Tony Abbott

Who is Tony Abbott?

Anthony John "Tony" Abbott is the 28th and current Prime Minister of Australia. He has held the position since 2013, and has been the Leader of the Liberal Party since 2009. Abbott is the Member of Parliament representing Warringah, having first been elected at a 1994 by-election.

Abbott was born in London, England, to an Australian mother and English-born father who returned to Sydney, Australia, in 1960. Prior to entering Parliament, he studied for a Bachelor of Economics and a Bachelor of Laws at the University of Sydney, and later for a Master of Arts in Philosophy, Politics and Economics as a Rhodes Scholar at The Queen's College, Oxford.

After graduating, Abbott trained as a Roman Catholic seminarian, later working as a journalist, business manager and political advisor. In 1992, he was appointed director of Australians for Constitutional Monarchy, a position he held until 1994, when he was successfully elected to parliament at the Warringah by-election. Abbott was first appointed to Cabinet following the 1998 election, as part of the second Howard ministry, becoming Minister for Employment, Workplace Relations and Small Business. In 2003, he 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, he resigned from the frontbench in November 2009 in protest against Turnbull's support for the Rudd Government's proposed Emissions Trading Scheme. Forcing a leadership ballot on the subject, Abbott defeated Turnbull by 42 votes to 41, therefore becoming the party's leader and Leader of the Opposition.