Tony Abbott#Knighting of Prince Philip

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).{{cite web|url=https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/tony-abbotts-father-richard-dies-at-93/news-story/aafddd3192ae887cfc1d16639982859e|title=Dailytelegraph.com.au – Subscribe to The Daily Telegraph for exclusive stories|website=The Daily Telegraph|location=Australia|access-date=22 August 2018|archive-date=24 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171124223342/https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/tony-abbotts-father-richard-dies-at-93/news-story/aafddd3192ae887cfc1d16639982859e|url-status=live}} He has three younger sisters, including Christine Forster, who has also been involved in politics. His mother was born in Sydney,[https://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/last-piece-of-the-puzzle-20120831-255ub.html "Last piece of the puzzle"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170826171849/http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/last-piece-of-the-puzzle-20120831-255ub.html |date=26 August 2017 }}, The Sydney Morning Herald, 1 September 2012. Retrieved 14 September 2013. while his father was born in Newcastle upon Tyne, England.

At age 16, Dick Abbott moved to Australia with his parents.{{cite book|first1=Susan|last1=Mitchell|first2=Tony|last2=Abbott|title=A Man's Man|page=8}} 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.{{cite news|last=Marr|first=David|title=Early elections|url=https://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/early-elections-20120903-2593o.html|access-date=1 April 2014|newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald|date=8 September 2012|ref=none|archive-date=20 April 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140420170916/http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/early-elections-20120903-2593o.html|url-status=live}}

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.{{cite web|title=British migrants – Selection documents for free or assisted passage (Commonwealth nominees)|url=http://naa12.naa.gov.au/scripts/SearchOld.asp?O=I&Number=7328488|archive-url=https://archive.today/20121129161430/http://naa12.naa.gov.au/scripts/SearchOld.asp?O=I&Number=7328488|url-status=dead|archive-date=29 November 2012|publisher=National Archives of Australia|access-date=10 September 2011}} NAA citation "NAA: A1877, 07/09/1960 ORONSAY ABBOTT R H" item barcode 7328488.[http://northcoastvoices.blogspot.com.au/2011/12/in-1960-menzies-government-decided-to.html North Coast Voices, 7 December 2011] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131013193654/http://northcoastvoices.blogspot.com.au/2011/12/in-1960-menzies-government-decided-to.html |date=13 October 2013 }}. Retrieved 14 September 2013 Settling in Sydney, the family first lived in the suburb of Bronte and later moved to Chatswood.{{cite web|url=http://www.afr.com/p/national/politics/who_are_they_gillard_and_abbott_6IcrfUyMBGvHMOtRqH4avI|title=Who are they: Gillard and Abbott|work=Australian Financial Review|date=19 July 2010|access-date=22 June 2014|archive-date=14 July 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714214519/http://www.afr.com/p/national/politics/who_are_they_gillard_and_abbott_6IcrfUyMBGvHMOtRqH4avI|url-status=live}} 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.{{cite news|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2009-12-01/the-facts-of-tonys-life/1164632|title=The facts of Tony Abbott's life|publisher=ABC News|location=Australia|agency=AAP|date=1 December 2009|access-date=31 July 2012|archive-date=11 November 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121111092531/http://www.abc.net.au/news/2009-12-01/the-facts-of-tonys-life/1164632|url-status=live}} 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.{{Cite web|url=https://www.theage.com.au/politics/victoria/meet-the-retired-school-principal-who-seized-blue-ribbon-liberal-seat-hawthorn-20181205-p50kfm.html|title=Meet the retired school principal who seized blue-ribbon Liberal seat Hawthorn|date=5 December 2018 |access-date=18 September 2022|archive-date=20 September 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220920171236/https://amp.theage.com.au/politics/victoria/meet-the-retired-school-principal-who-seized-blue-ribbon-liberal-seat-hawthorn-20181205-p50kfm.html|url-status=live}}{{cite web |last1=Williams |first1=Edwina |title=Hawthorn – Labor: John Kennedy |url=https://junctionjournalism.com/2018/10/24/labor-john-kennedy/ |website=The Junction |date=24 October 2018 |access-date=4 January 2021 |archive-date=18 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220118170939/http://junctionjournalism.com/2018/10/24/labor-john-kennedy/ |url-status=live }} 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.{{cite news|last=Abbott|first=Tony|url=http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/tony-abbott-reveals-his-liberal-beliefs-and-how-his-public-and-private-lives-shaped-him/story-e6freuy9-1225805760246|title=Tony Abbott reveals his Liberal beliefs and how his public and private lives shaped him|work=The Daily Telegraph|location=UK|date=1 December 2009|access-date=5 June 2010|archive-date=15 October 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121015175224/http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/tony-abbott-reveals-his-liberal-beliefs-and-how-his-public-and-private-lives-shaped-him/story-e6freuy9-1225805760246|url-status=live}} 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.{{cite web|last=Kenny|first=Mark|title=Tony Abbott's Oxford Transcript Released|url=https://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/tony-abbotts-oxford-transcript-released-20131125-2y6a1.html|date=25 November 2014|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|access-date=5 November 2014|archive-date=19 November 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141119195029/http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/tony-abbotts-oxford-transcript-released-20131125-2y6a1.html|url-status=live}}{{cite magazine|last1=Nowra|first1=Louis|title=Tony Abbott: The Whirling Dervish|url=http://www.themonthly.com.au/monthly-essays-louis-nowra-whirling-dish-tony-abbott-2250|magazine=The Monthly|access-date=11 December 2014|archive-date=23 February 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150223072758/http://www.themonthly.com.au/monthly-essays-louis-nowra-whirling-dish-tony-abbott-2250|url-status=live}}{{cite web|last1=Davies |first1=Brian |title=Front rower's Rhodes to front bench |url=http://www.catholicweekly.com.au/article.php?classID=3&subclassID=9&articleID=4743&class=Features&subclass=A%20conversation%20with |work=The Catholic Weekly |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120330192721/http://www.catholicweekly.com.au/article.php?classID=3&subclassID=9&articleID=4743&class=Features&subclass=A%20conversation%20with |archive-date=30 March 2012 }}{{cite web|last1=Rae|first1=Marion|last2=Daley|first2=Gemma|title=Abbott Against Gillard Prompts Aussie Rhodes Scholar to Punch PM's Weight|work=Bloomberg |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-08-04/abbott-against-gillard-prompts-aussie-rhodes-scholar-to-punch-pm-s-weight.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141211121135/http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-08-04/abbott-against-gillard-prompts-aussie-rhodes-scholar-to-punch-pm-s-weight.html|archive-date=11 December 2014}}

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".{{cite news|url=https://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/07/17/1089694611874.html|title=Fellow students recall a champion of the right|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|access-date=8 September 2013|date=18 July 2004|archive-date=5 September 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130905074548/http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/07/17/1089694611874.html|url-status=live}} 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.{{cite news|last=Crabb|first=Annabel|title=Abbott's own balance-of-power nightmare|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-09-09/crabb-tony-abbott-prime-minister/4944780|access-date=14 September 2013|work=The Drum|date=9 September 2013|archive-date=11 September 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130911211608/http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-09-09/crabb-tony-abbott-prime-minister/4944780?|url-status=live}} 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 of Santamaria written by Gerard Henderson.{{cite news|url=https://www.smh.com.au/public-service/tony-abbotts-career-echoes-that-of-his-political-hero-b-a-santamaria-20150630-gi1y12.html|title=Tony Abbott's career echoes that of his political hero, B. A. Santamaria|author=Stephen Holt|newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald|date=6 July 2015|access-date=25 August 2018|archive-date=25 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180825143134/https://www.smh.com.au/public-service/tony-abbotts-career-echoes-that-of-his-political-hero-b-a-santamaria-20150630-gi1y12.html|url-status=live}} In 1977, Abbott faced charges of common and indecent assault after allegedly groping trainee teacher Helen Wilson while she was making a speech at the College of Advanced Education in Kuring-gai, Sydney. Abbott pleaded not guilty, and the charges were ultimately dropped.{{sfn|Marr|2012|p=24}}{{cite web|url=https://www.theage.com.au/national/i-faced-assault-charge-admits-abbott-20040718-gdya1v.html|title=I faced assault charge, admits Abbott|work=The Age|date=18 July 2004|accessdate=23 December 2008|archive-date=12 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112020826/https://www.theage.com.au/national/i-faced-assault-charge-admits-abbott-20040718-gdya1v.html|url-status=live}}

Abbott was a student boxer, earning two Blues for boxing while at Oxford.{{cite web|url=http://www.campaign.ox.ac.uk/priorities/find_your_priority/sport/za_of_oxford_sport/p_is_for_politicians.html|title=P is for Politicians|publisher=University of Oxford|access-date=16 September 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130722004909/http://www.campaign.ox.ac.uk/priorities/find_your_priority/sport/za_of_oxford_sport/p_is_for_politicians.html|archive-date=22 July 2013}}{{cite news|title=Abbott – not the greatest, but a fighter|url=http://www.theage.com.au/sport/abbott--not-the-greatest-but-a-fighter-20091204-kb20.html|work=The Age|access-date=26 August 2011|location=Melbourne|date=5 December 2009|archive-date=10 October 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101010073817/http://www.theage.com.au/sport/abbott--not-the-greatest-but-a-fighter-20091204-kb20.html|url-status=live}}{{cite news|title=Kev defies Tony to hit a raw nerd|url=http://www.theage.com.au/federal-politics/federal-election-2013/kev-defies-tony-to-hit-a-raw-nerd-20130703-2pbzp.html|first=Mark|last=Kenny|date=3 July 2013|newspaper=The Age|access-date=14 September 2013|location=Melbourne|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131207191912/http://www.theage.com.au/federal-politics/federal-election-2013/kev-defies-tony-to-hit-a-raw-nerd-20130703-2pbzp.html|archive-date=7 December 2013}}{{cite news|url=http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/prime-minister-kevin-rudd-ready-to-rumble-against-opposition-leader-tony-abbott/story-fni0fiyv-1226673935464|title=Prime Minister Kevin Rudd ready to rumble against Opposition Leader Tony Abbott|newspaper=Herald Sun|date=3 July 2013|access-date=14 September 2013|first=Phillip|last=Hudson|archive-date=3 July 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130703225135/http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/prime-minister-kevin-rudd-ready-to-rumble-against-opposition-leader-tony-abbott/story-fni0fiyv-1226673935464|url-status=live}}

When Abbott was a student, on one occasion he rescued a child who had been pulled out into the sea by the current. On another occasion, while drinking at a pub, he helped rescue children from the burning house next door. On both of these occasions, he left the scene after the rescues and did not wait to be thanked.{{cite news|url=http://www.smh.com.au/national/the-missing-element-of-selfdoubt-20091204-kaxl.html#ixzz1njBPuk6V|title=The missing element of self-doubt|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|date=5 December 2009|accessdate=7 March 2012|archive-date=15 January 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130115052552/http://www.smh.com.au/national/the-missing-element-of-selfdoubt-20091204-kaxl.html#ixzz1njBPuk6V|url-status=live}}

Following his time in Britain, Abbott returned to Australia and told his family of his intention to join the priesthood. In 1984 at the age of 26, he entered St Patrick's Seminary, Manly.{{cite news|url=https://www.smh.com.au/national/the-missing-element-of-selfdoubt-20091204-kaxl.html|title=The missing element of self-doubt|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|date=5 December 2009|access-date=7 March 2012|archive-date=27 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220327175533/https://www.smh.com.au/national/the-missing-element-of-selfdoubt-20091204-kaxl.html|url-status=live}} Abbott did not complete his studies at the seminary, leaving the institution in 1987. Interviewed before the 2013 election, Abbott said of his time as a trainee priest: "The Jesuits had helped to instil in me this thought that our calling in life was to be, to use the phrase: 'a man for others'. And I thought then that the best way in which I could be a 'man for others' was to become a priest. I discovered pretty soon that I was a bit of a square peg in a round hole … eventually working out that, I'm afraid, I just didn't have what it took to be an effective priest."{{cite news|url=http://www.abc.net.au/tv/kitchencabinet/pages/s3839837.htm|title=Kitchen Cabinet: Tony Abbott profile|work=ABC Television|date=4 September 2013|access-date=2 November 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160107004242/http://www.abc.net.au/tv/kitchencabinet/pages/s3839837.htm|archive-date=7 January 2016|url-status=dead}}

Abbott worked in journalism, briefly ran a concrete plant, and began to get involved in national politics. Throughout his time as a student and seminarian, he was writing articles for newspapers and magazines—first for Honi Soit (the University of Sydney student newspaper) and later The Catholic Weekly and national publications such as The Bulletin. He eventually became a journalist and wrote for The Australian.

At birth, Abbott was a British citizenAs a "Citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies"; that was changed by UK legislation in 1983, presumably to "British Citizen". by birth in the UK and by descent from his British-born father. He did not hold Australian citizenship from birth, as at the time Australian citizenship by descent could only be acquired from the father. Abbott became a naturalised Australian citizen on 26 June 1981, apparently so as to become eligible for a Rhodes scholarship. On 12 October 1993, he renounced his British citizenship to be eligible to run for parliament under section 44 of the constitution.{{cite web|url=https://www.aph.gov.au/Senators_and_Members/Members/Citizenship|title=Citizenship Register – 45th Parliament|website=Parliament of Australia|access-date=22 August 2018|archive-date=21 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180821225227/https://www.aph.gov.au/Senators_and_Members/Members/Citizenship|url-status=dead}}

Abbott began his public life when he was employed as a journalist for The Bulletin, an influential news magazine, and later for The Australian newspaper. While deciding his future career path, Abbott developed friendships with senior figures in the New South Wales Labor Party, and was encouraged by Bob Carr, as well as Johno Johnson, to join the Labor Party and run for office. Abbott felt uncomfortable with the role of unions within the party, however, and wrote in his biography that he felt Labor "just wasn't the party for me."{{cite news|url=https://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/carr-to-go-after-the-one-that-got-away-20120311-1us9m.html|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|date=12 March 2012|title=Carr to go after the one that got away|access-date=20 February 2020|archive-date=8 November 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121108091219/http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/carr-to-go-after-the-one-that-got-away-20120311-1us9m.html|url-status=live}}

From 1990 to 1993, he was press secretary to Liberal Leader John Hewson, helping to develop the Fightback! policy. Prime Minister John Howard wrote in his autobiography that Abbott considered working on his staff before accepting the position with The Bulletin, and it was on Howard's recommendation that Hewson engaged Abbott. According to Howard, he and Abbott established a good rapport, but Hewson and Abbott fell out shortly before the 1993 election, and Abbott ended up in search of work following the re-election of the Keating government.{{cite book|author=Howard, John|author-link=John Howard|title=Lazarus Rising|year=2010|page=200}} He was approached to head Australians for Constitutional Monarchy (ACM), the main group organising support for the maintenance of the Monarchy in Australia amidst the Keating government's campaign for a change to a republic. Abbott renounced his British citizenship in 1993.{{cite tweet |user=TonyAbbottMHR |number=885752007520157696 |date=14 July 2017 |title=FYI rumour mongers: I renounced my UK citizenship in 1993 and here's the proof |last=Abbott |first=Tony}} Between 1993 and 1994, Abbott was Executive Director of ACM. According to biographer Michael Duffy, Abbott's involvement with ACM "strengthened his relationship with John Howard, who in 1994 suggested he seek pre-selection for a by-election in the seat of Warringah".{{cite news |url=https://www.smh.com.au/national/the-missing-element-of-selfdoubt-20091204-kaxl.html |title=The missing element of self-doubt |work=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=5 December 2009 |access-date=7 March 2012 |archive-date=27 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220327175533/https://www.smh.com.au/national/the-missing-element-of-selfdoubt-20091204-kaxl.html |url-status=live }} Howard provided a glowing reference and Abbott won pre-selection for the safe Liberal seat.{{cite book|author=Howard, John|author-link=John Howard|title=Lazarus Rising|year=2010|page=201}}

Despite his conservative leanings, Abbott acknowledged he voted for Labor in the 1988 NSW state election as he thought that "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.{{cite news|url=http://www.abc.net.au/sundayprofile/stories/s1389511.htm|title=Tony Abbott: Sunday Profile|author=Attard, Monica|author-link=Monica Attard|publisher=ABC News|location=Australia|date=12 June 2005|access-date=28 November 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051201145926/http://www.abc.net.au/sundayprofile/stories/s1389511.htm|archive-date=1 December 2005|url-status=dead}}

File:Tony Abbott.jpg

Abbott won Liberal preselection for the federal Division of Warringah by-election in March 1994 following the resignation of Michael MacKellar. He easily held the safe Liberal seat in the Liberals' traditional Northern Beaches heartland, suffering a swing of only 1 percentage point in the primary vote.{{cite book|author=Howard, John|author-link=John Howard|title=Lazarus Rising|year=2010|page=202}} He easily won the seat in his own right at the 1996 general election. Before 2019, he only dropped below 59 percent of the two-party vote once, in 2001; that year independent Peter Macdonald, the former member for the state seat of Manly, held Abbott to only 55 percent.

