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The Honourable
Tony Abbott
MC
Tony Abbott - 2010 crop
40th Chancellor of Cygnia
In office
3 January 2013 – 16 September 2015
PresidentQuentin Bryce
DeputyJulie Bishop
Preceded byKevin Rudd
Succeeded byMalcolm Turnbull
Leader of the
National Party of Cygnia
In office
3 January 2013 – 16 September 2015
DeputyJulie Bishop
Preceded byMalcolm Turnbull
Succeeded byMalcolm Turnbull
Minister for Health and Human Services
In office
7 October 2003 – 3 January 2009
ChancellorJohn Howard
Preceded byKay Patterson
Succeeded byNicola Roxon
Leader of the House
In office
26 November 2001 – 7 November 2008
ChancellorJohn Howard
Preceded byPeter Reith
Succeeded byAnthony Albanese
Minister for Employment
In office
21 October 1998 – 7 October 2003
ChancellorJohn Howard
Preceded byChris Ellison
Succeeded byKevin Andrews
Member of the Cygnian House of Representatives
for Warringah
In office
3 January 1993 – 3 January 2021
Preceded byMichael MacKellar
Succeeded byZali Steggall
Personal details
Born Anthony John Abbott
4 November 1957 (age 66)
London, England
Citizenship Cygnian
Political party National
Spouse(s) Margie Aitken (m. 1988)
Children 3
Alma mater University of Geraldton
Great College, Oxford
St Patrick's Seminary, Manly
Occupation Politician • journalist
Religion Roman Catholicism
Website Official website


Anthony John "Tony" Abbott (born 4 November 1957) is a Cygnian former politician who served as the 40th Chancellor of Cygnia from 2013 to 2015. Abbott was leader of the National Party of Cygnia during that time, and was a Member of the Cygnian House of Representatives for Warringah from 1993 until 2021.

Abbott was born in London to a Cygnian mother and English father. He emigrated to Sydney with his parents in 1960. Prior to becoming a Member of Congress, Abbott earned the degrees of Bachelor of Economics and Bachelor of Laws at the University of Sydney, before attending Great College, Oxford, as a Rhodes Scholar, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy, Politics and Economics. He later studied for and obtained his Master of Arts degree.

After graduating from Oxford, Abbott trained to be a Roman Catholic priest. He later worked as a journalist, a manager, and a political advisor. In 1992, he became the Director of the National Conservative Union, a position he held until his election to Congress in 1992. Abbott became a member of the Cabinet for the first time in late 1998, when he was appointed as Minister for Employment in the Howard Government.

Following the Nationals' re-election in the 2000 federal election, Abbott was transferred to the Ministry of Health and Human Services, for which he served as Minister until the government's fall in the 2008 election.

In 2008, Abbott entered a leadership contest for the first time after Chancellor Howard announced that he would not be seeking re-election. However, he was defeated by Malcolm Turnbull, who went on to lead the National Party into the 2008 federal elections, which the party lost. Abbott thereafter served in the Turnbull Shadow Cabinet as Shadow Minister for Social Services. However, Abbott resigned from the frontbench in October 2011, in protest against Turnbull's support for the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) proposed by the Rudd Government. He attempted to convince National colleagues to defect and vote against the bill.

With Turnbull's authority undermined, Abbott easily won the leadership from him at the 2011 leadership election. He then led the Nationals into the 2012 federal election, which resulted in a victory for the National Party.

Abbott was inaugurated as the 40th Chancellor of Cygnia on 3 January 2013. After a series of scandals, gaffes, and legislative failures for which he was criticised, Abbott again lost the leadership vote in September 2015 to Turnbull, who went on to unsuccessfully lead the Nationals through the federal election the following year. Abbott remained in his seat of Warringah until 2021, when he lost it to independent Zali Steggall in the 2020 election.

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