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Abbott TDxFLx, Immunoassay Abbott TDx System, Abbott TDxFLx Chemistry... blockscientific.com |
For other people called Tony Abbott, see Tony Abbott (disambiguation).
Anthony John "Tony" Abbott (born 4 November 1957) is the current Leader of the Opposition in the Australian House of Representatives and federal leader of the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. He has represented the seat of Warringah since the 1994 by-election. Abbott was Minister for Employment Services, Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations, and Minister for Health and Ageing in the Howard government at various times from 1998 to 2007, and Leader of the House of Representatives from 2001 to 2007. After the defeat of the Howard government at the 2007 federal election, he was Shadow Minister for Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs until he resigned from the Malcolm Turnbull shadow cabinet in protest against Liberal Party policy on 26 November 2009.[2] Following a successful spill motion, Abbott defeated Turnbull 42 votes to 41 in the Liberal Party of Australia leadership election of 2009.
Early life and familyAbbott was born in London, England,[3] to Australian parents. In 1960, his family returned to Australia, living first in the Sydney suburbs of Bronte then moving to Chatswood. Abbott was schooled at St Aloysius' College before completing his secondary school education at St Ignatius' College, Riverview in Sydney.[4] He graduated from the University of Sydney, residing at St John's College, with a Bachelor of Economics (BEc) and a Bachelor of Laws (LLB).[3] 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 Queen's College, Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar and graduated with a Master of Arts (MA). Said to be a devout Catholic, he wanted to join the Catholic priesthood, and entered St Patrick's Seminary, Manly. It was this time in the seminary that earned Abbott the nickname "The Mad Monk".[5] He subsequently decided to leave the seminary and choose another career path. Despite his right-wing leanings, Abbott has acknowledged he voted Labor in the 1988 NSW State Election as he thought "Barrie Unsworth was the best deal Premier that New South Wales had ever had." Nevertheless, Abbott then clarified that he has never voted for Labor in a Federal election.[6] After leaving the seminary, Abbott worked as a journalist for The Bulletin, an influential news magazine, and The Australian. He became well-known for his strongly worded criticism of trade unions 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. Between 1993 and 1994 he was the Executive Director of Australians for Constitutional Monarchy.[3] Abbott is married to Margaret, with whom he has three daughters (Louise, Bridget and Frances).[7] When Abbott was 19 his then girlfriend became pregnant. She was keen to get married but Abbott refused, so she left him seven months into her pregnancy. She later gave birth to a son and had him adopted.[8] Abbott believed that he fathered this child.[9] The identity of this son was not known until late 2004, when it was publicly revealed that he was 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.[10] DNA testing later revealed, however, that Abbott was not the man's father.[11] Political lifeAbbott was elected to the Australian House of Representatives for the Division of Warringah at a by-election in March 1994 following the resignation of Michael MacKellar. He served as the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Employment, Education, Training and Youth Affairs (1996-98), Minister for Employment Services (1998-2001), Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations and Small Business (2001), Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations (2001-03) and Minister for Health and Ageing from 2003 to November 2007. From late 2001 to November 2007 he was also Manager of Government Business in the House.[12] He acquired a reputation in these roles as a robust parliamentary debater and political tactician.[13][14] As Minister for Health and Ageing, Abbott introduced the Medicare Safety Net to cap the annual out-of-pocket costs of Medicare cardholders to a maximum amount. In 2007, he attracted criticism over long delays in funding for cancer diagnostic equipment (PET scanners).[15][16][17][18] Abbott is widely known as an outspoken socially conservative Catholic. Abbott sees reducing the number of abortions performed each year as a national priority. 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?" [19] Abbott promised to launch an investigation into a product called Pink or Blue, which is made by UK-based DNA Worldwide, a division of US-based Consumer Genetics. This test is one of several pre-natal blood tests designed to detect the sex of a fetus as early as six weeks into pregnancy. Ethicists have raised concerns that knowing the sex of a foetus so early into pregnancy would facilitate Sex-selective abortion and infanticide.[20] A conscience vote took place in February 2006, approving a measure that deprived the Health Minister of regulatory control of the abortion drug RU486. 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 he 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."[21] Abbott opposed allowing the introduction of Embryonic stem cell research or therapeutic cloning in another conscience vote, preferring continued use of Adult stem cells for research into cures for debilitating diseases. He argued that: "there are very important ethical questions here and even the very best end does not justify every possible means."