Abbott was the parliamentary secretary to the Minister for Employment, Education, Training and Youth Affairs (1996–1998), 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 early 2002 to October 2007, he was also the Leader of the House in the House of Representatives.{{cite news|url=http://abc.net.au/insiders/content/2001/s425027.htm|title=Abbott set to continue Reith's workplace reforms|author=Cassidy, Barrie|author-link=Barrie Cassidy|work=Insiders|publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation|date=25 November 2001|access-date=11 November 2007|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071210031706/http://www.abc.net.au/insiders/content/2001/s425027.htm|archive-date=10 December 2007}}

In 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.{{cite news |url=https://www.smh.com.au/specials/abbottaffair |title=Howard knew of slush fund to target Hanson |via=News Online |work=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=27 August 2003 |access-date=20 February 2020 |archive-date=9 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210309180034/http://www.smh.com.au/specials/abbottaffair/ |url-status=dead }} Prime Minister John Howard denied any knowledge of existence of such a fund.{{cite news |url=http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2003/s933534.htm |title=Abbot denies lying over anti-Hanson fund |work=News Online |publisher=Lateline (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) |date=27 August 2003 |access-date=17 July 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100523081927/http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2003/s933534.htm |archive-date=23 May 2010 |url-status=dead }} Abbott was also accused of offering funds to One Nation dissident Terry Sharples to support his court battle against the party. However, Howard defended the honesty of Abbott in this matter.{{cite news |url=https://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/08/28/1062028265844.html |title=Honest Tony's too up front, says PM |work=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=28 August 2003 |access-date=8 July 2016 |archive-date=14 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180614071551/https://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/08/28/1062028265844.html |url-status=live }} 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". 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."{{cite news |url=https://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/08/27/1061663855108.html |title=Watchdog rethinks Liberal links to Abbott's slush fund |first1=Mike |last1=Seccombe |first2=Damien |last2=Murphy |work=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=28 August 2003 |access-date=8 July 2016 |archive-date=25 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210225191839/http://www.smh.com.au/national/watchdog-rethinks-liberal-links-to-abbotts-slush-fund-20030828-gdhaqm.html |url-status=live }}

As a Parliamentary Secretary, Abbott oversaw the establishment of the Green Corps program which involved young people in environmental restoration work.{{cite hansard|jurisdiction=Commonwealth of Australia|house=Senate|title=Adjournment {{ndash}} Green Corps|url=http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;page=0;query=green%20corps%20Decade%3A%221990s%22%20Year%3A%221998%22%20Month%3A%2203%22;rec=1;resCount=Default|date=2 March 1998|page=116|speaker=Ian Macdonald|position=Senator|quote=The Hon. Tony Abbott my colleague, and I have responsibility within the government for overseeing the "Green" «Corps", and it was Mr Abbott, ATCV and I who, last weekend, hosted the national Green Corps conference.}} {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160107004245/http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;page=0;query=green%20corps%20Decade%3A%221990s%22%20Year%3A%221998%22%20Month%3A%2203%22;rec=1;resCount=Default |date=7 January 2016 }}{{cite web|url=http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2010/s2786905.htm|title=The 7.30 Report|publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation|date=6 January 2010|access-date=5 June 2010|archive-date=15 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180915115746/http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/tony-abbott-joins-chris-uhlmann/2674504|url-status=live}} As Minister for Employment Services, he oversaw the implementation of the Job Network and was responsible for the government's Work for the Dole scheme.{{cite news|url=http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/stories/s160402.htm|title=Govt faces first scrutiny of Job Network|work=7.30 Report|date=7 August 2000|format=transcript and streaming video|publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation|access-date=5 June 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120113054314/http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/stories/s160402.htm|archive-date=13 January 2012|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=http://www.abc.net.au/am/stories/s498379.htm|title=AM Archive – Tony Abbott on Job Network policy|publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation|access-date=5 June 2010|format=transcript|archive-date=9 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190509091540/http://www.abc.net.au/am/stories/s498379.htm|url-status=live}}{{cite web |url=http://www.abc.net.au/pm/stories/s226289.htm |title=PM – Labor may leave Ryan to Liberals after Moore departs |publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation |date=20 December 2000 |access-date=5 June 2010 |archive-date=15 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180915115650/http://www.abc.net.au/pm/stories/s226289.htm |url-status=live }}{{cite web|url=http://www.abc.net.au/am/stories/s512558.htm|title=AM Archive – Blast from Abbott|format=transcript|publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation|date=25 March 2002|access-date=5 June 2010|archive-date=9 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190509155526/http://www.abc.net.au/am/stories/s512558.htm|url-status=live}} He also commissioned the Cole Royal Commission into "thuggery and rorts" in the construction industry and created the Office of the Australian Building and Construction Commissioner in response and to lift productivity.{{cite web|url=http://www.aph.gov.au/library/pubs/bd/2003-04/04bd129.htm |title=Building and Construction Industry Improvement Bill 2003 (Bills Digest, no. 129, 2003–04) |publisher=Aph.gov.au |access-date=5 June 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120204215439/http://www.aph.gov.au/library/pubs/bd/2003-04/04bd129.htm|archive-date=4 February 2012}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/abbotts-record-suggests-he-could-do-rudds-job-20100618-ymw7.html|title=Abbott Closes in on Rudd|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|date=19 June 2010|access-date=8 August 2010|author=Hartcher, Peter|author-link=Peter Hartcher|archive-date=5 September 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120905153636/http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/abbotts-record-suggests-he-could-do-rudds-job-20100618-ymw7.html|url-status=live}}

The Liberal Party allowed members a free choice in the 1999 republic referendum. Abbott was one of the leading voices within the party campaigning for the successful "No" vote, pitting him against future parliamentary colleague and leading republican Malcolm Turnbull.{{cite web|url=http://www.abc.net.au/pm/stories/s62327.htm|title=PM – Republic rivals battle for grassroots|publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation|date=26 October 1999|access-date=5 June 2010|archive-date=15 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180915115555/http://www.abc.net.au/pm/stories/s62327.htm|url-status=live}}

When Abbott was promoted to the Cabinet in 1998, Prime Minister Howard described him as an effective performer with an endearing style, whereas the Opposition described him as a "bomb thrower." Howard appointed Abbott to replace Kay Patterson as Minister for Health in 2003, during a period of contentious Medicare reform and a crisis in Medical indemnity Insurance, in which the price of insurance was forcing doctors out of practice.{{Cite news|url=http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/09/29/1064819869888.html|title=Doctor groups hail promotion of 'head kicker'|work=The Age|date=30 September 2003|access-date=5 June 2010|location=Melbourne|archive-date=26 August 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100826110647/http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/09/29/1064819869888.html|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2003/s956242.htm|title=Cabinet make-over counteracts complacency: Howard|publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation|date=29 September 2003|access-date=5 June 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120113063516/http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2003/s956242.htm|archive-date=13 January 2012|url-status=dead}} The Australian Medical Association was threatening to pull out all Australian doctors.{{cite news|author=Hartcher, Peter|author-link=Peter Hartcher|url=https://www.smh.com.au/opinion/political-news/will-the-real-tony-please-stand-up-20130222-2ewxp.html|title=Will the real Tony please stand up?|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|access-date=26 June 2013|archive-date=24 June 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130624191338/http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/political-news/will-the-real-tony-please-stand-up-20130222-2ewxp.html|url-status=live}} Abbott worked with the states to address the crisis and keep the system running.

Health care initiatives instigated by Abbott include the Nurse Family Partnership, a long term scheme aimed at improving conditions for indigenous youth by improving mother-child relationships. The scheme was successful in reducing child abuse and improving school retention rates.

In 2005, Abbott was holidaying with his family in Bali when the Bali bombings occurred. Abbott visited the victims of the bombings in hospital, and in his capacity as Health Minister organised for Australians who required lifesaving emergency surgery and hospitalisation to be flown to Singapore.{{cite news|url=http://www.theage.com.au/federal-politics/federal-election-2013/bali-bombing-victim-tony-abbott-saved-my-life-20130827-2smxg.html|title=Bali Bombing Victim: 'Tony Abbott Saved my Life'|date=31 August 2013|access-date=1 September 2013|location=Melbourne|work=The Age|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140914140731/http://www.theage.com.au/federal-politics/federal-election-2013/bali-bombing-victim-tony-abbott-saved-my-life-20130827-2smxg.html#ixzz2dcAcA9lz|archive-date=14 September 2014}}

In 2006, Abbott controversially opposed access to the abortion drug RU486, and the Parliament voted to strip Health Ministers of the power to regulate this area of policy.{{cite news|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/12/01/2758927.htm|title=The facts of Tony's life|newspaper=ABC News|publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation|date=1 December 2009|access-date=5 June 2010|archive-date=15 July 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100715041513/http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/12/01/2758927.htm|url-status=dead}} During this time, Abbott likened the act of having an abortion to committing a murder, 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".{{cite news|url=http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2006/s1571075.htm|work=AM|title=MPs to vote on RU486 control|format=transcript|year=2006|location=Australia|access-date=19 March 2014|archive-date=6 February 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090206204205/http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2006/s1571075.htm|url-status=live}}

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).{{cite news|url=http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2007/s1998936.htm|title='Scientific fraud' hampered spread of cancer technique|author=Peacock, Matt|work=7.30 Report|publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation|date=9 July 2007|access-date=11 November 2007|archive-date=6 December 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071206003202/http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2007/s1998936.htm|url-status=live}}{{cite news|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/07/11/1975390.htm|title=Govt rethinks PET scan funding decision|author=Caldwell, Alison|publisher=ABC News|date=11 July 2007|access-date=11 November 2007|archive-date=8 December 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071208125019/http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/07/11/1975390.htm|url-status=dead}}{{cite news|url=http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2007/s2043989.htm|title=Cancer detection technology waits for Govt approval|author=Matt Peacock|work=7.30 Report|publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation|date=26 September 2007|access-date=11 November 2007|archive-date=2 November 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071102101344/http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2007/s2043989.htm|url-status=live}}{{cite news|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/09/27/2044610.htm|title=Doctors angry as PET scan delay wears on|author=Peacock, Matt|publisher=ABC News|date=27 September 2007|access-date=11 November 2007|archive-date=7 December 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071207091807/http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/09/27/2044610.htm|url-status=dead}}

According to Sydney Morning Herald's political editor, Peter Hartcher, before the defeat of the Howard government at the 2007 election, Abbott had opposed the government's centrepiece WorkChoices industrial relations deregulation reform in Cabinet, on the basis that the legislation exceeded the government's mandate, was harsh on workers, and was politically dangerous to the government. John Howard wrote in his 2010 autobiography that Abbott was "never a zealot about pursuing industrial relations changes" and expressed "concern about making too many changes" during Cabinet's discussion of WorkChoices.{{cite book|author=Howard, John|author-link=John Howard|title=Lazarus Rising|year=2010|pages=574, 652}}

Abbott campaigned as Minister for Health at the 2007 election. On 31 October, he apologised for saying "just because a person is sick doesn't mean that he is necessarily pure of heart in all things", after Bernie Banton, an asbestos campaigner and terminal mesothelioma sufferer, complained that Abbott was unavailable to collect a petition.{{cite news|url=http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22678290-5013945,00.html|title=Abbott insults asbestos sufferer|author=Marris, Sid|agency=Australian Associated Press|work=The Australian|date=31 October 2007|access-date=28 November 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071103092459/http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22678290-5013945,00.html|archive-date=3 November 2007|url-status=dead}} In The Australian Doctor's 2015 poll, Tony Abbott was ranked as the third "worst health minister in 35 years", as voted on by doctors. Peter Dutton was ranked the overall worst.{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/jan/12/peter-dutton-ranked-as-worst-health-minister-in-35-years-in-poll-of-doctors|title=Peter Dutton ranked as worst health minister in 35 years in poll of doctors|last=Medhora|first=Shalailah|date=2015-01-12|work=The Guardian|access-date=2019-11-12|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077|archive-date=2 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202151819/https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/jan/12/peter-dutton-ranked-as-worst-health-minister-in-35-years-in-poll-of-doctors|url-status=live}}

The Coalition lost government in 2007 and Abbott was re-elected to the seat of Warringah with a 1.8% swing toward the Labor Party.{{cite web|url=http://results.aec.gov.au/13745/website/HouseDivisionFirstPrefs-13745-151.htm|title=Australian Electoral Commission summary of Warringah, Federal Election 2007.|publisher=Australian Electoral Commission|date=19 December 2007|access-date=19 December 2007|archive-date=21 July 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080721192754/http://results.aec.gov.au/13745/Website/HouseDivisionFirstPrefs-13745-151.htm|url-status=live}} 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."{{cite news|url=http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,22836392-2,00.html|title=Tony Abbott pulls out of Liberal leadership race|work=News.com.au|date=28 November 2007|access-date=28 November 2007|archive-date=30 November 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071130022025/http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,22836392-2,00.html|url-status=dead}} He said he would not rule out contesting the leadership at some time in the future.{{cite news|url=https://www.smh.com.au/news/national/abbott-quits-leader-race/2007/11/28/1196036951844.html|title=Tony Abbott quits race to be Lib leader|agency=Australian Associated Press|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|date=28 November 2007|access-date=28 November 2007|archive-date=1 December 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071201073929/http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/abbott-quits-leader-race/2007/11/28/1196036951844.html|url-status=live}} Of the three candidates, Abbott was the only one who had previous experience in Opposition. Nelson was elected Liberal leader in December 2007 and Abbott was assigned the Shadow Portfolio of Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs.{{cite news|url=http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,22880030-953,00.html|title=Brendan Nelson Assigns Shadow Ministry|work=Courier-Mail|date=6 December 2007|access-date=28 November 2007|archive-date=7 December 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071207194516/http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,22880030-953,00.html|url-status=dead}} As indigenous affairs spokesman, Abbott said that it had been a mistake for the Howard government not to offer a national apology to the Stolen Generations;{{cite news|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/04/03/2534304.htm|title=We should have said sorry: Abbott|newspaper=ABC News|publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation|date=3 April 2009|access-date=5 June 2010|archive-date=27 January 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100127060744/http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/04/03/2534304.htm|url-status=dead}} spent time teaching at remote Aboriginal communities;{{cite news|url=http://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article.aspx?aeid=8811|title=Abbott's complex Aboriginal odyssey|work=Eureka Street|access-date=5 June 2010|archive-date=18 February 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110218192347/http://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article.aspx?aeid=8811|url-status=dead}} and argued for the Rudd government to continue the Northern Territory National Emergency Response which restricted alcohol and introduced conditional welfare in certain Aboriginal communities.{{cite news|url=http://www.abc.net.au/insiders/content/2009/s2579210.htm|title=Tony Abbott joins Insiders|work=Insiders|publisher=ABC News|date=24 May 2009|access-date=5 June 2010|archive-date=14 March 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100314033702/http://www.abc.net.au/insiders/content/2009/s2579210.htm|url-status=live}}

