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Anthony John Abbott (; born 4 November 1957) is an Australian former politician who served as the 28th prime minister of Australia from 2013 to 2015. He held 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, before the election of the Howard government in 1996. Following 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 to the 2010 federal election, which resulted in a hung parliament, and an eventual victory for the Australian Labor Party (ALP). Abbott remained leader, and led the Coalition to a landslide victory at the 2013 election. After assuming office, the Abbott government implemented Operation Sovereign Borders in an effort to halt illegal maritime arrivals. It abolished several reforms enacted by the preceding government, including the Minerals Resource Rent Tax and Australia's carbon pricing scheme. His government 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. Abbott 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 international affairs, Abbott concluded free trade agreements with China, Japan and South Korea. He challenged the Russian president Vladimir Putin over Russia's actions in Ukraine and over the shooting down of Malaysian Flight MH17 in Ukraine. He committed Australian forces to the battle against ISIS during the Syrian conflict, and agreed to resettle an additional 12,000 refugees from the region. He 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. Abbott's "budget repair" measures proved unpopular, with his government's austere 2014 budget being widely criticised. Due to Abbott's poor opinion polling and personal unpopularity, he was defeated by rival Malcolm Turnbull in a September 2015 leadership spill, and replaced as prime minister. He remained in the Parliament 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. Abbott continues to contribute to international public debate as a writer, public speaker and advocate for conservative causes. He is often ranked in the lower tier of Australian prime ministers. Early life Birth and family background Abbott was born on 4 November 1957 at the General Lying-In Hospital in Lambeth, London, England. He is the oldest of four children born to Fay (née Peters; b. 1933) and Richard Henry "Dick" Abbott (1924–2017). He has three younger sisters, including Christine Forster, who has also been involved in politics. His mother was born in Sydney, while his father was born in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. At age 16, Dick Abbott moved to Australia with his parents. Two years later, in 1942, he was called up to the Royal Australian Air Force. Dick Abbott and his mother returned to the UK in 1954 where he met and married Fay Peters, a dietitian. Childhood and education On 7 September 1960, Abbott, his parents, and younger sister Jane, left the UK for Australia on the Assisted Passage Migration Scheme ship SS Oronsay. Settling in Sydney, the family first lived in the suburb of Bronte and later moved to Chatswood. Dick Abbott established what was to become one of the largest orthodontics practices in Australia, retiring in 2002. Abbott attended primary school at St Aloysius' College at Milson's Point, before completing his secondary school education at St Ignatius' College, Riverview, both Jesuit schools. During his time at St Ignatius' College, one was his teachers was John Kennedy, who would later go on to serve as the member for Hawthorn. He graduated with a Bachelor of Economics (BEc) in 1979 and a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) in 1981 from the University of Sydney. He resided at St John's College and was president of the Student Representative Council. Influenced by his chaplain at St Ignatius', Father Emmet Costello, he then attended The Queen's College, Oxford, as a Rhodes Scholar, where in June 1983 he graduated as a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE) and on 21 October 1989 proceeded by seniority to Master of Arts. During his university days, Abbott gained media attention for political opposition to the then dominant left-wing student leadership. Once he was violently beaten at a university conference. According to the Sun-Herald newspaper, it was "an ugly and often violent time", and Abbott's tactics in student politics were like "an aggressive terrier". Abbott organised rallies in support of Governor-General John Kerr after he dismissed the Whitlam government in November 1975, as well as a pro-Falklands War demonstration during his time at Oxford. At St. Ignatius College, Abbott had been taught and influenced by the Jesuits. At university, he encountered B. A. Santamaria, a Catholic layman who led a movement against Communism within the Australian labour movement in the 1950s, culminating in the 1955 Labor Party split and the formation of the Democratic Labor Party. Santamaria has been described as Abbott's "political hero". He wrote the foreword to a novelisation of Santamaria's life written by Alan Reid, and in 2015 launched a biography.... Discover the Alexis Abbott popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Alexis Abbott books.