Anthony John Abbott is a British-born Australian former politician who served as the 28th prime minister of Australia from 2013 to 2015.
131 Facts About Tony Abbott
2.
Tony Abbott held office as the leader of the Liberal Party of Australia.
3.
Tony Abbott was born in London, England, to an Australian mother and a British father, and moved to Sydney at the age of two.
4.
Tony Abbott studied economics and law at the University of Sydney, and then attended The Queen's College, Oxford, as a Rhodes Scholar, studying Philosophy, Politics and Economics.
5.
Tony Abbott was promoted to cabinet in 2001 as Minister for Employment, Workplace Relations and Small Business.
6.
In 2003, Tony Abbott became Minister for Health and Ageing, retaining this position until the defeat of the Howard government at the 2007 election.
7.
Tony Abbott led the Liberal-National Coalition to the 2010 federal election, which resulted in a hung parliament, and an eventual victory for the Australian Labor Party.
8.
Tony Abbott remained leader, and led the Coalition to a landslide victory at the 2013 election.
9.
Tony Abbott instituted the Royal Commission into Trade Union Governance and Corruption; founded the Medical Research Future Fund; and produced white papers on developing Northern Australia and the Agricultural Competitiveness.
10.
In international affairs, Tony Abbott concluded free trade agreements with China, Japan and South Korea.
11.
Tony Abbott challenged the Russian president Vladimir Putin over Russia's actions in Ukraine and over the shooting down of Malaysian Flight MH17 in Ukraine.
12.
Tony Abbott committed Australian forces to the battle against ISIS during the Syrian conflict, and agreed to resettle an additional 12,000 refugees from the region.
13.
Tony Abbott launched the New Colombo Plan to encourage educational exchange with the Indo-Pacific region.
14.
Domestically, Tony Abbott campaigned for recognition of Indigenous Australians in the Australian Constitution, and promised a plebiscite on the issue of same-sex marriage.
15.
Tony Abbott remained in the Parliament as a backbencher, until he lost his seat of Warringah to independent candidate Zali Steggall at the 2019 federal election.
16.
Tony Abbott continues to contribute to international public debate as a writer, public speaker and advocate for conservative causes.
17.
Tony Abbott was born on 4 November 1957 at the General Lying-In Hospital in Lambeth, London, England.
18.
Tony Abbott is the oldest of four children born to Fay and Richard Henry "Dick" Abbott.
19.
Tony Abbott has three younger sisters, including Christine Forster, who has been involved in politics.
20.
Tony Abbott's mother was born in Sydney, while his father was born in Newcastle upon Tyne, England.
21.
Dick Tony Abbott established what was to become one of the largest orthodontics practices in Australia, retiring in 2002.
22.
Tony Abbott attended primary school at St Aloysius' College at Milson's Point, before completing his secondary school education at St Ignatius' College, Riverview, both Jesuit schools.
23.
Tony Abbott graduated with a Bachelor of Economics in 1979 and a Bachelor of Laws in 1981 from the University of Sydney.
24.
Tony Abbott resided at St John's College and was president of the Student Representative Council.
25.
Tony 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.
26.
At St Ignatius College, Tony Abbott had been taught and influenced by the Jesuits.
27.
Tony Abbott 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.
28.
In 1977, Tony Abbott faced charges of common and indecent assault after allegedly groping trainee teacher Helen Wilson while she was making a speech at the Kuring-gai College of Advanced Education in Sydney.
29.
Tony Abbott pleaded not guilty, and the charges were ultimately dropped.
30.
Tony Abbott was a student boxer, earning two Blues for boxing while at Oxford.
31.
Tony Abbott was a heavyweight with modest height and reach.
32.
When Tony Abbott was a student, on one occasion he rescued a child who had been pulled out into the sea by the current.
33.
Tony Abbott did not complete his studies at the seminary, leaving the institution in 1987.
34.
Tony Abbott worked in journalism, briefly ran a concrete plant, and began to get involved in national politics.
35.
Tony Abbott eventually became a journalist and wrote for The Australian.
36.
At birth, Tony Abbott was a British citizen by birth in the UK and by descent from his British-born father.