During this period in Opposition, Abbott wrote Battlelines, a biography and reflection on the Howard government, and potential future policy direction for the Liberal Party.{{cite web|url=http://shop.abc.net.au/browse/product.asp?productid=549813|title=Battlelines – Paperback Book|publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation|access-date=5 June 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091205212841/http://shop.abc.net.au/browse/product.asp?productid=549813|archive-date=5 December 2009}}Also [https://www.amazon.com.au/Battlelines-Tony-Abbott-ebook/dp/B00A33IYI4 Amazon] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304185143/http://www.amazon.com.au/Battlelines-Tony-Abbott-ebook/dp/B00A33IYI4 |date=4 March 2016 }} In the book, Abbott said that in certain aspects the Australian Federation was "dysfunctional" and in need of repair. He recommended the establishment of local hospital and school boards to manage health and education,{{cite web|url=http://www.abc.net.au/tv/fora/stories/2009/08/07/2649342.htm|title=Big Ideas|publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation|access-date=5 June 2010}}{{Dead link|date=February 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} and discussed family law reform, multiculturalism, climate change, and international relations. The book received a favourable review from former Labor Party speech writer Bob Ellis and The Australian described it as "read almost universally as Abbott's intellectual application for the party's leadership after the Turnbull experiment".{{cite news|author=Annabel Crabb|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/12/04/2761617.htm|title=Abbott sweet talks Lama and the Left|newspaper=ABC News|publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation|date=4 December 2009|access-date=5 June 2010|archive-date=3 February 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100203164332/http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/12/04/2761617.htm|url-status=dead}}{{cite news|author=Milne, Glenn|author-link=Glenn Milne|url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/opinion/a-new-battleline-for-liberal-ideas/story-e6frg75x-1225791120737|title=A new battleline for Liberal ideas|work=The Australian|date=26 October 2009|access-date=5 June 2010|archive-date=13 January 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120113143128/http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/opinion/a-new-battleline-for-liberal-ideas/story-e6frg75x-1225791120737|url-status=live}}

The number of unauthorised immigrant arrivals in boats to Australia increased during 2008.{{cite news|url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/politics/rudd-government-marks-100th-asylum-seeker-boat/story-e6frgczf-1225847045425|title=Rudd Government marks 100th asylum seeker boat|work=The Australian|date=29 March 2010|access-date=8 August 2010|first=Joe|last=Kelly}} Abbott claimed that this was an effect of the Rudd government's easing of border protection laws and accused Kevin Rudd of ineptitude and hypocrisy on the issue of unauthorised immigrants upon boats arriving, particularly during the Oceanic Viking affair of October 2009, saying, "John Howard found a problem and created a solution. Kevin Rudd found a solution and has now created a problem".{{cite news|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/10/28/2725891.htm|title=Indonesian solution 'a shambles'|newspaper=ABC News|publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation|date=28 October 2009|access-date=8 August 2010|archive-date=17 February 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100217174819/http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/10/28/2725891.htm|url-status=dead}}

During November 2009, Abbott resigned from shadow ministerial responsibilities due to the Liberal Party's position on the Rudd government's Emissions trading Scheme (ETS), leading to the resignation of other shadow ministers.{{Cite news|url=http://www.theage.com.au/national/liberals-tear-down-the-house-abbott-poised-20091126-junx.html?autostart=1|title=Liberal Leadership Challenge: Malcolm Turnbull|work=The Age|location=Melbourne|date=27 November 2009|access-date=27 April 2010|author1=Grattan, Michelle|author-link1=Michelle Grattan|author2=Murphy, Katharine|author3=Schubert, Misha}}

File:Tony Abbott Dec 2012.jpgOn 1 December 2009, Abbott was elected to the position of Leader of the Liberal Party of Australia over Turnbull and Shadow Treasurer Joe Hockey. Abbott proposed blocking the government's ETS in the Senate whereas Turnbull sought to amend the bill which the majority of the Liberal Party did not support.{{Cite news|url=http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/politics/abbott-wins-by-standing-for-something-20091201-k1xz.html|title=Abbott wins by standing for something|author=Davis, Mark|work=The Age|date=9 December 2009|access-date=9 December 2009|archive-date=5 January 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100105103951/http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/politics/abbott-wins-by-standing-for-something-20091201-k1xz.html|url-status=live}} Abbott named his Shadow Cabinet on 8 December 2009.{{Cite news|url=https://www.smh.com.au/national/abbott-goes-back-to-the-future-in-new-front-bench-20091208-kgod.html|title=Tony Abbott goes back to the future in new front bench|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|date=8 December 2009|access-date=5 June 2010|archive-date=17 March 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100317154750/http://www.smh.com.au/national/abbott-goes-back-to-the-future-in-new-front-bench-20091208-kgod.html|url-status=live}}

Abbott described Prime Minister Rudd's Emission Trading plan as a 'Great big tax on everything' and opposed it. The Coalition and minor parties voted against the government's ETS legislation in the Senate and the legislation was rejected. Abbott announced a new Coalition policy on carbon emission reduction in February, which committed the Coalition to a 5 per cent reduction in emissions by 2020. Abbott proposed the creation of an 'emissions reduction fund' to provide 'direct' incentives to industry and farmers to reduce carbon emissions. In April, Rudd announced that plans for the introduction his ETS would be delayed until 2013.{{cite web|last=Gillham|first=Alexis|url=http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/kevin-rudd-delays-plans-for-emissions-trading-scheme-until-2013/story-e6frf7jo-1225859004903|title=Kevin Rudd delays plans for emissions trading scheme until 2013|work=Herald Sun|date=27 April 2010|access-date=5 June 2010|archive-date=25 May 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140525235715/http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/kevin-rudd-delays-plans-for-emissions-trading-scheme-until-2013/story-e6frf7jo-1225859004903|url-status=live}}

When appointed to the Liberal leadership, Abbott's Catholicism and moral beliefs became subjects of repeated media questioning. Various commentators suggested that his traditionalist views would polarise female voters.{{Cite news|author=McCabe, Helen |title=Abbott's women |work=Australian Women's Weekly |date=February 2010 |pages=18–28 |url=http://aww.ninemsn.com.au/news/inthemag/1004317/abbotts-women |access-date=17 February 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100312044003/http://aww.ninemsn.com.au/news/inthemag/1004317/abbotts-women |archive-date=12 March 2010 }} He told press gallery journalist Laurie Oakes that he did not do doorstop interviews in front of church but regularly faced pointed questions about his faith which were not being put to Prime Minister Rudd, who conducted weekly church door press conferences following his attendances at Anglican services.{{cite news|url=http://today.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=980369|title=Laurie Oakes|work=Today|publisher=ninemsn.com.au|date=6 December 2009|access-date=5 June 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110928230758/http://today.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=980369|archive-date=28 September 2011}}

Abbott reportedly missed the 2009 vote on the Rudd government $42 billion stimulus package because he fell asleep in his parliamentary office after a night of drinking. When asked by a journalist whether he had been drunk, Abbott said "that is an impertinent question" and that he "wasn't keeping count" but thought it was "maybe two" bottles of wine.{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/dec/29/australian-politicians-drink-bar-history|title=An Australian politician walks into a bar … and things don't always go well|author=Adam Brereton|work=The Guardian|date=29 December 2015|access-date=11 February 2016|archive-date=16 February 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160216183645/http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/dec/29/australian-politicians-drink-bar-history|url-status=live}}{{cite news |url=https://apnews.com/e97c211a19f44bfeb1d34cb6d583aa1c/Australian-PM:-Tony-Abbott-was-once-too-drunk-for-Parliament |work=Associated Press |quote=Australia's prime minister confirmed Friday that his predecessor and intra-party rival Tony Abbott had once been too drunk to vote in Parliament, an incident that's been a poorly kept secret in political circles for eight years. |title=Australian PM: Tony Abbott was once too drunk for Parliament |date=25 August 2017 |access-date=3 September 2017 |archive-date=23 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180823105449/https://apnews.com/e97c211a19f44bfeb1d34cb6d583aa1c/Australian-PM:-Tony-Abbott-was-once-too-drunk-for-Parliament |url-status=live }}

In a 60 Minutes interview aired on 7 March 2010, Abbott was asked: "Homosexuality? How do you feel about that?". He replied: "I'd probably feel a bit threatened … it's a fact of life and I try to treat people as people and not put them in pigeonholes."{{cite news|url=http://sixtyminutes.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=1020354|title=The Contender|work=60 Minutes|publisher=ninemsn.com.au|date=5 March 2010|access-date=5 June 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100413235856/http://sixtyminutes.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=1020354|archive-date=13 April 2010}} In later interviews Abbott apologised for the remark.{{Cite news|title=Abbott still 'threatened' by homosexuality|publisher=ABC News|date=9 March 2010|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/03/09/2840558.htm|access-date=10 March 2010|archive-date=11 March 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100311172145/http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/03/09/2840558.htm|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=http://www.abc.net.au/tv/qanda/txt/s2859473.htm|title=Tony Abbott on Q and A|publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation|date=5 April 2010|access-date=5 June 2010|archive-date=13 June 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100613162217/http://www.abc.net.au/tv/qanda/txt/s2859473.htm|url-status=live}} In 2013, Abbott stated on 3AW that if his sister Christine Forster were to have a marriage ceremony with her partner Virginia he would attend.{{cite news|title=SBS journalist and Mardi Gras host Patrick Abboud reveals rare insight into the life of Tony Abbott's lesbian sister|url=http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/tv/sbs-journalist-and-mardi-gras-host-patrick-abboud-reveals-rare-insight-into-the-life-of-tony-abbotts-lesbian-sister/story-e6frfmyi-1227239886863|date=26 February 2015|work=News.com.au|author=Debra Killalea|access-date=8 March 2015|archive-date=10 March 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150310011811/http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/tv/sbs-journalist-and-mardi-gras-host-patrick-abboud-reveals-rare-insight-into-the-life-of-tony-abbotts-lesbian-sister/story-e6frfmyi-1227239886863|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=http://www.sbs.com.au/news/thefeed/story/christine-forster-tony-abbotts-openly-gay-sister|title=Christine Forster: Tony Abbott's Openly Gay Sister|date=26 February 2015|work=The Feed|publisher=Special Broadcasting Service|access-date=8 March 2015|archive-date=10 March 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150310005950/http://www.sbs.com.au/news/thefeed/story/christine-forster-tony-abbotts-openly-gay-sister|url-status=dead}}{{cite news|url=https://www.smh.com.au/national/abbott-supports-sister-but-against-gay-marriage-20120408-1wj34.html|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|date=8 April 2012|title=Abbott supports sister but against gay marriage|access-date=20 February 2020|archive-date=15 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181115203213/https://www.smh.com.au/national/abbott-supports-sister-but-against-gay-marriage-20120408-1wj34.html|url-status=live}}{{cite news|url=http://www.news.com.au/national/prime-minister-tony-abbott-says-he-will-attend-sisters-wedding-but-not-support-the-marriage/story-fncynjr2-1226745544432|title=Prime Minister Tony Abbott says he will attend sister's wedding, but not support the marriage|date=23 October 2013|work=News.com.au|access-date=8 March 2015|archive-date=3 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150403114029/http://www.news.com.au/national/prime-minister-tony-abbott-says-he-will-attend-sisters-wedding-but-not-support-the-marriage/story-fncynjr2-1226745544432|url-status=dead}}

File:Rear Admiral Davyd Thomas AM, CSC, RAN, Major General Paul Symon, AO and Air Marshal Mark Binskin, AM during the wreath laying at the NADC.jpg National Service at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra]]

In March 2010, Abbott, announced a new policy initiative to provide for six months paid parental leave, funded by an increase in corporate tax by 1.7 percentage points on all taxable company income above $5 million. Business groups and the government opposed the plan, however it won support from the Australian Greens.{{cite news|url=http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/1209412/Abbott-pledges-parental-leave-scheme|work=SBS World News|location=Australia|title=Abbott pledges parental leave scheme|access-date=5 June 2010|archive-date=16 May 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100516030835/http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/1209412/Abbott-pledges-parental-leave-scheme|url-status=dead}}

While Opposition Spokesman for Indigenous Affairs, Abbott spent time in remote Cape York Aboriginal communities as a teacher, organised through prominent indigenous activist Noel Pearson. Abbott repeatedly spoke of his admiration for Pearson, and in March 2010, introduced the Wild Rivers (Environmental Management) Bill to Parliament in support of Pearson's campaign to overturn the Queensland government's Wild Rivers legislation. Abbott and Pearson believed that the Queensland law would 'block the economic development' of indigenous land, and interfere with Aboriginal land rights.{{cite news|author=Karvelas, Patricia|url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/politics/coalition-leads-way-on-land-rights-says-pearson/story-e6frgczf-1225847691070|title=Coalition leads way on land rights, says Pearson|work=The Australian|date=31 March 2010|access-date=5 June 2010|archive-date=13 January 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120113144708/http://www.theaustralian.com.au/politics/coalition-leads-way-on-land-rights-says-pearson/story-e6frgczf-1225847691070|url-status=live}}

Abbott completed an Ironman Triathlon event in March 2010 at Port Macquarie, New South Wales. In April he set out on a 9-day charity bike ride between Melbourne and Sydney, the annual Pollie Pedal, generating political debate about whether he should have committed so much time to physical fitness.{{cite news|publisher=ABC News|title=Ironman Abbott crosses the finish line|year=2010|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/03/28/2858342.htm|access-date=28 March 2010|archive-date=29 March 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100329164221/http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/03/28/2858342.htm|url-status=dead}}{{cite news|work=The Courier-Mail|title=Tony Abbott won't change fitness regimen|year=2010|url=http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/national/tony-abbott-wont-change-fitness-regimen/story-e6freooo-1225845467909|access-date=28 March 2010|archive-date=23 January 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120123114527/http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/national/tony-abbott-wont-change-fitness-regimen/story-e6freooo-1225845467909|url-status=live}} Abbott described the events as an opportunity to "stop at lots of little towns along the way where people probably never see or don't very often see a federal member of Parliament."{{cite news|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/04/07/2865725.htm|title=Abbott sets off on Pollie Pedal|publisher=ABC News|date=7 April 2010|access-date=5 June 2010|archive-date=12 June 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100612172240/http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/04/07/2865725.htm|url-status=dead}}

In his first Budget reply speech as Opposition Leader, Abbott sought to portray the Rudd government's third budget as a "tax and spend" budget and promised to fight the election on the new mining "super-profits" tax proposed by Rudd.{{cite web|url=http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2010/s2899024.htm|work=Lateline|title=Abbott delivers budget reply|publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation|date=13 May 2010|access-date=5 June 2010|archive-date=29 May 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100529170510/http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2010/s2899024.htm|url-status=live}}{{cite web|last=Gillham|first=Alexis|url=http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/special-reports/tony-abbott-vows-to-abolish-mining-tax-in-budget-reply/story-fn5idf17-1225866279788|title=Tony Abbott vows to abolish mining tax in Budget reply, as Kevin Rudd attacks economic credentials|work=Herald Sun|date=14 May 2010|access-date=5 June 2010}}{{cite news|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/video/2010/05/13/2898983.htm|title=Tony Abbott's budget reply|publisher=ABC News|date=13 May 2010|access-date=5 June 2010}}

{{Main|2010 Australian federal election}}

On 24 June 2010, Julia Gillard replaced Kevin Rudd as Australian Labor Party leader and prime minister.{{Cite news|url=https://www.smh.com.au/national/gillard--becomes-australias-first-female-prime-minister-as-tearful-rudd-stands-aside-20100624-yzvw.html|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|first1=Phillip|last1=Coorey|first2=Tim|last2=Lester|title=Gillard becomes Australia's first female prime minister as tearful Rudd stands aside|date=24 June 2010|access-date=20 February 2020|archive-date=2 April 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200402134024/https://www.smh.com.au/national/gillard--becomes-australias-first-female-prime-minister-as-tearful-rudd-stands-aside-20100624-yzvw.html|url-status=live}} The replacement of a first-term prime minister was unusual in Australian political history and the Rudd-Gillard rivalry remained a vexed issue for the Gillard government into the 2010 election and its subsequent term. On 17 July, Gillard called the 2010 federal election for 21 August.{{Cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSSYU01029220100717|work=Reuters|title=Australian PM Gillard calls 21 August election|first=Balazs|last=Koranyi|date=17 July 2010|access-date=2 July 2017|archive-date=22 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201122173301/https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSSYU01029220100717|url-status=live}} Polls in the first week gave a view that Labor would be re-elected with an increased majority, with Newspoll and an Essential poll showing a lead of 10 points (55–45) two party preferred.{{cite news|url=http://www.news.com.au/features/federal-election/leaders-debate-verdict-tony-abbott-vs-julia-gillard-so-who-won/story-fn5a6dkp-1225896757237 |work=news.com.au |title=Leaders debate verdict: Tony Abbott vs Julia Gillard – so who won? |first=Lincoln |last=Archer |date=25 July 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100728073352/http://www.news.com.au/features/federal-election/leaders-debate-verdict-tony-abbott-vs-julia-gillard-so-who-won/story-fn5a6dkp-1225896757237 |archive-date=28 July 2010 }}

