Tony Abbott
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| Tony Abbott | |
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| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 2003 |
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| Preceded by | Kay Patterson |
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| Succeeded by | Incumbent |
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| Born | 4 November 1957 London, United Kingdom |
| Constituency | Warringah |
| Political party | Liberal Party of Australia |
| Spouse | Margaret |
| Religion | Roman Catholic |
- For other people called Tony Abbott, see Tony Abbott (disambiguation).
Anthony John "Tony" Abbott (born 4 November 1957), Australian politician, is the Minister for Health and Ageing and Leader of the House in the Australian federal government. Since 1994, he has been the Member for Warringah, in New South Wales in the House of Representatives for the Liberal Party.
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[edit] Early life
Abbott was born in London[1] to Australian parents. In 1960, his family returned to Australia, living first in Bronte then moving to Chatswood. Abbott was initially schooled at Highfield Kindergarten before attending the Holy Family Convent. In Year 3 he started at St Aloysius' College (Sydney) and attended there until he completed his secondary school education at St Ignatius' College, Riverview in Sydney.[2] He graduated from the University of Sydney with a Bachelor of Economics (BEc) and a Bachelor of Laws (LLB).[1] At university he was active in student politics, gaining media attention for his political stance opposing the then dominant left-wing student leadership. He was also a prominent student boxer. He then went on to attend the University of Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar and graduated with a Master of Arts (MA). A devout Catholic, he then considered the Catholic priesthood, and entered St Patrick's diocesan seminary in Sydney, but subsequently decided to leave and choose another career path.
After leaving the seminary Abbott worked as a journalist for The Bulletin, an influential news magazine. He became well known for his strongly worded criticism of trade unions, feminism and left-wing politics. For a period, Abbott was a Plant Manager for Pioneer Concrete before becoming press secretary to the Leader of the Opposition, Dr John Hewson in 1990-93, and between 1993-94 the Executive Director of Australians for Constitutional Monarchy.[1]
When Abbott was 19 his then girlfriend Kathy Donnelly gave birth to a son whom she adopted out. Abbott believed the son was his and described this as an intense personal experience, which solidified his strong anti-abortion views. The identity of this son was not known until late 2004, and it was soon publicly revealed that this child was Daniel O'Connor, an Australian Broadcasting Corporation sound recordist who worked in Parliament House, Canberra and who had often been involved in making television programs in which Abbott appeared. DNA testing later revealed, however, that Abbott was not O'Connor's biological father.[3] Abbott is married to Margaret with whom he has three daughters.[4]
[edit] Political career
Abbott was elected to the Australian House of Representatives at a by-election in March 1994, following the resignation of Michael MacKellar. He was the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Employment, Education, Training and Youth Affairs 1996-98, Minister for Employment Services 1998-2001, Minister for Employment, Workplace Relations and Small Business 2001, Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations 2001-03 and Minister for Health and Ageing from 2003.
Abbott is an aggressive parliamentary debater and political tactician. His appointment as Health Minister, traditionally a difficult portfolio, makes him one of the government's most senior ministers.
As Minister for Health and Ageing, Abbott has made reductions in funding to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme and Medicare. He also introduced the Medicare Safety Net in 2004, which caps the annual out-of-pocket costs of Medicare card holders to a maximum amount.
[edit] Political views
Abbott is widely known as an outspoken socially conservative Catholic who opposes abortion. This has earned him the nickname The Mad Monk in certain political circles and in the widely circulated Crikey newsletter. Abbott has suggested legislation to reduce access to abortion, although this has been opposed by some of his Parliamentary colleagues in the Liberal Party. In March 2004, he asked: "Why isn't the fact that 100,000 women choose to end their pregnancies regarded as a national tragedy approaching the scale, say, of Aboriginal life expectancy being 20 years less than that of the general community?" [1]
A conscience vote took place in February 2006 approving a measure that moved regulatory control of the abortion drug RU486 away from the Health Minister; Abbott and previous Health Ministers had decided not to allow it to be made available. Abbott responded to the vote by calling for funding of alternative counselling to pregnant women through church-affiliated groups. During this time Abbott criticised the acceptance of abortion, saying "... we have a bizarre double standard, a bizarre double standard in this country where someone who kills a pregnant woman's baby is guilty of murder but a woman who aborts an unborn baby is simply exercising choice"[5].