37.
Tony Abbott did not hold Australian citizenship from birth, as at the time Australian citizenship by descent could only be acquired from the father.
38.
Tony Abbott became a naturalised Australian citizen on 26 June 1981, apparently so as to become eligible for a Rhodes scholarship.
39.
Tony 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.
40.
Prime Minister John Howard wrote in his autobiography that Tony Abbott considered working on his staff before accepting the position with The Bulletin, and it was on Howard's recommendation that Hewson engaged Tony Abbott.
41.
Tony Abbott 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.
42.
Between 1993 and 1994, Tony Abbott was Executive Director of ACM.
43.
Howard provided a glowing reference and Tony Abbott won pre-selection for the safe Liberal seat.
44.
Nevertheless, Tony Abbott then clarified that he has never voted for Labor in a federal election.
45.
Tony Abbott won Liberal preselection for the federal Division of Warringah by-election in March 1994 following the resignation of Michael MacKellar.
46.
Tony Abbott 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.
47.
Tony Abbott easily won the seat in his own right at the 1996 general election.
48.
Tony 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.
49.
In 1998, Tony 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.
50.
Tony Abbott was accused of offering funds to One Nation dissident Terry Sharples to support his court battle against the party.
51.
Tony 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 claimed to be acting "in Australia's national interest".
52.
Tony Abbott 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.
53.
Tony 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.
54.
Tony Abbott worked with the states to address the crisis and keep the system running.
55.
Health care initiatives instigated by Tony Abbott include the Nurse Family Partnership, a long term scheme aimed at improving conditions for indigenous youth by improving mother-child relationships.
56.
In 2005, Tony Abbott was holidaying with his family in Bali when the Bali bombings occurred.
57.
Tony Abbott visited the victims of the bombings in hospital, and in his capacity as Health Minister organised for Australians who required lifesaving emergency surgery and hospitalisation to be flown to Singapore.
58.
In 2006, Tony Abbott controversially opposed access to the abortion drug RU486, and the Parliament voted to strip Health Ministers of the power to regulate this area of policy.
59.
Tony Abbott introduced the Medicare Safety Net to cap the annual out-of-pocket costs of Medicare cardholders to a maximum amount.
60.
John Howard wrote in his 2010 autobiography that Tony Abbott was "never a zealot about pursuing industrial relations changes" and expressed "concern about making too many changes" during Cabinet's discussion of WorkChoices.
61.
Tony Abbott campaigned as Minister for Health at the 2007 election.
62.
Nelson was elected Liberal leader in December 2007 and Tony Abbott was assigned the Shadow Portfolio of Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs.
63.
Tony Abbott recommended the establishment of local hospital and school boards to manage health and education, and discussed family law reform, multiculturalism, climate change, and international relations.
64.
On 1 December 2009, Tony Abbott was elected to the position of Leader of the Liberal Party of Australia over Turnbull and Shadow Treasurer Joe Hockey.
65.
Tony Abbott proposed blocking the government's ETS in the Senate whereas Turnbull sought to amend the bill which the majority of the Liberal Party did not support.
66.
Tony Abbott described Prime Minister Rudd's Emission Trading plan as a 'Great big tax on everything' and opposed it.
67.
Tony Abbott announced a new Coalition policy on carbon emission reduction in February, which committed the Coalition to a 5 per cent reduction in emissions by 2020.
68.
Tony Abbott proposed the creation of an 'emissions reduction fund' to provide 'direct' incentives to industry and farmers to reduce carbon emissions.
69.
Tony Abbott told press gallery journalist Laurie Oakes that he did not do doorstop interviews in front of church but regularly faced pointed questions about his faith which were not being put to Prime Minister Rudd, who conducted weekly church door press conferences following his attendances at Anglican services.
70.
In 2013, Tony Abbott stated on 3AW that if his sister Christine Forster were to have a marriage ceremony with her partner Virginia he would attend.
71.
Tony Abbott repeatedly spoke of his admiration for Pearson, and in March 2010, introduced the Wild Rivers Bill to Parliament in support of Pearson's campaign to overturn the Queensland government's Wild Rivers legislation.