The two leaders met for one official debate during the campaign. Studio audience surveys by Channel 9 and Seven Network suggested a win to Gillard. Unable to agree on further debates, the leaders went on to appear separately on stage for questioning at community fora in Sydney and Brisbane. In Sydney on 11 August, Abbott's opening statement focused on his main election messages around government debt, taxation and asylum seekers. An exit poll of the Rooty Hill RSL audience accorded Abbott victory.{{cite news|author=Collerton, Sarah|date=12 August 2010|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/08/11/2980455.htm|title=Abbott named people's choice at Rooty Hill|publisher=ABC News|location=Australia|access-date=15 October 2010|archive-date=17 October 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101017234607/http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/08/11/2980455.htm|url-status=dead}} Gillard won the audience poll at Broncos Leagues Club meeting in Brisbane on 18 August.{{cite news|url=http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/federal-election/gillard-and-abbott-faceoff-at-brisbane-forum-20100819-12fef.html|title=Undecided Voters Question Abbott And Gillard in Brisbane|work=Brisbane Times|date=19 August 2010|access-date=15 October 2010|archive-date=22 September 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100922113513/http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/federal-election/gillard-and-abbott-faceoff-at-brisbane-forum-20100819-12fef.html|url-status=live}} Abbott appeared for public questioning on the ABC's Q&A program on 16 August.{{cite news|url=http://www.abc.net.au/tv/qanda/txt/s2978032.htm?show=panellists|title=Tony Abbott joins Q and A|work=Q & A|publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation|date=16 August 2010|access-date=15 October 2010|archive-date=18 August 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100818102902/http://www.abc.net.au/tv/qanda/txt/s2978032.htm?show=panellists|url-status=live}}

Labor and the Coalition each won 72 seats in the 150-seat House of Representatives,{{Cite news|url=https://www.smh.com.au/federal-election/72-all--brisbane-to-coalition-and-corangamite-to-alp-20100827-13w1r.html|title=72 all – Brisbane to Coalition and Corangamite to ALP|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|date=28 August 2010|access-date=30 August 2010|first=Tim|last=Colebatch|archive-date=29 August 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100829075418/http://www.smh.com.au/federal-election/72-all--brisbane-to-coalition-and-corangamite-to-alp-20100827-13w1r.html|url-status=live}} four short of the requirement for majority government, resulting in the first hung parliament since the 1940 election.{{cite news|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/08/21/2989767.htm|title=Voters leave Australia hanging|publisher=ABC News|date=21 August 2010|access-date=3 September 2010|archive-date=24 August 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100824054316/http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/08/21/2989767.htm|url-status=dead}}{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-11037486|title=Australia count begins after tight election race|work=BBC News|date=21 August 2010|access-date=21 June 2018|archive-date=15 September 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100915154616/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-11037486|url-status=live}}{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-11048968|title=Australia heads for hung parliament|date=21 August 2010|work=BBC News|access-date=21 August 2010|archive-date=21 August 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100821203313/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-11048968|url-status=live}}

Abbott and Gillard commenced a 17-day period of negotiation with crossbenchers over who would form government. On the crossbench, four independent members, one member of the National Party of Western Australia and one member of the Australian Greens held the balance of power.{{cite news|url=https://www.smh.com.au/federal-election/climate/its-good-to-be-greens-as-balance-of-power-tipped-20100717-10f4t.html|author1=Peatling, Stephanie|author2=Aston, Heath|title=It's good to be Greens, as balance of power tipped|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|date=18 July 2010|access-date=19 August 2010|archive-date=22 July 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100722054921/http://www.smh.com.au/federal-election/climate/its-good-to-be-greens-as-balance-of-power-tipped-20100717-10f4t.html|url-status=live}}{{cite news|url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/greens-set-to-grab-balance-of-power/story-fn59niix-1225893667815|author=Maher, Sid|title=Greens set to grab balance of power|work=The Australian|date=18 July 2010|access-date=19 August 2010|archive-date=11 August 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100811204037/http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/greens-set-to-grab-balance-of-power/story-fn59niix-1225893667815|url-status=live}} Following the negotiations, Gillard formed a minority government with the support of an Australian Greens MP and three independent MPs on the basis of confidence and supply. Another independent and the WA National gave their confidence and supply support to the Coalition, resulting in Labor holding a 76–74 tally of votes on the floor of the Parliament.{{Cite news|url=http://www.theage.com.au/federal-election/labor-over-the-line-windsor-and-oakeshott-hand-power-to-gillard-20100907-14you.html|location=Melbourne|work=The Age|title=Labor over the line: Windsor and Oakeshott hand power to Gillard|author=Davis, Mark|date=7 September 2010|access-date=9 September 2010|archive-date=8 September 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100908205658/http://www.theage.com.au/federal-election/labor-over-the-line-windsor-and-oakeshott-hand-power-to-gillard-20100907-14you.html|url-status=live}} The Coalition finished with 49.88 percent of the two party preferred vote,{{cite web|title=Two Party Preferred by State|url=http://vtr.aec.gov.au/HouseTppByState-15508.htm|work=Virtual Tally Room|publisher=Australian Electoral Commission|access-date=23 October 2010|date=29 September 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100923221759/http://vtr.aec.gov.au/HouseTppByState-15508.htm|archive-date=23 September 2010}} obtaining a national swing of around 2.6%.{{cite web|url=http://blogs.abc.net.au/antonygreen/2010/09/how-australia-voted.html|title=Antony Green's Election Blog: How Australia Voted|publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation|date=20 September 2010|access-date=26 April 2011|author=Green, Antony|author-link=Antony Green|archive-date=26 September 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110926153919/http://blogs.abc.net.au/antonygreen/2010/09/how-australia-voted.html|url-status=live}}

During negotiations, the Independents requested that both major parties' policies be costed by the apolitical Australian Treasury. The Coalition initially resisted the idea, citing concerns over Treasury leaks, however they eventually allowed the analysis. Treasury endorsed Labor's budget costings but projected that Coalition policies would add between $860 million and $4.5 billion to the bottom line over the next four years, rather than the $11.5 billion

projected by the Coalition.{{cite news|author=Collerton, Sarah|date=2 September 2010|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/09/01/3000068.htm|title=Treasury finds 'black hole' in Coalition costings|publisher=ABC News|location=Australia|access-date=15 October 2010|archive-date=17 October 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101017231552/http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/09/01/3000068.htm|url-status=dead}}{{cite news|author=Rodgers, Emma|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/08/26/2994071.htm|title=Where it's at: Independents' seven key demands|publisher=ABC News|location=Australia|access-date=26 April 2011|archive-date=28 June 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110628234802/http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/08/26/2994071.htm|url-status=dead}}{{cite news|last=Mark|first=David|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/09/03/3002314.htm|title=Independents stand firm in face of fear campaign|publisher=ABC News|location=Australia|date=3 September 2010|access-date=26 April 2011|archive-date=28 June 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110628234838/http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/09/03/3002314.htm|url-status=dead}} The close result was lauded by former prime minister John Howard, who wrote in 2010 that Abbott had shifted the dynamic of Australian politics after coming to the leadership in 2009 and "deserves hero status among Liberals".{{cite book|author=Howard, John|author-link=John Howard|title=Lazarus Rising|year=2010|page=652}}

Following the 2010 election, Abbott and his deputy, Julie Bishop, were re-elected unopposed as leaders of the Liberal Party.{{Cite news|url=http://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/national/julie-bishop-re-elected-as-liberal-deputy/story-e6frfku9-1225916600887|agency=Australian Associated Press|title=Liberal leaders re-elected unopposed|date=9 September 2010|access-date=8 March 2011|archive-date=19 January 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110119190413/http://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/national/julie-bishop-re-elected-as-liberal-deputy/story-e6frfku9-1225916600887|url-status=dead}} Abbott announced his shadow ministry on 14 September, with few changes to senior positions, but with the return of former leadership rival Malcolm Turnbull, whom he selected as Communications spokesman.{{cite news|url=http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/national/tony-abbott-promotes-malcolm-turnbull-in-new-shadow-ministry/story-e6frf7l6-1225922656775|title=Tony Abbott promotes Malcolm Turnbull in new shadow ministry|work=Herald Sun|date=14 September 2010|access-date=26 April 2011|archive-date=15 June 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110615023627/http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/national/tony-abbott-promotes-malcolm-turnbull-in-new-shadow-ministry/story-e6frf7l6-1225922656775|url-status=live}} Abbott announced that he wanted Turnbull to prosecute the Opposition's case against the Gillard government's proposed expenditure on a National Broadband Network.{{cite news|url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/recalled-malcolm-turnbull-to-bludgeon-labor-over-national-broadband-network/story-fn59niix-1225923040157|title=Recalled Malcolm Turnbull to bludgeon Labor over National Broadband Network|work=The Australian|date=15 September 2010|access-date=26 April 2011|first=Jennifer|last=Hewett|archive-date=6 November 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101106124308/http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/recalled-malcolm-turnbull-to-bludgeon-labor-over-national-broadband-network/story-fn59niix-1225923040157|url-status=live}}

Following the 2010–2011 Queensland floods, Abbott opposed plans by the Gillard government to impose a "flood levy" on taxpayers to fund reconstruction efforts. Abbott said that funding should be found within the existing budget.{{cite web|url=http://www.skynews.com.au/politics/article.aspx?id=574748&vId=|title=Sky News Australia|publisher=Skynews.com.au|access-date=26 June 2013|archive-date=3 November 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131103145816/http://www.skynews.com.au/politics/article.aspx?id=574748&vId=|url-status=live}} Abbott announced a proposal for a taskforce to examine further construction of dams in Australia to deal with flood impact and food security.{{cite news|url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/tony-abbotts-dam-solution-for-flooded-rivers/story-fn59niix-1225983272814|title=Tony Abbott's dam solution for flooded rivers|work=The Australian|date=7 January 2011|access-date=26 April 2011|first1=Sid|last1=Maher|first2=Jared|last2=Owens|archive-date=23 April 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110423032037/http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/tony-abbotts-dam-solution-for-flooded-rivers/story-fn59niix-1225983272814|url-status=live}}

In February 2011, Abbott criticised the Gillard government's handling of health reform and proposal for a 50–50 public hospitals funding arrangement with the states and territories, describing the revised Labor Party proposal as "the biggest surrender since Singapore".{{cite news|url=http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/1482887/Gillard-health-plan-'biggest-surrender-since-Singapore'|title=Abbott slams PM's hospital proposal|work=SBS World News|location=Australia|date=12 February 2011|access-date=26 April 2011|archive-date=11 August 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130811155418/http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/1482887/Gillard-health-plan-%27biggest-surrender-since-Singapore%27|url-status=dead}} Although Abbott had previously stated that he considered a carbon tax the best way to set a price on carbon,{{cite news|last=Hawker|first=Bruce|title=Abbott needs to understand balance|url=http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/politics/abbott-needs-to-understand-balance-20101014-16lpt.html|access-date=24 May 2013|newspaper=The Age|date=15 October 2010|location=Melbourne|archive-date=20 December 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101220033814/http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/politics/abbott-needs-to-understand-balance-20101014-16lpt.html|url-status=live}} he opposed Prime Minister Gillard's February 2011 announcement of a proposal for the introduction of a "carbon tax", and called on her to take the issue to an election. Abbott said that Gillard had lied to the electorate over the issue because Gillard and her Treasurer Wayne Swan had ruled out the introduction of a carbon tax in the lead up to the 2010 election.{{cite news|last=Farr|first=Malcolm|url=http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/national/tony-abbott-tells-julia-gillard-to-make-an-honest-womanof-herself-on-carbon-tax/story-e6frg15u-1226012034629|title=Tony Abbott tells Julia Gillard to 'make an honest womanof herself' on carbon tax|work=Perth Now|date=25 February 2011|access-date=26 April 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120419162922/http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/national/tony-abbott-tells-julia-gillard-to-make-an-honest-womanof-herself-on-carbon-tax/story-e6frg15u-1226012034629|archive-date=19 April 2012}}

In April 2011, Abbott proposed consultation with Indigenous people over a bipartisan Federal Government intervention in Northern Territory towns including Alice Springs, Katherine and Tennant Creek, which would cover such areas as police numbers and school attendance in an effort to address what he described as a "failed state" situation.{{cite news|url=http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2011/s3168978.htm|title=Abbott calls for new intervention in Alice Springs|work=AM|location=Australia|date=21 March 2011|access-date=26 April 2011|archive-date=24 April 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110424195031/http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2011/s3168978.htm|url-status=live}} April saw Abbott announce a $430 million policy plan to improve the employment prospects of people with serious mental health problems.{{cite news|url=http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2011/s3197378.htm|title=Abbott tries to take high ground on mental health|publisher=ABC News|date=21 April 2011|access-date=26 April 2011|archive-date=30 April 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110430051925/http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2011/s3197378.htm|url-status=live}}

Following the first Gillard government budget in May 2011, Abbott used his budget-reply speech to reiterate his critiques of government policy and call for an early election over the issue of a carbon tax.{{cite news|url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/budgets/full-text-of-tony-abbotts-budget-reply-speech/story-fn8gf1nz-1226054922105|first=Tony|last=Abbott|title=Full text of Tony Abbott's budget reply speech|date=12 May 2011|work=The Australian}} Rhetorically echoing Liberal party founder, Robert Menzies, Abbott addressed remarks to the "forgotten families".{{cite news|url=http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/special-reports/federal-budget-2011/story-fn8melax-1226054908287|title=Tony Abbott defends Budget response, as Julia Gillard rules out poll|work=Herald Sun|date=13 May 2011|access-date=7 March 2012}}

In June 2011, Abbott for the first time led Gillard in a Newspoll as preferred prime minister.{{cite news|url=http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/national/newspoll-shows-abbott-is-preferred-pm/story-e6freooo-1226083192406|title=Newspoll shows Abbott is preferred PM|work=Courier Mail|date=28 June 2011|access-date=7 March 2012|archive-date=24 February 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120224102828/http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/national/newspoll-shows-abbott-is-preferred-pm/story-e6freooo-1226083192406|url-status=live}} In September 2011, he announced a plan to develop an agricultural food bowl in the north of Australia by developing dams for irrigation and hydroelectricity. Coalition task force leader Andrew Robb claimed that Australia currently produced enough food for 60 million people, but that the Coalition plan could double this to 120 million people by 2040.{{cite news|url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/tony-abbotts-plan-for-northern-foodbowl/story-fn59niix-1226139412448|title=Tony Abbott's plan for northern foodbowl|work=The Australian|author=Maher, Sid|date=17 September 2011|access-date=18 September 2011|archive-date=18 September 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110918084047/http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/tony-abbotts-plan-for-northern-foodbowl/story-fn59niix-1226139412448|url-status=live}} The head of the Northern Australia Land and Water Taskforce expressed concerns about the economic and environmental viability of this plan as well as its effects on the indigenous Australian communities in northern Australia.{{cite news|last=Hind|first=Rick|title=Taskforce chief slams northern food bowl proposal|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-09-20/20110920northern-food-bowl-joe-ross/2907634|access-date=20 September 2011|publisher=ABC News|date=20 September 2011|archive-date=21 September 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110921065521/http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-09-20/20110920northern-food-bowl-joe-ross/2907634|url-status=live}}

Reflecting on indigenous issues on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy on Australia Day 2012, Abbott said that there had been many positive developments in indigenous affairs in recent decades including Rudd's apology and moves to include indigenous Australians in the Australian Constitution. Later that day, Abbott became the target of protesters from the "Embassy" after one of Gillard's advisers contacted a union official who advised Tent Embassy protesters of Abbott's whereabouts and misrepresented Abbott's views on Aboriginal affairs to them, saying he intended to "pull down" the embassy. A major security scare resulted, which was broadcast around the world, resulting in Gillard and Abbott being rushed to a government car amid a throng of security due to fears for their safety.{{cite news|url=http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2012/s3430890.htm|title=Footage gives fresh view of Australia Day protest|work=7.30|date=14 February 2012|access-date=7 March 2012|archive-date=18 March 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120318155652/http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2012/s3430890.htm|url-status=live}}

File:2012 Lake to Lagoon fun run begins.jpg, 2012]]

