not following government measures intended to stop the spread of COVID-19 due to problems with language proficiency, Peta Credlin claimed that South Sudanese migrants were "poorly-assimilated" had ignored restrictions in an "end-of-Ramadan feast".
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Peta Credlin's statement was criticised in the media, with SBS News noting that the vast majority of South Sudanese people are actually Christians.
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In November 2020, Peta Credlin compared COVID-19 lockdowns to the inquiry into the conduct of Australian SAS forces in Afghanistan.
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Peta Credlin claimed that the petition was a "data harvesting exercise" of email addresses by Rudd intended for political uses.
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Peta Credlin became a columnist for The Australian newspaper in July 2021.
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Peta Credlin has frequently played a role in internal Liberal Party divisions.
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Peta Credlin is a member of the right faction of the Liberal Party, and a frequent critic of moderates within the party.
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In June 2021, Peta Credlin was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia in the 2021 Queen's Birthday Honours for "distinguished service to parliament and politics, to policy development, and to the executive function of government".
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Peta Credlin is married to Brian Loughnane, a former federal director of the Liberal Party of Australia, since December 2002.
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In 2013, Peta Credlin pleaded guilty to a drink-driving offence, recording a blood alcohol level of 0.075, but did not have a conviction recorded against her.