Tony Abbott, English-Australian scholar and politician, 28th Prime Minister of Australia
Anthony John Abbott (; born 4 November 1957) is an Australian former politician. He served as the 28th prime minister of Australia from 2013 to 2015, holding office as the leader of the Liberal Party of Australia.Abbott was born in London, England, to an Australian mother and a British father, and moved to Sydney at the age of two. He 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. After graduating from Oxford, Abbott briefly trained as a Roman Catholic seminarian, and later worked as a journalist, manager, and political adviser. In 1992, he was appointed director of Australians for Constitutional Monarchy, a position he held until his election to parliament as a member of parliament (MP) for the division of Warringah at the 1994 Warringah by-election.
After the 1998 election, Abbott was appointed Minister for Employment Services in the Second Howard Ministry. He was promoted to cabinet in 2001 as Minister for Employment, Workplace Relations and Small Business. In 2003, Abbott became Minister for Health and Ageing, retaining this position until the defeat of the Howard Government at the 2007 election. Initially serving in the shadow cabinets of Brendan Nelson and then Malcolm Turnbull, Abbott resigned from the front bench in November 2009, in protest against Turnbull's support for the Rudd Government's proposed Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS). Forcing a leadership ballot on the subject, Abbott narrowly defeated Turnbull to become the party's leader and Leader of the Opposition.
Abbott led the Liberal-National Coalition going into the 2010 federal election, which resulted in a hung parliament, and a narrow victory for the Australian Labor Party (ALP). Abbott remained as party leader, and led the Coalition to a landslide victory at the 2013 federal election, becoming prime minister. Upon assuming government, the Abbott Government introduced new border control measures known as Operation Sovereign Borders in an effort to stop illegal maritime arrivals, and abolished the Minerals Resource Rent Tax and Australia's carbon pricing scheme. His government also aimed to rein in a federal budget deficit that reached A$48.5 billion by June 2014, and established the National Commission of Audit to advise on restoring the federal budget to surplus; 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.
In foreign policy, his government continued its military engagement in the Middle East, amid the worsening Syrian conflict, and agreed to resettle an additional 12,000 refugees from the region. Abbott challenged Russia at the United Nations over the shooting down of Malaysian Flight MH17 in Ukraine. The government launched the New Colombo Plan to encourage educational exchange with the Indo-Pacific region. Domestically, Abbott campaigned for recognition of Indigenous Australians in the Australian Constitution, and promised a plebiscite on the issue of same-sex marriage. After a period of unpopularity and leadership instability, Abbott was defeated in a vote for the Liberal leadership by Malcolm Turnbull in September 2015, who replaced Abbott as prime minister. After the end of his premiership, Abbott remained in the party as a backbencher, until he lost his seat of Warringah to independent candidate Zali Steggall at the 2019 federal election. In September 2020, he was named an adviser to the British government'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".A controversial and divisive figure, Abbott has been criticised for his views regarding immigration, women's rights, LGBT rights, Indigenous Australians, and climate change.