In an address to the National Press Club on 31 January 2012, Abbott outlined some of his plans for government if elected. These included an intent to live one week of every year in an indigenous Australian community, and to prune government expenditure and cut taxes. Abbott also announced "aspirational" targets for a disability insurance scheme and a subsidised dentistry program once the budget had been restored to "strong surplus".{{cite news|url=http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2012/s3420035.htm|title=Abbott outlines vision for Australia|publisher=ABC News|date=31 January 2012|access-date=7 March 2012|archive-date=14 December 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121214083355/http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2012/s3420035.htm|url-status=live}}

Abbott responded to the February 2012 Labor leadership crisis by criticising the cross bench independents for keeping Labor in power and renewed his calls for a general election to select the next prime minister of Australia.{{cite news|url=http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/opposition-leader-tony-abbott-says-an-election-is-the-best-way-out-of-labor-leadership-debacle/story-e6freon6-1226279539600|title=Opposition leader Tony Abbott says an election is the best way out of Labor leadership debacle|work=The Courier-Mail|date=23 February 2012|access-date=7 March 2012|archive-date=24 April 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120424193748/http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/opposition-leader-tony-abbott-says-an-election-is-the-best-way-out-of-labor-leadership-debacle/story-e6freon6-1226279539600|url-status=live}}

In criticising the Gillard government on foreign policy, Abbott said that "foreign policy should have a Jakarta rather than a Geneva focus".{{cite news|url=http://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/national/abbott-would-love-another-bali-holiday/story-e6frfku9-1226494726165|title=Abbott to meet Indonesia leader in Jakarta|work=News.com.au|date=12 October 2012|access-date=26 June 2013|archive-date=22 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190322144102/https://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/national/abbott-would-love-another-bali-holiday/story-e6frfku9-1226494726165|url-status=dead}} Following his attendance at the 10th anniversary commemoration of the Bali bombing in Bali, Abbott travelled to Jakarta with his Shadow Ministers for Foreign Affairs and Immigration for a meeting with Indonesian president Yudhoyono and Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa.{{cite news|url=http://www.antaranews.com/en/news/85032/president-yudhoyono-meets-australian-opposition-leader|title=President Yudhoyono meets Australian opposition leader|work=Antara News|date=4 November 1957|access-date=26 June 2013|archive-date=4 November 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131104161801/http://www.antaranews.com/en/news/85032/president-yudhoyono-meets-australian-opposition-leader|url-status=live}} Abbott promised a "no-surprises principle" for dealings with Indonesia. The presidential reception was an unusual occurrence for an opposition leader.{{cite news|last=Alford|first=Peter|title=Tony Abbott to promise Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono: no surprises on asylum policy|url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/tony-abbott-to-promise-susilo-bambang-yudhoyono-no-surprises-on-asylum-policy/story-fn59niix-1226495760056#mm-premium|access-date=16 September 2013|newspaper=The Australian|date=15 October 2012|archive-date=22 March 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140322154508/http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/tony-abbott-to-promise-susilo-bambang-yudhoyono-no-surprises-on-asylum-policy/story-fn59niix-1226495760056#mm-premium|url-status=live}}

In November 2012, Abbott launched his fourth book, A Strong Australia, a compilation of nine of his "landmark speeches" from 2012, including his budget reply and National Press Club addresses.{{cite news|author=Ireland, Judith|url=http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/political-news/abbott-launches-collection-of-speeches-20121128-2ad2j.html|title=Abbott launches collection of speeches|work=The Age|date=15 February 2012|access-date=26 June 2013|location=Melbourne}}

On 9 October 2012, Prime Minister Julia Gillard accused Tony Abbott of misogyny and hypocrisy in a speech to Parliament that gained international notice.{{Cite news|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/michelleking/2019/09/17/julia-gillard-australias-first-female-prime-minister-on-leadership-education-and-the-misogyny-speech/#58b56d6926d1|title=Julia Gillard, Australia's First Female Prime Minister On Leadership, Education And The Misogyny Speech|last=King|first=Michelle|date=September 17, 2019|work=Forbes|access-date=1 November 2019|archive-date=27 September 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190927052945/https://www.forbes.com/sites/michelleking/2019/09/17/julia-gillard-australias-first-female-prime-minister-on-leadership-education-and-the-misogyny-speech/#58b56d6926d1|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2020/feb/07/julia-gillard-misogyny-speech-voted-most-unforgettable-moment-in-australian-tv-history|title=Julia Gillard's misogyny speech voted 'most unforgettable' moment in Australian TV history|last=Harmon|first=Steph|date=February 7, 2020|work=The Guardian|access-date=7 February 2020|archive-date=7 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200207001351/https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2020/feb/07/julia-gillard-misogyny-speech-voted-most-unforgettable-moment-in-australian-tv-history|url-status=live}}

{{Main|Abbott government}}

File:Tony Abbott being sworn in by Quentin Bryce (1).jpg

At the federal election on 7 September 2013, Abbott led the Liberal-National coalition to victory over the incumbent Labor government, led by Kevin Rudd. Abbott and his ministry were sworn in on 18 September 2013.{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/07/australian-elections-2013-results-live|title=Australian elections 2013: Coalition wins - as it happened|work=The Guardian|first=Katharine|last=Murphy|date=7 September 2013|accessdate=12 September 2013|archive-date=9 April 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220409143031/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/07/australian-elections-2013-results-live|url-status=live}}{{cite news|url=http://www.aljazeera.com/news/asia-pacific/2013/09/20139182623513274.html|title=Abbott sworn in as Australia's PM|publisher=Al Jazeera|access-date=29 October 2013|archive-date=26 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200826111955/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/asia-pacific/2013/09/20139182623513274.html|url-status=live}} He was the subject of criticism for his decision to only include one woman, Deputy Liberal leader Julie Bishop, in his cabinet.{{cite web|url=https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/julie-bishop-tried-to-keep-a-straight-face-defending-abbott-s-male-dominated-cabinet-20210705-p58706.html|title=Julie Bishop 'tried to keep a straight face' defending Abbott's male-dominated cabinet|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|first=Nick|last=Bonyhady|date=5 July 2021|accessdate=8 July 2021|archive-date=29 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210829052647/https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/julie-bishop-tried-to-keep-a-straight-face-defending-abbott-s-male-dominated-cabinet-20210705-p58706.html|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/mar/05/julie-bishop-with-tony-abbott-minister-for-women-i-knew-we-had-some-way-to-go-on-equality|title=Julie Bishop: when Tony Abbott was minister for women I knew we had 'some way to go'|work=The Guardian|first=Amy|last=Remeikis|date=5 March 2019|accessdate=12 March 2019|archive-date=15 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220215203353/https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/mar/05/julie-bishop-with-tony-abbott-minister-for-women-i-knew-we-had-some-way-to-go-on-equality|url-status=live}}

On the first day of the new Parliament, Abbott introduced legislation into Parliament to repeal the Carbon Tax, and commenced Operation Sovereign Borders, the Coalition's policy to stop the maritime arrival of asylum seekers, which received strong public support.{{cite news|url=https://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/australians-want-boat-arrivals-treated-more-harshly-poll-20140108-30g97.html|title=Australians want boat arrivals treated more harshly: poll|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|date=8 January 2014|access-date=20 January 2014|archive-date=21 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220121053942/http://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/australians-want-boat-arrivals-treated-more-harshly-poll-20140108-30g97.html|url-status=live}}

Abbott announced a Royal Commission into trade union governance and corruption on 11 February 2014.{{cite news|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-02-10/government-announces-royal-commission-into-union-corruption/5249898|title=Prime Minister Tony Abbott announces royal commission to 'shine spotlight' on alleged union corruption|publisher=ABC News|date=11 February 2014|access-date=21 March 2014|archive-date=1 November 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161101020428/http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-02-10/government-announces-royal-commission-into-union-corruption/5249898|url-status=live}} This was followed by amendments to the Fair Work Act,{{cite news|url=https://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/former-labor-minister-martin-ferguson-backs-tony-abbotts-planned-changes-to-fair-work-act-20140227-33mgp.html|title=Former Labor minister Martin Ferguson backs Tony Abbott's planned changes to Fair Work Act|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|date=28 February 2014|access-date=21 March 2014|archive-date=12 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112024932/http://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/former-labor-minister-martin-ferguson-backs-tony-abbotts-planned-changes-to-fair-work-act-20140227-33mgp.html|url-status=live}} and a "Repeal Day", where more than 10,000 "red tape" regulations were repealed.{{cite news|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-03-19/red-tape-repeal-to-scrap-charities-watchdog/5330788|title='Red tape' repeal: Move to scrap charities watchdog, introduce changes to financial advice rules|newspaper=ABC News|date=20 March 2014|access-date=21 March 2014|archive-date=29 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201129161605/https://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-03-19/red-tape-repeal-to-scrap-charities-watchdog/5330788|url-status=live}}

As prime minister, Abbott oversaw free trade agreements signed with Japan, South Korea and China.{{cite web|url=http://www.dfat.gov.au/fta/kafta/|title=South Korea-Australia Economic Partnership Agreement|work=DFAT|location=Australia|access-date=29 September 2014|archive-date=4 January 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150104015508/http://www.dfat.gov.au/fta/kafta/|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=http://www.dfat.gov.au/fta/jaepa/|title=Japan-Australia Economic Partnership Agreement|work=DFAT|location=Australia|access-date=29 September 2014|archive-date=1 January 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150101010033/http://www.dfat.gov.au/fta/jaepa/|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-11-16/australia-looks-set-to-sign-a-free-trade-agreement-with-china/5895012|title=Free trade agreement: Dairy farmers set to be big winners in deal between Australia and China|publisher=ABC News|date=17 October 2014|access-date=17 October 2014|archive-date=28 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211028121425/https://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-11-16/australia-looks-set-to-sign-a-free-trade-agreement-with-china/5895012?nw=0&r=HtmlFragment|url-status=live}}

The Carbon Tax Repeal Bill passed both houses of Parliament on 17 July 2014 and the Mining Tax Repeal Bill passed both houses of Parliament on 2 September 2014 after negotiations with the Palmer United Party.{{cite web|url=https://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/carbon-tax-is-gone-repeal-bills-pass-the-senate-20140717-3c2he.html|title=Carbon tax is gone: Repeal bills pass the Senate|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|date=17 July 2014|access-date=29 September 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140903184956/http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/carbon-tax-is-gone-repeal-bills-pass-the-senate-20140717-3c2he.html|archive-date=3 September 2014}}{{cite web|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-09-02/government-strikes-mining-tax-deal-with-palmer-united-party/5713116|title=Mining tax repeal: Joe Hockey says $6.5 billion hit to budget bottom line is 'damn good deal' for Australians|publisher=ABC News|date=2 September 2014|access-date=29 September 2014|archive-date=24 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190324090321/https://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-09-02/government-strikes-mining-tax-deal-with-palmer-united-party/5713116|url-status=live}}

File:Abbott and Robb signing the Free Trade Agreement with Chinese President Xi and Minister for Commerce Gao Hucheng November 2014.jpg with president and Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping, November 2014]]

File:Secretary Kerry Greets Australia's Prime Minister Abbott (10152933465).jpg]]

The 2014 Australian federal budget, the Abbott government's first budget, delivered by Treasurer Joe Hockey, was criticised by the Opposition as "cruel" and "unfair" and a large number of budget saving measures were blocked by the crossbench in the Senate. Hockey and Abbott were both criticised for their inability to "sell" the necessity of the budget cuts to the cross bench or the public. Hockey was further criticised for several "out of touch" and "insensitive" comments in subsequent months, however, the prime minister continuously publicly backed the treasurer, refusing to replace him with a better performing minister.

On 25 March 2014, Abbott announced that he had advised the Queen to reinstate the knight and dame system of honours to the Order of Australia. Outgoing Governor-General Quentin Bryce and her successor, Peter Cosgrove, became the first recipients of the reinstated honours. On Australia Day 2015, Abbott announced that Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, the Queen's husband and a resident of the United Kingdom, would be appointed a Knight of the Order of Australia. This decision was widely criticised, including by members of the government, and fuelled speculation that the prime minister's leadership could be challenged. Abbott described the decision as a "captain's call", later admitting that he "probably overdid it on awards".{{cite web|title=Prince Philip gets controversial Australian knighthood |url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-04-23/prince-philip-gets-controversial-australian-knighthood/6414282|publisher=ABC News|date=23 March 2015|access-date=2 November 2015|archive-date=22 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180922104308/http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-04-23/prince-philip-gets-controversial-australian-knighthood/6414282|url-status=live}} On 2 November 2015, new prime minister Malcolm Turnbull announced that knights and dames had been removed from the Order of Australia, as "not appropriate in our modern honours system", although existing titles would not be affected.{{cite news|title=Malcolm Turnbull scraps Tony Abbott's Knights and Dames |url=https://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/malcolm-turnbull-scraps-tony-abbotts-knights-and-dames-20151101-gkodek.html|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|date=2 November 2015|access-date=2 November 2015 |archive-date=21 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211021101046/https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/malcolm-turnbull-scraps-tony-abbotts-knights-and-dames-20151102-gkodek.html|url-status=live}}{{cite news|title=Knights and dames removed from Order of Australia by Malcolm Turnbull|url=https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/nov/02/knights-and-dames-removed-from-order-of-australia-by-malcolm-turnbull|work=The Guardian|date=2 November 2015|access-date=2 November 2015|archive-date=16 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220116110221/https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/nov/02/knights-and-dames-removed-from-order-of-australia-by-malcolm-turnbull|url-status=live}}

{{Main|February 2015 Liberal Party of Australia leadership spill motion}}

On 6 February 2015, Liberal backbencher Luke Simpkins announced that he would move a motion, at a meeting of the party room, for a spill of the federal Liberal Party's leadership positions. Simpkins stated that such a motion would give Liberal members of parliament and senators the opportunity to either endorse the Prime Minister or "seek a new direction."{{cite web|title=Prime Minister to fight leadership spill motion by WA Liberal MP|url=https://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/26215571/wa-liberal-mp-to-move-spill-motion-against-tony-abbott|work=The West Australian|date=6 February 2015|access-date=2 November 2015|archive-date=23 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923180901/https://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/26215571/wa-liberal-mp-to-move-spill-motion-against-tony-abbott/|url-status=dead}} The meeting was held on 9 February 2015 and the spill motion was defeated by 61 votes to 39.{{cite news|title=Tony Abbott keeps leadership of Liberal Party but some supporters fear he is doomed|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-02-09/tony-abbott-keeps-liberal-leadership-failed-spill-motion/6079006|publisher=ABC News|date=9 February 2015|access-date=2 November 2015|archive-date=20 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150920144042/http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-02-09/tony-abbott-keeps-liberal-leadership-failed-spill-motion/6079006|url-status=live}} Both Malcolm Turnbull and deputy leader Julie Bishop were speculated to be considering a leadership run if the spill motion had succeeded.{{cite web|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-02-09/liberal-leadership-spill3a-as-it-happened/6079418|title=Liberal leadership spill: as it happened|publisher=ABC News|date=9 February 2015|access-date=14 September 2015|archive-date=21 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150921014057/http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-02-09/liberal-leadership-spill3a-as-it-happened/6079418|url-status=live}} Prime Minister Abbott described the leadership motion as a "near death experience" and declared that "good government starts today", promising to consult his colleagues more, to shy away from his so-called "captain's calls" and to reduce the role of his chief of staff Peta Credlin.{{cite news|title=Tony Abbott buys time after 'near death experience', vows to change|url=https://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/tony-abbott-buys-time-after-near-death-experience-vows-to-change-20150209-13a34q.html|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|date=9 February 2015|access-date=2 November 2015|archive-date=3 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171203004343/http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/tony-abbott-buys-time-after-near-death-experience-vows-to-change-20150209-13a34q.html|url-status=live}}