72.
Tony Abbott completed an Ironman Triathlon event in March 2010 at Port Macquarie, New South Wales.
73.
The close result was lauded by former Prime Minister John Howard, who wrote in 2010 that Tony Abbott had shifted the dynamic of Australian politics after coming to the leadership in 2009 and "deserves hero status among Liberals".
74.
Tony Abbott announced that he wanted Turnbull to prosecute the Opposition's case against the Gillard government's proposed expenditure on a National Broadband Network.
75.
Tony Abbott said that funding should be found within the existing budget.
76.
Tony Abbott announced a proposal for a taskforce to examine further construction of dams in Australia to deal with flood impact and food security.
77.
Tony Abbott said that Gillard had lied to the electorate over the issue because Gillard and her Treasurer Wayne Swan had ruled out the introduction of a carbon tax in the lead up to the 2010 election.
78.
Rhetorically echoing Liberal party founder, Robert Menzies, Tony Abbott addressed remarks to the "forgotten families".
79.
Tony Abbott announced "aspirational" targets for a disability insurance scheme and a subsidised dentistry program once the budget had been restored to "strong surplus".
80.
Tony Abbott responded to the February 2012 Labor leadership crisis by criticising the cross bench independents for keeping Labor in power and renewed his calls for a general election to select the next Prime Minister of Australia.
81.
In criticising the Gillard government on foreign policy, Tony Abbott said that "foreign policy should have a Jakarta rather than a Geneva focus".
82.
In November 2012, Tony Abbott launched his fourth book, A Strong Australia, a compilation of nine of his "landmark speeches" from 2012, including his budget reply and National Press Club addresses.
83.
At the federal election on 7 September 2013, Tony Abbott led the Liberal-National coalition to victory over the incumbent Labor government, led by Kevin Rudd.
84.
Tony Abbott was the subject of criticism for his decision to only include one woman, Deputy Liberal leader Julie Bishop, in his cabinet.
85.
Tony Abbott announced a Royal Commission into trade union governance and corruption on 11 February 2014.
86.
Hockey and Tony Abbott were both criticised for their inability to "sell" the necessity of the budget cuts to the cross bench or the public.
87.
On 25 March 2014, Tony Abbott announced that he had advised the Queen to reinstate the knight and dame system of honours to the Order of Australia.
88.
Tony Abbott determined that a national plebiscite, rather than a Parliamentary vote should settle the issue.
89.
On 11 August 2015, after renewed debate about same-sex marriage in Australia, Tony Abbott called a Coalition Party room vote and Coalition MPs voted against allowing a free vote on the issue 66 to 33.
90.
Some MPs said they were willing to cross the floor on the issue and Tony Abbott was criticised by some pro-gay marriage Liberal MPs, including Christopher Pyne, for holding the vote in the Coalition party room, rather than the Liberal party room.
91.
On 24 January 2016, Tony Abbott confirmed that he would stand for Liberal preselection for the Division of Warringah in the federal election.
92.
Tony Abbott was re-elected with a small swing against him, matching the statewide swing against the Government.
93.
Turnbull's ousting of Tony Abbott had divided the Liberal Party rank and file and tensions continued in the parliamentary Party.
94.
Tony Abbott was returned as the Member for Warringah at the subsequent election, but the Coalition's majority in the House of Representatives was reduced from 29 seats to one seat.
95.
Tony Abbott presented his first report to Parliament as Special Envoy in December 2018.
96.
On 18 May 2019, during the federal election, Tony Abbott lost his seat of Warringah to independent candidate and former Olympic skier Zali Steggall, marking the first time the seat had been lost by the Liberals and their predecessors since its creation in 1922.
97.
Tony Abbott went into the election holding Warringah on a two party preferred margin of 61 percent.
98.
Tony Abbott had won the seat at nine elections and served 25 years as the Member for Warringah.
99.
On 4 September 2020, Tony Abbott was appointed as an adviser to the UK's Board of Trade with the stated aim of providing "a range of views to help in its advisory function, promoting free and fair trade and advising on UK trade policy to the International Trade Secretary".
100.
