Tony Abbott
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| Tony Abbott | |
| | |
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 2003 | |
| Preceded by | Kay Patterson |
|---|---|
| Succeeded by | Incumbent |
| | |
| 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, United Kingdom<ref name="houseofrepsbio">The Hon Tony Abbott MP, Member for Warringah (NSW) - Parliament of Australia: House of Representatives biography. Retrieved on 2006-04-04.</ref> 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 and attended there until he completed his secondary school education at St Ignatius' College, Riverview in Sydney.<ref name="completelybiased">Completely Biased: Ignorance Reigns Supreme. Retrieved on 2006-04-04.</ref> He graduated from the University of Sydney with a Bachelor of Economics (BEc) and a Bachelor of Laws (LLB).<ref name="houseofrepsbio" /> 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 of his own accord 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.<ref name="houseofrepsbio" /> Abbott is married to Margaret to whom he has three daughters.<ref name="partypage">Tony Abbott-Liberal for Warringah - About Tony. Retrieved on 2006-04-04.</ref>
An early girlfriend of Tony Abbott's was once believed to have given birth to a son which had been adopted out. This period was described as an intense personal experience for Abbott, and is said to have directly influenced his strong anti-abortion views. However the identity of this son was not known until recently. In early 2005, it was 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.
[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.
Prior to the 2004 election, Abbott made an "iron-clad commitment" to maintain the safety net at current levels. Six months after this commitment, following the election victory of his party, a decision was made to partially cut back the Medicare safety net. Abbott apologised for this and has said he had contemplated resignation but "decided against it".
[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. More recently, a bill was introduced into Parliament with Abbott's support that would, if passed, require women to undergo a counselling session and a "cooling down" period. This bill was introduced with the aim of reducing the number of abortions that are done in Australia. It is as yet unknown what form this counselling would take.
During the first term of the Howard government, Abbott was vocal in his opposition to the then rising One Nation Party and its leader, Pauline Hanson. He argued that their views included anti-immigrant rhetoric and economic protectionism. One of One Nation's founders, David Oldfield, was a former member of Abbott's staff. Abbott later established a political fund to oppose One Nation candidates.
Abbott was one of the leading voices in opposition to the 1999 referendum which would have, if it had succeeded, made Australia a republic.
Abbott attracted some criticism in February 2006, when he posed a rhetorical question "Are there any Australians in the so-called Australian Labor Party?" whilst attacking what he saw as divisive racial factionalism in the controversial preselection for the seat of Hotham.
In July 2006, Mr Abbott visited the Pitlands, an Aboriginal reserve in north-west South Australia.
[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. 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 for the remainder of his political career.
[edit] Community service
Abbott is a volunteer member of the NSW Rural Fire Service, which fought to contain a bushfire in Victoria's west in January 2006 [2]
| Preceded by: Kay Patterson | Minister for Health and Ageing 2003–present | Succeeded by: Incumbent |
[edit] References
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[edit] External links
| Current Cabinet of Australia | Image:Flag of Australia.svg |
|---|---|
| Abbott | Andrews | Bishop | Brough | Campbell | Coonan | Costello | Downer | Howard | Macfarlane | McGauran | Minchin | Nelson | Ruddock | Truss | Vaile | Vanstone | |
| 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