File:Announcement of ADF operations against ISIL by PM Abbott in Canberray.webm

Following the Île-de-France attacks, the Kuwait mosque bombing and the mass shooting in Sousse, Tunisia, Abbott announced that "Isis is at war with Australia."{{Cite news |date=2015-06-28 |title=Isis coming for us, says Tony Abbott after attacks – video |language=en-GB |work=the Guardian |url=http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/video/2015/jun/28/tony-abbott-terror-attack-france-tunisia-isis-daesh-coming-for-us-australia-video |access-date=2023-12-11 |issn=0261-3077 |archive-date=1 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230501120511/https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/video/2015/jun/28/tony-abbott-terror-attack-france-tunisia-isis-daesh-coming-for-us-australia-video |url-status=live }} Australia had already begun anti-terrorism measures against the group in 2014. However, by September, the Royal Australian Air Force was readying a wing of F/A-18E/F Super Hornets, along with an E-7A Wedgetail and KC-30, for operations in Eastern Syria, making strikes against Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.{{Cite web |last=ADBR |date=2015-09-09 |title=RAAF readies for operations over Syria within a week |url=https://adbr.com.au/raaf-readies-for-operations-over-syria-within-a-week/ |access-date=2023-12-11 |website=ADBR |language=en-US |archive-date=21 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211021041922/https://adbr.com.au/raaf-readies-for-operations-over-syria-within-a-week/ |url-status=live }} The Australian commitment, known as Operation Okra involved 400 personnel, came at the formal request of President Barack Obama. Australian forces integrated with British Armed Forces, United States Armed Forces and other coalition members within Operation Inherent Resolve. It is understood that Australia's air operations were complemented by operations of the 4 Squadron of the Australian Special Air Service Regiment.{{Cite web |last=Williams |first=Clive |date=2016-11-25 |title=After Mosul, time for a shift in Australia's strategic focus in Middle East |url=https://www.smh.com.au/opinion/after-mosul-time-for-a-shift-in-australias-strategic-focus-20161125-gsxw5i.html |access-date=2023-12-11 |website=The Sydney Morning Herald |language=en |archive-date=25 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221225051736/http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/after-mosul-time-for-a-shift-in-australias-strategic-focus-20161125-gsxw5i.html |url-status=live }}

In July 2015, Bronwyn Bishop, who had been successfully nominated by Abbott in November 2013 for the position of Speaker of the House, came under intense media scrutiny after details of her use of taxpayer-funded political entitlements were made public, including chartering a helicopter flight between Melbourne and Geelong to attend a Liberal party fundraiser. Abbott was criticised over his handling of the entitlements scandal as he allowed the controversy to drag on for weeks because of his refusal to sack the Speaker, a close friend and political mentor. Despite Abbott's support, Bishop resigned as Speaker on 2 August 2015.{{cite news|title=Choppergate: The prime minister feels heat after his hand-picked speaker quits|url=https://www.economist.com/news/asia/21660562-prime-minister-feels-heat-after-his-hand-picked-speaker-quits-choppergate|newspaper=The Economist|date=8 August 2015|access-date=2 November 2015|archive-date=22 November 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151122024912/http://www.economist.com/news/asia/21660562-prime-minister-feels-heat-after-his-hand-picked-speaker-quits-choppergate|url-status=live}}

During Abbott's prime ministership, Australian law continued to define marriage as a union of a man and a woman, while recognising same-sex couples as de facto couples in areas such as taxation law, social security law, immigration and superannuation, and Abbott did not support changing the law.{{cite web |url=http://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/pubs/BriefingBook43p/samesexmarriage |title=Same-sex marriage – Parliament of Australia |publisher=Aph.gov.au |date=12 October 2010 |access-date=22 August 2018 |archive-date=23 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180823042135/https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/pubs/BriefingBook43p/samesexmarriage |url-status=live }} During Abbott's time as opposition leader and prime minister, the position of the Labor Party and opinion polls shifted towards favouring same-sex marriage. Abbott determined that a national plebiscite, rather than a Parliamentary vote should settle the issue.{{cite web|url=https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/tony-abbott-flags-plebiscite-on-samesex-marriage-in-bid-to-defuse-anger-20150811-giwyg1.html|title=Tony Abbott flags plebiscite on same-sex marriage in bid to defuse anger|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|first=Judith|last=Ireland|date=11 August 2015|accessdate=13 August 2015|archive-date=27 February 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180227033053/https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/tony-abbott-flags-plebiscite-on-samesex-marriage-in-bid-to-defuse-anger-20150811-giwyg1.html|url-status=live}}

As an Opposition front bencher in 2008, Abbott wrote: "The love and commitment between two people of the same sex can be as strong as that between husband and wife... There is more moral quality in a relationship between two people devoted to each other for decades than in many a short-lived marriage. Still, however deeply affectionate or long lasting it may be, the relationship between two people of the same sex cannot be a marriage because a marriage, by definition, is between a man and a woman... Let's celebrate all strong relationships, whether they are between a man and a woman or between people of the same sex but let's be careful about describing every lasting sexual bond as a 'marriage'."{{cite news|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2008-05-09/31846|title=Not for Adam and Steve|newspaper=ABC News|date=9 May 2008|access-date=17 February 2016|archive-date=21 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160321052601/http://www.abc.net.au/news/2008-05-09/31846|url-status=live}} The First Rudd government and Gillard government held similar views (although the short-lived second Rudd government reversed Labor's position on the issue).{{cite web|url=http://www.perthnow.com.au/lifestyle/pm-kevin-rudd-says-no-to-gay-marriage/story-e6frg3pl-1225755944534|title=PM Kevin Rudd says no to gay marriage|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100325230650/http://www.perthnow.com.au/lifestyle/pm-kevin-rudd-says-no-to-gay-marriage/story-e6frg3pl-1225755944534|archive-date=25 March 2010}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/marriage-only-for-a-man-and-a-woman-julia-gillard/story-fn59niix-1226015624506|title=Marriage only for a man and a woman: Julia Gillard|access-date=4 September 2020|archive-date=13 May 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110513162135/http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/marriage-only-for-a-man-and-a-woman-julia-gillard/story-fn59niix-1226015624506|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/aug/11/kevin-rudd-pledges-same-sex-vote|title=Kevin Rudd pledges same-sex marriage bill in first 100 days if re-elected|work=The Guardian|first=Lenore|last=Taylor|date=11 August 2013|accessdate=12 August 2013|archive-date=7 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171007220134/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/aug/11/kevin-rudd-pledges-same-sex-vote|url-status=live}}

Abbott reaffirmed that he did not support changing the law to recognise same-sex marriage, and did not alter Coalition policy on the issue – however he permitted Coalition members to advocate for change if they felt strongly on the issue, and indicated that if a bill were to come before the new parliament, the Coalition party room would discuss its stance on the issue.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/society/2013/dec/13/tony-abbott-under-pressure-for-conscience-vote-on-gay-marriage|title=Tony Abbott under pressure for conscience vote on gay marriage|author=Hurst, Daniel|work=The Guardian|date=13 December 2013|access-date=9 January 2015|archive-date=23 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141223132907/http://www.theguardian.com/society/2013/dec/13/tony-abbott-under-pressure-for-conscience-vote-on-gay-marriage|url-status=live}} Opinion polls suggested growing support for change.{{cite web|url=https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/poll-shows-growing-support-for-samesex-marriage-20140714-3bxaj.html|title=Poll shows growing support for same-sex marriage|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|first=Lisa|last=Cox|date=15 July 2014|accessdate=16 July 2014|archive-date=25 February 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180225233645/https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/poll-shows-growing-support-for-samesex-marriage-20140714-3bxaj.html|url-status=live}} On 11 August 2015, after renewed debate about same-sex marriage in Australia, Abbott called a Coalition Party room vote and Coalition MPs voted against allowing a free vote on the issue 66 to 33.{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/aug/11/same-sex-marriage-coalition-party-room-rejects-free-vote-for-mps|title=Same-sex marriage: disappointment and anger as Coalition party room rejects free vote Some MPs|work=The Guardian|first=Daniel|last=Hurst|date=11 August 2015|accessdate=13 August 2015|archive-date=25 August 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150825180754/http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/aug/11/same-sex-marriage-coalition-party-room-rejects-free-vote-for-mps|url-status=live}} Some MPs said they were willing to cross the floor on the issue and Abbott was criticised by some pro-gay marriage Liberal MPs, including Christopher Pyne, for holding the vote in the Coalition party room, rather than the Liberal party room (as the inclusion of National Party votes decreased chances of a pro-change outcome).{{cite news|title=Liberal MP Warren Entsch to lead way with cross-party bill on same-sex marriage|url=http://mobile.news.com.au/lifestyle/relationships/liberal-mp-warren-entsch-to-lead-way-with-cross-party-bill-on-same-sex-marriage/story-fnet09p2-1227478518226A|work=news.com.au|date=12 August 2015|access-date=2 November 2015}}{{dead link|date=November 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} To settle the issue, Abbott proposed a plebiscite following the next election. Although he remained personally opposed to change, he said Parliament should respect the outcome of the national vote on the issue.{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2016/jan/30/tony-abbott-says-he-will-back-result-of-plebiscite-on-same-sex-marriage|title=Tony Abbott will back result of plebiscite on same-sex marriage|agency=Australian Associated Press|date=29 January 2016|work=The Guardian|access-date=13 December 2016|archive-date=19 September 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210919045406/https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2016/jan/30/tony-abbott-says-he-will-back-result-of-plebiscite-on-same-sex-marriage|url-status=live}} A national plebiscite regarding same-sex marriage would eventually be held in 2017, under the subsequent Turnbull government.{{cite web|url=http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/mf/1800.0|title=About: Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey|date=12 September 2017|work=Australian Bureau of Statistics|access-date=14 August 2021|archive-date=8 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171108204819/https://marriagesurvey.abs.gov.au/introduction|url-status=live}}

{{Main|September 2015 Liberal Party of Australia leadership spill}}

File:Tony abbott bust.jpg in the Ballarat Botanical Gardens]]

On 14 September 2015, Malcolm Turnbull, the Minister for Communications, resigned and stated his intention to challenge the Liberal Party leadership in a leadership spill. A party-room meeting held that evening saw Abbott defeated by Turnbull on a 54–44 vote.{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/live/2015/sep/14/tony-abbotts-leadership-under-pressure-as-mps-gather-politics-live|title=Liberal leadership spill: Malcolm Turnbull ousts Tony Abbott as Australian PM – as it happened|work=The Guardian|first1=Katharine|last1=Murphy|first2=Gabrielle|last2=Chan|date=14 September 2015|accessdate=17 September 2015|archive-date=15 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150915004315/http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/live/2015/sep/14/tony-abbotts-leadership-under-pressure-as-mps-gather-politics-live|url-status=live}} According to The Economist, Abbott was ousted due to poor opinion polling, lacklustre economic management, and involvement in several political gaffes and scandals.{{cite news|title=Turnbull's turn|url=https://www.economist.com/news/asia/21665053-yet-another-prime-minister-removed-and-assassin-malcolm-turnbull-promises|newspaper=The Economist|date=17 September 2015|access-date=2 November 2015|url-access=subscription|archive-date=13 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170913135408/https://www.economist.com/news/asia/21665053-yet-another-prime-minister-removed-and-assassin-malcolm-turnbull-promises|url-status=live}} In comments just after the result was announced, Turnbull praised Abbott for his "formidable achievements" as prime minister.{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-34245005|title=Australian PM Tony Abbott ousted by Malcolm Turnbull|work=BBC News|date=14 September 2015|accessdate=15 September 2015|archive-date=14 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150914212533/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-34245005|url-status=live}} By the time he was removed from premiership, Abbott was one of the most unpopular world leaders,{{cite web|url=https://theconversation.com/why-was-tony-abbott-so-unpopular-52438|title=Why was Tony Abbott so unpopular?|work=The Conversation|first=Gregory|last=Melleuish|date=7 January 2016|accessdate=9 January 2016|archive-date=9 January 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160109055612/http://theconversation.com/why-was-tony-abbott-so-unpopular-52438|url-status=live}}{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/05/22/how-australias-winking-tony-abbott-became-one-of-the-worlds-most-unpopular-prime-ministers/|title=How Australia's winking Tony Abbott became one of the world's most unpopular prime ministers|newspaper=The Washington Post|first=Terrence|last=McCoy|date=22 May 2014|access-date=7 December 2022|archive-date=8 December 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221208171554/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/05/22/how-australias-winking-tony-abbott-became-one-of-the-worlds-most-unpopular-prime-ministers/|url-status=live}} and he has been regarded by critics and political experts as one of Australia's worst prime ministers.{{cite web|url=https://lens.monash.edu/@politics-society/2021/08/04/1383572/who-were-australias-best-prime-ministers-we-asked-the-experts|title=Who were Australia's best prime ministers? We asked the experts|publisher=Monash University|first=Paul|last=Strangio|date=4 August 2021|accessdate=8 August 2021|archive-date=19 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211219041533/https://lens.monash.edu/@politics-society/2021/08/04/1383572/who-were-australias-best-prime-ministers-we-asked-the-experts|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://www.crikey.com.au/2020/09/04/tony-abbott-wit-wisdom/|title=For the Brits, here's the world according to Tony Abbott|publisher=Crikey|first=Bernard|last=Keane|date=4 September 2020|accessdate=10 September 2020|archive-date=7 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200907232629/https://www.crikey.com.au/2020/09/04/tony-abbott-wit-wisdom/|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://www.smh.com.au/opinion/is-tony-abbotts-regime-the-worst-federal-government-ever-20150804-giqtnx.html|title=Is Tony Abbott's regime the worst federal government ever?|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|first=Sally|last=Young|date=4 August 2015|accessdate=19 August 2015|archive-date=8 May 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180508135727/https://www.smh.com.au/opinion/is-tony-abbotts-regime-the-worst-federal-government-ever-20150804-giqtnx.html|url-status=live}}

After Malcolm Turnbull successfully challenged Abbott for the Liberal Party leadership in 2015, Abbott returned to the government backbench and pledged to remain in Parliament.{{cite news|last1=Glenday|first1=James|title=Tony Abbott intends to remain in Parliament after losing Liberal leadership to Malcolm Turnbull|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-09-16/tony-abbott-intends-to-remain-in-parliament/6781870|publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation|date=16 September 2015|access-date=16 September 2015|archive-date=17 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150917012425/http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-09-16/tony-abbott-intends-to-remain-in-parliament/6781870|url-status=live}} In a final media conference as prime minister, Abbott told reporters: "Leadership changes are never easy for our country. My pledge today is to make this change as easy as I can. There will be no wrecking, no undermining, and no sniping. I've never leaked or backgrounded against anyone. And I certainly won't start now [...] I am proud of what the Abbott government has achieved. We stayed focused despite the white-anting [...] The nature of politics has changed in the past decade. A febrile media culture has developed that rewards treachery. If there's one piece of advice I can give to the media, it's this: refuse to print self-serving claims that the person making them won't put his or her name to. Refuse to connive at dishonour by acting as the assassin's knife."{{cite news|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-09-15/tony-abbott-promises-no-wrecking-final-speech-pm/6777136|title=Tony Abbott promises 'no wrecking, no undermining' in final speech as prime minister|publisher=ABC News|date=16 September 2015|access-date=2 November 2015|archive-date=4 November 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151104021542/http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-09-15/tony-abbott-promises-no-wrecking-final-speech-pm/6777136|url-status=live}}

; Turnbull government

Malcolm Turnbull gave the former prime minister no portfolio in the new government. As a backbencher, he continued to defend the record of the Abbott government, and speak out on a range of issues. Following the November 2015 Paris attacks, he backed Egyptian president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi call for a "revolution in Islam" in a speech in Singapore, and told Sky News, "All of those things that Islam has never had — a Reformation, an Enlightenment, a well-developed concept of the separation of church and state — that needs to happen."[https://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-12-09/tony-abbott-defends-controversial-2014-budget/7012190 Tony Abbott calls for 'religious revolution' inside Islam, defends controversial 2014 budget measures as 'justifiable and right'] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220525022717/https://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-12-09/tony-abbott-defends-controversial-2014-budget/7012190 |date=25 May 2022 }}; abc.net.au; 9 December 2015 He defended the Abbott government's 2014 Budget measures and called on future prime ministers to follow his commitment to spending a week a year in indigenous communities. Abbott declared he would have won the 2016 Election.{{cite web|url=https://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/tony-abbott-i-would-have-won-the-next-election-20151208-glifg7.html|title=Tony Abbott: I would have won the next election|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|date=8 December 2015|access-date=11 February 2016|archive-date=10 February 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160210121617/http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/tony-abbott-i-would-have-won-the-next-election-20151208-glifg7.html|url-status=live}} In a December 2015 editorial, The Sydney Morning Herald accused Abbott of contradicting his undertaking that there would be "no undermining of Malcolm Turnbull".{{cite web|url=https://www.smh.com.au/comment/smh-letters/please-rid-us-of-this-troublesome-abbott-20151209-glj8jp.html|title=Abbott's sniping from the backbench is hardly noble|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|date=9 December 2015|access-date=11 February 2016|archive-date=7 January 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160107004242/http://www.smh.com.au/comment/smh-letters/please-rid-us-of-this-troublesome-abbott-20151209-glj8jp.html|url-status=live}}