Abbott is a supporter of the Monarchy.
[edit] Political rhetoric
In May 2006 Abbott as Manager of Government Business called Labor's Kelvin Thompson a "snivelling grub" in the Parliament for speaking about Nationals MP John Anderson's shares in the disgraced Australian Wheat Board. Abbott then said "If I've offended grubs, I withdraw unconditionally." The comments were not widely reported until a week later when Labor Deputy Leader Julia Gillard (then Shadow Minister for Health) was ejected from Parliament for 24 hours after using the exact same phrases about Abbott. Abbott later told the Parliament "It would have been better if I had not moved the motion in the terms that I originally did."[6] It is important to note that different Speakers were presiding at different times and that David Hawker is known to be more strict than his assistants and deputy.
In July 2006, when visiting the Pitlands in north-west South Australia, Abbott suggested Aborigines could be recruited to shoot wild camels that inhabit central Australia. "Why not get them out shooting the camels," he said. "It gives them something they would love to do and it beats petrol sniffing." [7].
[edit] Political future
Since his appointment as Workplace Relations Minister in 2001, Abbott has been further promoted to the high profile Health ministry. Abbott's position on the Coalition frontbench sees him touted as one of the possible successors of John Howard. However, unlike Treasurer Peter Costello, Abbott has not openly expressed any desire to lead the party. After 2005 it became less common for Abbott to be listed as a successor; most speculation moving to Brendan Nelson and later Malcolm Turnbull. Abbott's position as a senior member of the Liberal Party of Australia means he should remain a high profile member of any Coalition Government.
[edit] Community service
Abbott is a volunteer member of the NSW Rural Fire Service [2] as a member of the Davidson Rural Fire Brigade.
| Parliament of Australia | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Michael MacKellar |
Member for Warringah 1994 – present |
Incumbent |
| Preceded by none |
Minister for Employment Services 1998 – 2001 |
Succeeded by Mal Brough |
| Preceded by Kay Patterson |
Minister for Health and Ageing 2003 – present |
Incumbent |
[edit] References
- ^ a b c The Hon Tony Abbott MP, Member for Warringah (NSW) - Parliament of Australia: House of Representatives biography. Retrieved on April 4, 2006.
- ^ Completely Biased: Ignorance Reigns Supreme. Retrieved on April 4, 2006.
- ^ http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200503/s1328485.htm
- ^ Tony Abbott-Liberal for Warringah - About Tony. Retrieved on April 4, 2006.
- ^ http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2006/s1571075.htm
- ^ http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2006/s1652219.htm
- ^ http://www.missionandjustice.org/?p=902
[edit] External links
- Personal website
- Story on reunion with his putative son
- Abbott opposing stem cell research
- Documentation of Abbott's religio-political links
| Current Cabinet of Australia |  |
|---|---|
| Abbott | Andrews | Bishop | Brough | Coonan | Costello | Downer | Ellison | Hockey | Howard | Macfarlane | McGauran | Minchin | Nelson | Ruddock | Truss | Turnbull | Vaile | |
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Abbott, Tony |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Abbott, Anthony John (full name) |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | Australian politician |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 4 November 1957 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | London, United Kingdom |
| DATE OF DEATH | living |
| PLACE OF DEATH | |
Categories: 1957 births | Australian Rhodes scholars | New South Wales Federal politicians | Liberal Party of Australia politicians | Members of the Cabinet of Australia | Monarchists | Living people | Australian Roman Catholics | Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Warringah | Government ministers of Australia
