Tony Abbott

Tony Abbott was elected as the 28th Prime Minister of Australia in 2013.

The country’s political climate rarely grants long tenures in office but Abbott used his 2 years to great effect. His administration repealed the carbon and mining tax, boosting the country’s resource-led economy. Economic liberalisation continued in the form of free trade agreements with China, Japan and Korea. Abbott also secured Australia’s borders, halting the people smuggling trade from Indonesia. And he put Australia front and centre of the fight against Islamic State, becoming the second largest military contributor to the US-led campaign. Australia also took centre-stage in international politics when Abbott chaired the G20 meeting of global leaders in Brisbane in November 2014.

A member of the Liberal Party, Abbott was the MP for Warringah between 1994 to 2019. As the local MP, he was instrumental in the creation of the Sydney Harbour Federation Trust to preserve the natural and built heritage of his electorate and elsewhere.

Prior to entering parliament, Tony Abbott was a journalist with The Australian, a senior adviser to opposition leader John Hewson, and director of Australians for Constitutional Monarchy. He has degrees in economics and law from Sydney University and in politics and philosophy from Oxford which he attended as a Rhodes Scholar.

He is the author of three books: The Minimal Monarchy (1995), How to Win the Constitutional War (1997), and Battlelines (2009).

Between 1998 and 2019, he convened the Pollie Pedal annual bike ride which raised nearly $7 million for organisations such as Soldier On, Carers Australia and other charities. He still surfs near Queenscliff and volunteers with the Davidson Rural Fire Brigade.

In 2020 he was appointed as a Companion of the Order of Australia, and in 2022 he was awarded the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun.

Currently, he is a director of the Ramsay Centre for Western Civilisation, serves on the council of the Australian War Memorial, is an adviser the UK Board of Trade, is a visiting fellow of the Institute of Public Affairs and the Danube Institute and is on the board of Fox Corp. He’s patron to several charities, including Soldier On.

Tony Abbott is married to Margaret and they have three daughters: Louise, Frances and Bridget.