On 24 January 2016, Abbott confirmed that he would stand for Liberal preselection for the Division of Warringah in the federal election.{{cite web|url=http://tonyabbott.com.au/2016/01/renomination-for-warringah|title=Renomination for Warringah|work=The Hon Tony Abbott MP|date=24 January 2016|access-date=11 February 2016|archive-date=9 February 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160209150534/http://tonyabbott.com.au/2016/01/renomination-for-warringah/|url-status=live}} He was re-elected with a small swing against him, matching the statewide swing against the Government.[http://vtr.aec.gov.au/HouseDivisionPage-20499-151.htm Warringah, NSW] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160705144946/http://vtr.aec.gov.au/HouseDivisionPage-20499-151.htm |date=5 July 2016 }}, 2016 Federal Election, Australian Electoral Commission. Retrieved 17 July 2016. Following his re-election, he voiced various concerns about the direction of the Turnbull government.{{cite web|url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/business-spectator/who-is-right-in-the-abbottturnbull-policy-wars/news-story/c66c5b862b9935dd5b896b1c5cf9fc10|title=Who is right in the Abbott-Turnbull policy wars?|access-date=2 February 2017}}{{cite web|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-01-30/government-defends-renewable-energy-target-tony-abbott-criticism/8222500|title=Government defends renewable energy target after Tony Abbott's renewed criticism|website=Australian Broadcasting Corporation|date=29 January 2017|access-date=2 February 2017|archive-date=1 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170201210652/http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-01-30/government-defends-renewable-energy-target-tony-abbott-criticism/8222500?|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/tony-abbott-ally-eric-abetz-critical-of-malcolm-turnbull-over-industrial-relations-20161021-gs87mp.html|title=Tony Abbott ally Eric Abetz critical of Malcolm Turnbull over industrial relations|date=21 October 2016|access-date=2 February 2017|archive-date=26 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161026192150/http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/tony-abbott-ally-eric-abetz-critical-of-malcolm-turnbull-over-industrial-relations-20161021-gs87mp.html|url-status=live}} In February 2017, he told a book launch that the Turnbull government was perceived by many conservatives as "Labor lite", and risked a "drift to defeat" at the upcoming election if it failed to improve its performance.[https://www.9news.com.au/national/tony-abbott-warns-coalition-it-will-lose-next-election/73778046-1008-432e-a1e7-43914323f264 Tony Abbott defends his criticisms of Turnbull government] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220525022717/https://www.9news.com.au/national/tony-abbott-warns-coalition-it-will-lose-next-election/73778046-1008-432e-a1e7-43914323f264 |date=25 May 2022 }}; 9News, Feb 24, 2017 Turnbull's ousting of Abbott had divided the Liberal Party rank and file and tensions continued in the parliamentary Party.[http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-10-10/liberal-party-owes-abbott-an-enormous-debt-turnbull-says/6843816 NSW Liberals groan as Malcolm Turnbull tells gathering party is not ruled by factions, new PM praises Tony Abbott] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220522232026/https://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-10-10/liberal-party-owes-abbott-an-enormous-debt-turnbull-says/6843816 |date=22 May 2022 }}; Australian Broadcasting Corporation; 10 October 2015[https://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/jeff-kennett-attacks-malcolm-turnbull-for-selfinterest-and-lack-of-courage-20160308-gne4e3.html Jeff Kennett attacks Malcolm Turnbull for 'self-interest' and lack of courage] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170827161328/http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/jeff-kennett-attacks-malcolm-turnbull-for-selfinterest-and-lack-of-courage-20160308-gne4e3.html |date=27 August 2017 }}; The Sydney Morning Herald; 9 March 2016[http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-04-04/kevin-andrews-says-remarks-on-leadership-ambitions-hypothetical/7298256 Kevin Andrews says remarks about challenging Turnbull for leadership 'hypothetical'] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220522232052/https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-04-04/kevin-andrews-says-remarks-on-leadership-ambitions-hypothetical/7298256 |date=22 May 2022 }}; Australian Broadcasting Corporation; 5 April 2016 Abbott said Turnbull supporters had plotted against him.[http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-06-26/tony-abbott-christopher-pyne-leadership-gay-marriage-disloyal/8651080 Tony Abbott lashes out at Christopher Pyne over leaked leadership, same-sex marria] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220525022720/https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-06-26/tony-abbott-christopher-pyne-leadership-gay-marriage-disloyal/8651080 |date=25 May 2022 }}; www.abc.net.au; 26/6/17[http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/opinion/andrew-bolt/andrew-bolt-christopher-pyne-drops-malcolm-turnbulls-plan-for-liberals-on-samesex-marriage/news-story/70a2379eee43dc0a13395cfb3c3dcf1f Andrew Bolt: Christopher Pyne drops Malcolm Turnbull's plan for Liberals on same-sex marriage]; http://www.heraldsun.com.au {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080705230854/http://heraldsun.com.au/ |date=5 July 2008 }}; 26/7/17

In the lead up to the 2017 postal survey on same sex marriage, Abbott campaigned for the retention of the status quo.[https://www.smh.com.au/opinion/tony-abbott-on-why-same-sex-marriage-would-fundamentally-change-society-20170912-gyfi4f.html Tony Abbott on why same sex marriage would fundamentally change society] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220525022717/https://www.smh.com.au/opinion/tony-abbott-on-why-same-sex-marriage-would-fundamentally-change-society-20170912-gyfi4f.html |date=25 May 2022 }}; smh.com.au, Sept 13, 2017 During the campaign, Abbott was headbutted in Hobart by protester Astro Labe, who was sentenced to six months imprisonment.{{cite news|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-09-21/tony-abbott-headbutted-by-ssm-supporter-in-hobart/8970658|title=SSM: Tony Abbott 'headbutted' by man wearing 'Vote Yes' badge in Hobart|date=22 September 2017|publisher=ABC News|access-date=22 September 2017|archive-date=21 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170921155814/http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-09-21/tony-abbott-headbutted-by-ssm-supporter-in-hobart/8970658|url-status=live}}{{cite news|url=http://www.skynews.com.au/news/top-stories/2017/09/22/tony-abbott-headbutted-in-hobart.html|title=Abbott headbutted in Hobart|date=22 September 2017|publisher=Sky News|access-date=22 September 2017|archive-date=22 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170922013153/http://www.skynews.com.au/news/top-stories/2017/09/22/tony-abbott-headbutted-in-hobart.html|url-status=dead}}{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-42727068|title=Tony Abbott head-butt: Attacker pleads guilty in court|work=BBC News|date=18 January 2018|access-date=1 March 2018|archive-date=22 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180122193445/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-42727068|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url= https://www.9news.com.au/national/2018/04/09/14/47/hobart-dj-astro-labe-sentenced-to-six-months-jail-for-headbutting-tony-abbott|title= Hobart DJ Astro Labe jailed for headbutting former PM Tony Abbott|work= Examiner.com.au|date= 9 April 2018|access-date= 10 April 2018|archive-date= 11 April 2018|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180411025709/https://www.9news.com.au/national/2018/04/09/14/47/hobart-dj-astro-labe-sentenced-to-six-months-jail-for-headbutting-tony-abbott|url-status= live}}{{cite web|url= https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/jan/18/hobart-dj-admits-he-head-butted-former-prime-minister-tony-abbott|title= Tasmanian DJ Astro Labe admits he head-butted former prime minister Tony Abbott|website= TheGuardian.com|date= 18 January 2018|access-date= 16 March 2018|archive-date= 16 March 2018|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180316152015/https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/jan/18/hobart-dj-admits-he-head-butted-former-prime-minister-tony-abbott|url-status= live}} Following the "yes" vote in the plebiscite, Abbott said he accepted the result, and that the matter was settled.

In October 2015, The Australian reported that a "poll of 1631 voters shows 62 per cent of Australians believe the Liberal Party did the right thing" in ousting Abbott.{{cite web|url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/latest-news/poll-shows-voters-back-dumping-abbott/news-story/efa901a95adfa6893e0a9c3e8c131fda|title=Poll shows voters back dumping Abbott|work=The Australian|author=Australian Associated Press|date=12 October 2015|access-date=11 November 2016|url-access=subscription}} Abbott was returned as the Member for Warringah at the subsequent election, but the Coalition's majority in the House of Representatives was reduced from 29 seats to one seat. In April 2018, the now-elected Turnbull government reached the 30-consecutive-Newspoll-losses benchmark Turnbull had used to unseat Abbott.[https://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/newspoll/prime-minister-malcolm-turnbull-hits-30-straight-newspoll-losses/news-story/386d5f79a71c6de3184bc60f6b225399 Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull hits 30 straight Newspoll losses]; www.theaustralian.com.au; 18 April 2018 Turnbull resigned after losing the support of the Party in room during the Liberal leadership spills of 2018. Abbott supported Peter Dutton in the leadership vote. Following the election of Scott Morrison as party leader, Abbott said the Coalition now had a better chance of re-election in the upcoming poll, telling the Centre for Independent Studies: "I am confident, given the ministerial appointments that he's made, that there will be better policy, there will be a united party, and there will be a sharper difference with our opponents."[https://www.9news.com.au/national/dutton-was-a-reluctant-challenger-abbott/8a8dbb44-2f14-4edb-9529-2bbdcb8c04e3 Dutton was a reluctant challenger: Abbott] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220525022718/https://www.9news.com.au/national/dutton-was-a-reluctant-challenger-abbott/8a8dbb44-2f14-4edb-9529-2bbdcb8c04e3 |date=25 May 2022 }}; 9News.com.au, aug 27, 2018

; Morrison government

Following Turnbull's resignation, Abbott was appointed as Prime Minister Scott Morrison's Special Envoy on Indigenous Affairs, with a brief to focus on indigenous school attendance and performance.{{cite news |title=PM offers Tony Abbott special envoy for indigenous affairs role |url=https://www.9news.com.au/2018/08/27/08/11/scott-morrison-tony-abbott-indigenous-affairs-barnaby-joyce-politics |access-date=26 September 2018 |work=www.9news.com.au |archive-date=26 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180926052023/https://www.9news.com.au/2018/08/27/08/11/scott-morrison-tony-abbott-indigenous-affairs-barnaby-joyce-politics |url-status=live }}{{cite news |author1=Australian Associated Press |title=Tony Abbott accepts job as special envoy on Indigenous affairs |url=https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/aug/29/tony-abbott-accepts-job-as-special-envoy-on-indigenous-affairs |work=the Guardian |date=29 August 2018 |language=en |access-date=25 May 2022 |archive-date=22 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220522232037/https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/aug/29/tony-abbott-accepts-job-as-special-envoy-on-indigenous-affairs |url-status=live }} Abbott presented his first report to Parliament as Special Envoy in December 2018.[https://www.sbs.com.au/nitv/nitv-news/article/2018/12/06/tony-abbott-calls-parent-fines-boost-indigenous-school-attendance https://www.sbs.com.au/nitv/nitv-news/article/2018/12/06/tony-abbott-calls-parent-fines-boost-indigenous-school-attendance] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220526080303/https://www.sbs.com.au/nitv/nitv-news/article/2018/12/06/tony-abbott-calls-parent-fines-boost-indigenous-school-attendance |date=26 May 2022 }}; www.sbs.com.au; 6 Dec 2018 He recommended increasing substantially the salary supplements and the retention bonuses for teachers in very remote areas; waiving HECS debt of longer term teachers in very remote schools; incentives for communities to adopt debit card arrangements; an extension of the Remote School Attendance Strategy, with more local school buy-in and engagement; extension of the Good to Great Schools program that has reintroduced phonics and disciplined learning for further evaluation and emulation; and that the government should match the Australian Indigenous Education Foundation's private and philanthropic funding on an ongoing basis.[http://tonyabbott.com.au/2018/12/indigenous-uplift-begins-class-heres-canberra-can-help/ INDIGENOUS UPLIFT BEGINS IN CLASS: HERE'S HOW CANBERRA CAN HELP] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220629164851/https://tonyabbott.com.au/2018/12/indigenous-uplift-begins-class-heres-canberra-can-help/ |date=29 June 2022 }}; first published in The Australian; 8 December 2018

On 18 May 2019, during the federal election, Abbott lost his seat of Warringah to independent candidate and former Olympic skier Zali Steggall, marking the first time the seat had been lost by the Liberals and their predecessors since its creation in 1922.{{Cite web|url=https://tallyroom.aec.gov.au/HouseDivisionPage-24310-151.htm|title=Australian Electoral Commission summary of Warringah|date=18 May 2019|website=Australian Electoral Commission|access-date=18 May 2019|archive-date=18 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190518100644/https://tallyroom.aec.gov.au/HouseDivisionPage-24310-151.htm|url-status=live}} Steggal ran as a pro-climate action candidate and her campaign won extensive media coverage and the backing of the left wing GetUp! lobby group. Abbott went into the election holding Warringah on a two party preferred margin of 61 percent. However, he lost over 12 percent of his primary vote from 2016, and finished over 4,100 votes behind Steggall on the first preference count and over 13,000 after preferences were distributed - losing by 57.2% to 42.8%.{{cite web |title=Warringah (Key Seat) |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/elections/federal/2019/guide/warr |first=Antony |last=Green |author-link=Antony Green |work=Australia votes |publisher=ABC News |access-date=19 May 2019 |archive-date=18 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190518211613/https://www.abc.net.au/news/elections/federal/2019/guide/warr |url-status=live }} Abbott had won the seat at nine elections and served 25 years as the Member for Warringah.

Abbott has been on the board of the Ramsay Centre for Western Civilisation since 2016. In 2019 he was appointed to the board of the Australian War Memorial.{{Cite web |title=Tony Abbott AC |url=https://www.foxcorporation.com/management/board-of-directors/tony-abbott-ac/ |access-date=2023-11-21 |website=Fox Corporation |language=en-US |archive-date=21 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231121051929/https://www.foxcorporation.com/management/board-of-directors/tony-abbott-ac/ |url-status=live }}

On 4 September 2020, Abbott was appointed as an adviser to the UK'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". The role involves advising on the negotiation of international trade deals for the UK, but it was reported that Abbott would not be involved in advising the government on the country's Brexit process. He will be joined on the board by other senior political figures, including Patricia Hewitt, a former UK Secretary of State for Health, Daniel Hannan, a former Member of the European Parliament, and Linda Yueh, a writer and broadcaster. News of the appointment prompted UK Opposition politicians to question his suitability for the job because of comments previously made by Abbott about climate change, women and same-sex marriage. Boris Johnson, the UK's Prime Minister, said that he could not agree with the views of everyone in his government, but that Abbott had been elected as prime minister by that "great, liberal democratic nation of Australia" which he said "speaks for itself".{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-54027762|title=Abbott appointed to UK trade adviser role|work=BBC News|date=4 September 2020|access-date=4 September 2020|archive-date=4 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200904180138/https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-54027762|url-status=live}}

After the death of Senator Jim Molan,{{Cite web |date=2023-01-16 |title=Liberal senator Jim Molan dies aged 72 after 'sudden' decline in health |url=https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/jan/17/liberal-senator-jim-molan-dies-aged-72-after-sudden-decline-in-health |access-date=2023-01-22 |website=the Guardian |language=en |archive-date=9 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230209011506/https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/jan/17/liberal-senator-jim-molan-dies-aged-72-after-sudden-decline-in-health |url-status=live }} former Victorian Liberal president Michael Kroger in an interview with Sky News Australia suggested the idea of Abbott taking Molan's Senate seat.{{Cite web |date=2023-01-18 |title=Calls from Liberal stalwart for Tony Abbott to return to parliament via senate |url=https://thewest.com.au/politics/federal-politics/calls-from-liberal-stalwart-for-tony-abbott-to-return-to-parliament-via-senate-c-9490388 |access-date=2023-01-22 |website=The West Australian |language=en |archive-date=22 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230122110019/https://thewest.com.au/politics/federal-politics/calls-from-liberal-stalwart-for-tony-abbott-to-return-to-parliament-via-senate-c-9490388 |url-status=live }} Opposition Leader Peter Dutton told ABC News that there was ''no question Tony Abbott would be an asset" but also stated that "there will be many other candidates who are very credible as well".{{Cite web |date=2023-01-19 |title=Liberals jostle for Molan's Senate seat with call for Tony Abbott to fill spot |url=https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/jan/19/liberals-jostle-for-molans-senate-seat-with-call-for-tony-abbott-to-fill-spot |access-date=2023-01-22 |website=the Guardian |language=en |archive-date=22 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230122110013/https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/jan/19/liberals-jostle-for-molans-senate-seat-with-call-for-tony-abbott-to-fill-spot |url-status=live }} Ultimately, Abbott was not selected for the Senate vacancy.