[22] He has proposed a return to at-fault divorce, similar to the Matrimonial Causes Act, which would require spouses to prove offences like adultery, habitual drunkenness or cruelty before a divorce is granted. [23] Abbott is a supporter of the constitutional monarchy in Australia. He has previously accused some sections of the Australia public of "suffering self-imposed historical and cultural amnesia" in relation to Australia's British heritage and acting like "teenagers blowing raspberries at their parents".[24] In the 2007 federal election campaign, Abbott was drawn into controversy over comments he made about asbestos campaigner Bernie Banton. Banton, who was suffering from terminal mesothelioma, attempted to deliver a petition to Abbott's electorate office in Manly. As Abbott was not there, he was accused of being "gutless". Abbott said the event was a stunt and said: "I know Bernie is very sick, but just because a person is sick doesn't mean that he is necessarily pure of heart in all things." Abbott later apologised for the comments.[25] After the Coalition lost government in 2007 and he lost his health portfolio, in Opposition Abbott was re-elected to the seat of Warringah with a 1.79% swing toward the Labor Party.[26] Following Peter Costello's rejection of the leadership of the Parliamentary Liberal Party, Abbott nominated for the position of party leader, along with Malcolm Turnbull and Brendan Nelson. After canvassing the support of his colleagues, Abbott decided to withdraw his nomination. He seemingly did not have the numbers, noting that he was "obviously very closely identified with the outgoing prime minister."[27] He also said he would not rule out contesting the leadership at some time in the future.[28] In December 2007, Abbott was assigned the Shadow Portfolio of Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs.[29] In November 2009, Abbott resigned from shadow ministerial responsibilities due to the Liberal Party's position on the government's Emission Trading Scheme (ETS), leading to the resignation of other shadow ministers.[30] At an October, 2009, meeting in the town of Beaufort, Victoria, Abbott told the audience that the concept of climate change was "absolute crap". On 1 December, when questioned about that statement, he said he had used "a bit of hyperbole" at that meeting, rather than it being his "considered position".[31] On 1 December 2009, he succeeded Malcolm Turnbull as leader of the Opposition, defeating Turnbull and Joe Hockey in a leadership ballot, with Julie Bishop remaining as deputy leader. Abbott's win was attributed to his position on climate change, in particular, his decision to block Australia's Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS).[32] Abbott's views on global warming and carbon trading were subsequently described by Turnbull as "bullshit".[33][34] Leader of the Opposition
Public ImageAbbott often uses colourful language in public life.
Action against One Nation PartyIn 1998, 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.[40] Prime Minister John Howard denied any knowledge of existence of such a fund.[41] Abbott was also accused of offering funds to One Nation dissident Terry Sharples to support his court battle against the party. However, Prime Minister Howard defended the honesty of Abbott in this matter.[42] It was Sharples' legal action that laid the basis for the prosecution of the One Nation founders, Pauline Hanson and David Ettridge, which ultimately resulted in Hanson being imprisoned.[43] Opposition MP Craig Emerson demanded to know where the money for the trust, reportedly $100,000, had come from, saying that taxpayers had a right to know.[44] Treasurer Peter Costello said of Abbott's actions, "I don't think that the way to resolve political disputes is through the courts. I think the way to resolve it is at the ballot box."[45] The conviction against Hanson was ultimately overturned, leading to criticism of a range of politicians for political interference by the adjudicating justice. 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 also claimed to be acting "in Australia's national interest". Mr Howard also defended Abbott's actions saying "It's the job of the Liberal Party to politically attack other parties - there's nothing wrong with that."[43] Community serviceAbbott is a volunteer member of the NSW Rural Fire Service [46] as a member of the Davidson Rural Fire Brigade. Abbott has participated in many events for charity. He has run in a 100 km ultramarathon for charity. [47]. In April 2007, Abbott launched the tenth annual Pollie Pedal, a charitable event which aimed to raise money for breast cancer. [48] Federal Territories Minister Jim Lloyd said that the event was Abbott's "brainchild".[49] See alsoReferences
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Categories: 1957 births | Australian Rhodes scholars | British immigrants to Australia | New South Wales federal politicians | Liberal Party of Australia politicians | Members of the Cabinet of Australia | Australian Leaders of the Opposition | Australian monarchists | Living people | Australian Roman Catholics | University of Sydney alumni | Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Warringah | Members of the Australian House of Representatives | People from London | Alumni of The Queen's College, Oxford | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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