Tony Abbott will be joined on the board by other senior political figures, including Patricia Hewitt, a former UK Secretary of State for Health, Daniel Hannan, a former Member of the European Parliament, and Linda Yueh, a writer and broadcaster.
101.
Boris Johnson, the UK's Prime Minister, said that he could not agree with the views of everyone in his government, but that Tony Abbott had been elected as Prime Minister by that "great, liberal democratic nation of Australia" which he said "speaks for itself".
102.
In February 2023, Tony Abbott joined the board of UK think-tank Global Warming Policy Foundation which is known for its climate change scepticism.
103.
Tony Abbott has not confirmed whether he is interested in returning to public life.
104.
Tony Abbott is a member of the National Right faction of the Liberal Party.
105.
In contrast to his mentor John Howard, Tony Abbott praised Rudd's National Apology to the Stolen Generation.
106.
In November 2012, Tony Abbott flew to Alice Springs to back Aboriginal Country Liberal Party MLA Alison Anderson to run in the federal seat of Lingiari and to become the first Indigenous woman to enter Parliament.
107.
In 2009, Tony Abbott announced his opposition to Turnbull's support for the Rudd government's Emissions Trading Scheme proposal, and successfully challenged Turnbull for the Liberal leadership, chiefly over this issue.
108.
In November 2009, Tony Abbott outlined his objections to the Rudd government's carbon pricing plan on the ABC's Lateline program.
109.
Tony Abbott predicted in March 2012 that the Gillard government's carbon tax would be the world's "biggest".
110.
In July 2011, Tony Abbott criticised the proposed powers of the government's carbon tax regulator.
111.
Tony Abbott is an opponent of embryonic stem cell research and euthanasia.
112.
Tony Abbott said that this would be a way of "providing additional recognition to what might be thought of as traditional marriage".
113.
Tony Abbott announced that the federal government would challenge this decision in the High Court.
114.
Tony Abbott supported Peter Dutton's call to give "special treatment" to white South African farmers seeking asylum.
115.
Tony Abbott was opposed to a majority Fibre-to-the-Home National Broadband Network.
116.
In 2010, Tony Abbott argued that an LTE network could meet Australia's future broadband needs, with "a tower on every street corner".
117.
Tony Abbott called the AUKUS defense pact between the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia, which is directed at countering Chinese power in the Indo-Pacific region, "the biggest decision that any Australian government has made in decades" as "it indicates that we are going to stand shoulder to shoulder with the United States and the United Kingdom in meeting the great strategic challenge of our time, which obviously, is China".
118.
Tony Abbott said that Australia would be safer as a result, and cited China's increasing naval firepower as a justification for the deal.
119.
In 2021, Tony Abbott attended a regional forum hosted in Taipei and met with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen.
120.
Chinese officials highly criticised Tony Abbott's visit and speech, although Prime Minister Scott Morrison and his government defended his visit.
121.
When Tony Abbott was 22, his girlfriend at the time became pregnant and claimed he was the biological father.
122.
For 27 years, Tony Abbott believed that he was the father of the child.
123.
In 2004, the man sought out Tony Abbott, and it was publicly revealed he was an ABC sound recordist who worked in Parliament House, Canberra, and was involved in making television programs in which Tony Abbott appeared.
124.
The story was reported around the world, but DNA testing later revealed that Tony Abbott was not the man's father.
125.
Tony Abbott has said that a politician should not rely on religion to justify a political point of view:.
126.
Various political positions supported by Tony Abbott have been criticised by church representatives, including aspects of Coalition industrial relations, asylum seeker, and Aboriginal affairs policies.
127.
Tony Abbott is an active volunteer member for the Davidson, NSW Rural Fire Service.
128.
Tony Abbott is an active volunteer member of the Queenscliff Surf Life Saving Club.
129.
In 2008, Tony Abbott spent three weeks teaching in a remote Aboriginal settlement in Coen on Cape York, organised through Indigenous leader Noel Pearson.
130.
Tony Abbott taught remedial reading to Aboriginal children and worked with an income management group helping families manage their welfare payments.
131.
Tony Abbott's stated goal for these visits was to familiarise himself with Indigenous issues.