In February 2023, Abbott joined the board of UK think-tank Global Warming Policy Foundation which is known for its climate change scepticism.{{cite news |author=Graham Readfearn |date=2023-02-07 |title=Former Australian PM Tony Abbott joins board of UK climate sceptic thinktank |newspaper=The Guardian |agency= |url=https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/feb/07/former-australian-pm-tony-abbott-joins-board-climate-sceptic-thinktank-global-warming-policy-foundation |access-date=2023-04-18 |quote= |archive-date=18 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230418063223/https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/feb/07/former-australian-pm-tony-abbott-joins-board-climate-sceptic-thinktank-global-warming-policy-foundation |url-status=live }}

As of July 2023, he holds the role of a Senior Advisor at New Direction, a think tank affiliated with the European Conservatives and Reformists Party in the European Parliament.{{Cite web |title=About |url=https://newdirection.online/about |access-date=2023-07-11 |website=New Direction |archive-date=3 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230703054938/https://newdirection.online/about |url-status=live }}

In November 2023, Abbott was appointed to a board seat at Fox Corporation. His nomination came the day after Rupert Murdoch announced his retirement.{{Cite news |date=2023-09-23 |title=Former prime minister Tony Abbott nominated for Fox Corporation board of directors |language=en-AU |work=ABC News |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-09-23/tony-abbott-nominated-for-fox-corporation-board-of-directors/102893364 |access-date=2023-11-21 |archive-date=21 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231121051517/https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-09-23/tony-abbott-nominated-for-fox-corporation-board-of-directors/102893364 |url-status=live }}

Abbott is a member of the National Right faction of the Liberal Party.{{cite web | url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-02-10/warringah-motion-fails-to-pass/9419172 | title=Tony Abbott's Warringah motion for more conservative control in NSW Liberals fails to pass - ABC News | website=Australian Broadcasting Corporation | access-date=30 March 2023 | archive-date=30 March 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230330222908/https://amp.abc.net.au/article/9419172 | url-status=live }}

The term "Abbottism" has been coined by several media outlets to refer to his political ideology.{{cite web | url=https://thediplomat.com/2015/09/last-rites-of-abbottism-australian-bureaucrats-internal-security-confusion/ | title=Last Rites of 'Abbottism:' Australian Bureaucrats' Internal Security Confusion | access-date=30 March 2023 | archive-date=30 March 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230330222911/https://thediplomat.com/2015/09/last-rites-of-abbottism-australian-bureaucrats-internal-security-confusion/ | url-status=live }}{{cite web | url=https://www.pngattitude.com/2013/09/abbottism-our-regions-new-foreign-policy-force.html | title=Abbottism: Our region's new foreign policy tenet | access-date=30 March 2023 | archive-date=30 March 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230330222911/https://www.pngattitude.com/2013/09/abbottism-our-regions-new-foreign-policy-force.html | url-status=live }}{{cite web | url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/feb/04/strong-social-movements-are-the-future-of-political-change-not-just-parties | title=Strong social movements are the future of political change, not just parties |website=TheGuardian.com | access-date=30 March 2023 | archive-date=30 March 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230330224408/https://amp.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/feb/04/strong-social-movements-are-the-future-of-political-change-not-just-parties | url-status=live }}{{cite web | url=https://www.afr.com/politics/wyatt-roy-wants-to-bring-silicon-valleys-aussie-mafia-home-20150921-gjrff3 | title=Wyatt Roy wants to bring Silicon Valley's 'Aussie mafia' home | date=21 September 2015 | access-date=30 March 2023 | archive-date=30 March 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230330222906/https://www.afr.com/politics/wyatt-roy-wants-to-bring-silicon-valleys-aussie-mafia-home-20150921-gjrff3 | url-status=live }}{{cite web | url=https://www.smh.com.au/public-service/malcolm-turnbull-sticks-with-the-programme--or-does-he-20160201-gmj3jd.html | title=Malcolm Turnbull sticks with the 'programme' ... Or does he? | date=February 2016 | access-date=30 March 2023 | archive-date=30 March 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230330222911/https://amp.smh.com.au/public-service/malcolm-turnbull-sticks-with-the-programme--or-does-he-20160201-gmj3jd.html | url-status=live }} Abbottism has been compared to several other eponymous political ideologies, namely Hansonism (the views of Pauline Hanson){{cite web | url=https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/abbott-rejects-economic-hansonism-tag/sdb8wi79s | title=Abbott rejects 'economic Hansonism' tag | access-date=30 March 2023 | archive-date=30 March 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230330223738/https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/abbott-rejects-economic-hansonism-tag/sdb8wi79s | url-status=live }} and Trumpism (the views of Donald Trump).{{cite news | url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/may/30/what-if-australia-already-had-its-trump-moment-and-it-was-tony-abbott | title=What if Australia already had its 'Trump moment' – and it was Tony Abbott? | newspaper=The Guardian | date=30 May 2017 | last1=Lewis | first1=Peter | access-date=30 March 2023 | archive-date=30 March 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230330230917/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/may/30/what-if-australia-already-had-its-trump-moment-and-it-was-tony-abbott | url-status=live }}

Abbott has an active interest in indigenous affairs.{{cite web|url=http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2013/s3717026.htm|title=Tony Abbott promises a new engagement with Indigenous Australians|publisher=ABC News|date=15 March 2013|access-date=26 June 2013|archive-date=23 May 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130523203428/http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2013/s3717026.htm|url-status=live}} As Opposition Leader, Abbott promised to prioritise indigenous affairs. As prime minister, Abbott reformed the administration of the portfolio, moving it into the Department of Prime Minister.{{cite news|url=http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2013/09/16/indigenous-affairs-single-portfolio-under-abbott-ministry|title=Indigenous Affairs a Single Portfolio under Abbott|publisher=SBS World News|location=Australia|date=16 September 2013|access-date=24 January 2014|archive-date=29 October 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029192040/http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2013/09/16/indigenous-affairs-single-portfolio-under-abbott-ministry|url-status=live}}

As Health Minister, Abbott established the Nurse Family Partnership to improve conditions for indigenous youth. As Opposition Leader, he worked with Cape York Aboriginal activist Noel Pearson, volunteered as a teacher in remote Aboriginal Communities and gave a commitment to continue to live one week a year in such communities if elected prime minister.{{cite web|url=https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/fact-checker-coalition-leader-tony-abbotts-bush-jaunts-make-him-almost-a-local-20130825-2sjzo.html|title=Fact checker: Coalition leader Tony Abbott's bush jaunts make him almost a local|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|first1=Peter|last1=Martin|first2=Jonathan|last2=Pearlman|date=26 August 2013|accessdate=29 August 2013|archive-date=4 February 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190204130336/https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/fact-checker-coalition-leader-tony-abbotts-bush-jaunts-make-him-almost-a-local-20130825-2sjzo.html|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-11-07/week-every-year-in-indigenous-community-promise-check/5696364?nw=0|title=Promise check: Spend a week every year in an Indigenous community|work=ABC News (Australia)|date=6 November 2014|accessdate=6 November 2014|archive-date=24 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201024184902/https://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-11-07/week-every-year-in-indigenous-community-promise-check/5696364?nw=0|url-status=live}} In contrast to his mentor John Howard, Abbott praised Rudd's National Apology to the Stolen Generation.{{cite news|author=Murphy, Katharine|url=https://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/abbott-puts-aside-pugilism-to-set-a-new-moral-course-20130217-2el5z.html|title=Abbott Supports Indigenous Australians in Constitution|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|access-date=26 June 2013|archive-date=1 May 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130501172954/http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/abbott-puts-aside-pugilism-to-set-a-new-moral-course-20130217-2el5z.html|url-status=live}}

While the Coalition and Labor were engaged in negotiations with crossbenchers to obtain minority government in 2010, Noel Pearson lobbied Rob Oakeshott to back Abbott.{{cite news|url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/greens-alliance-threatens-aboriginal-wellbeing-pearson/story-e6frg6nf-1225915026201|title=Greens alliance threatens Aboriginal wellbeing: Noel Pearson|author=Patricia Karvelas|work=The Australian|date=7 September 2010|access-date=23 February 2013|archive-date=21 January 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110121002517/http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/greens-alliance-threatens-aboriginal-wellbeing-pearson/story-e6frg6nf-1225915026201|url-status=live}} Rising to support the passage of the Gillard government's historic Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples Recognition Bill through the House of Representatives in 2013, Abbott said:{{cite web|url=http://australianpolitics.com/2013/02/13/act-of-recognition-passes-house-of-representatives.html|title=Act of Recognition Passes in House of Representatives|publisher=AustralianPolitics.com|date=13 February 2013|access-date=26 June 2013|archive-date=6 November 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151106231401/http://australianpolitics.com/2013/02/13/act-of-recognition-passes-house-of-representatives.html|url-status=live}}

{{blockquote|Australia is a blessed country. Our climate, our land, our people, our institutions rightly make us the envy of the earth, except for one thing—we have never fully made peace with the First Australians. This is the stain on our soul that Prime Minister Keating so movingly evoked at Redfern 21 years ago. We have to acknowledge that pre-1788 this land was as Aboriginal then as it is Australian now. Until we have acknowledged that we will be an incomplete nation and a torn people … So our challenge is to do now in these times what should have been done 200 or 100 years ago to acknowledge Aboriginal people in our country's foundation document. In short, we need to atone for the omissions and for the hardness of heart of our forebears to enable us all to embrace the future as a united people.}}

In November 2012, Abbott flew to Alice Springs to back Aboriginal Country Liberal Party (CLP) MLA Alison Anderson to run in the federal seat of Lingiari and to become the first Indigenous woman to enter Parliament.{{cite news|url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/more-authentic-aboriginal-mps-needed-tony-abbott-says/story-fn59niix-1226515871824|title=Abbott wants 'authentic' outback Aborigines in Coalition with Wyatt|work=The Australian|date=13 November 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121113035841/http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/more-authentic-aboriginal-mps-needed-tony-abbott-says/story-fn59niix-1226515871824|archive-date=13 November 2012|url-status=dead}} Anderson eventually did not run as the CLP candidate for Lingiari in the 2013 federal election.

In August 2015, he rejected the request of Aboriginal leaders Patrick Dodson and Noel Pearson for the federal government to fund a series of Indigenous-only conventions on the wording for the referendum, citing concerns it could be potentially divisive.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/aug/03/tony-abbott-rejects-proposal-to-hold-indigenous-conventions-on-recognition|title=Tony Abbott rejects proposal to hold Indigenous conventions on recognition|author1=Helen Davidson|author2=Shalailah Medhora|work=The Guardian|date=3 August 2015|access-date=9 August 2015|archive-date=18 August 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150818061312/http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/aug/03/tony-abbott-rejects-proposal-to-hold-indigenous-conventions-on-recognition|url-status=live}}

Abbott opposed the Indigenous Voice to Parliament in the 2023 referendum, arguing it would divide Australians.{{Cite web |last=Visentin |first=Lisa |date=2023-05-01 |title=Abbott attacks Voice as Indigenous leader pushes for compromise |url=https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/abbott-attacks-voice-as-indigenous-leader-pushes-for-compromise-20230501-p5d4j1.html |access-date=2023-11-23 |website=The Sydney Morning Herald |language=en |archive-date=23 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231123093205/https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/abbott-attacks-voice-as-indigenous-leader-pushes-for-compromise-20230501-p5d4j1.html |url-status=live }} Abbott served on the advisory board of Advance Australia, a conservative lobby group supporting the No campaign against the Voice.{{Cite web |date=2023-07-06 |title=Tony Abbott says the Voice "reinforces the separatism which is at the heart of Indigenous disadvantage" |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-07-06/tony-abbott-says-the-voice-%E2%80%9Creinforces-the/102573128 |access-date=2023-11-23 |website=www.abc.net.au |language=en-AU |archive-date=23 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231123093205/https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-07-06/tony-abbott-says-the-voice-%E2%80%9Creinforces-the/102573128 |url-status=live }}

Abbott supports the Australian monarchy.{{cite news|url=http://www.abc.net.au/tv/qanda/txt/s2859473.htm|title=Tony Abbott on Q and A|publisher=ABC News|location=Australia|date=5 April 2010|access-date=8 September 2013|archive-date=17 September 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130917193113/http://www.abc.net.au/tv/qanda/txt/s2859473.htm|url-status=live}} Before entering parliament, he worked as the Executive Director of Australians for Constitutional Monarchy from 1993 to 1994.{{cite web|url= http://www.tonyabbott.com.au/Pages/Media/AboutTony.aspx|title= Biography: Tony Abbott MHR|publisher= Tonyabbott.com.au|access-date= 5 June 2010|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080720044406/http://www.tonyabbott.com.au/Pages/Media/AboutTony.aspx|archive-date= 20 July 2008}}

In March 2014, Abbott advised the Queen to reintroduce the grade of Knight/Dame to the Order of Australia, without discussing it in the Cabinet{{cite news|author=Owens, Jared|title=Tony Abbott living in the past by restoring knights and dames, say critics|url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/tony-abbott-living-in-the-past-by-restoring-knights-and-dames-say-critics/story-fn59niix-1226865060765|work=The Australian|date=26 March 2014|access-date=29 March 2014|archive-date=26 March 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140326104308/http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/tony-abbott-living-in-the-past-by-restoring-knights-and-dames-say-critics/story-fn59niix-1226865060765|url-status=live}} and despite stating in December 2013 that he did not plan to do so.{{cite news

|author=Knott, Matthew

|title=Tony Abbott reintroduces knight and dame honours for Australians

|url=https://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/tony-abbott-reintroduces-knight-and-dame-honours-for-australians-20140325-35fzo.html

|work=The Sydney Morning Herald

|date=25 March 2014

|access-date=20 February 2020

|archive-date=19 August 2017

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170819133106/http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/tony-abbott-reintroduces-knight-and-dame-honours-for-australians-20140325-35fzo.html

|url-status=live

}} The Fraser government initially introduced the grade of Knight/Dame of the Order of Australia in 1976; the Hawke government discontinued it in 1986.

Before becoming opposition leader, Abbott initially supported proposals by Liberal leaders Howard and Turnbull to introduce floating prices to reduce carbon emissions, but also expressed some doubts as to the science and economics underlying such initiatives. In 2009, Abbott announced his opposition to Turnbull's support for the Rudd government's Emissions Trading Scheme proposal, and successfully challenged Turnbull for the Liberal leadership, chiefly over this issue.{{cite web|url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2009-10-04/abbott-backs-turnbull-despite-climate-science/1090932|title=Abbott backs Turnbull despite climate science doubts|work=ABC News (Australia)|date=4 October 2009|accessdate=11 October 2009|archive-date=30 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161030013504/http://www.abc.net.au/news/2009-10-04/abbott-backs-turnbull-despite-climate-science/1090932|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://www.smh.com.au/environment/turnbull-blasts-abbotts-bullshit-climate-change-stance-20091207-kdn5.html|title=Turnbull blasts Abbott's 'bullshit' climate change stance|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|first=Ari|last=Sharp|date=7 December 2009|accessdate=9 December 2009|archive-date=13 December 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091213010852/http://www.smh.com.au/environment/turnbull-blasts-abbotts-bullshit-climate-change-stance-20091207-kdn5.html?|url-status=live}} As Opposition Leader, Abbott declared that he accepted that climate change was real and that humans were having an impact on it, but rejected carbon pricing as a means to address the issue, proposing instead to match the Labor government's 5% emissions reduction target through implementation of a plan involving financial incentives for emissions reductions by industry, and support for carbon storage in soils and expanded forests.{{cite web|last=Mclennan |first=David |url=http://www.canberratimes.com.au/news/local/news/general/abbott-announces-emissions-plan/1740219.aspx |title=Abbott announces emissions plan – Local News – News – General |work=The Canberra Times|date=2 February 2010 |access-date=5 June 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100206014003/http://www.canberratimes.com.au/news/local/news/general/abbott-announces-emissions-plan/1740219.aspx |archive-date=6 February 2010 }} On the eve of the 2013 election, Abbott told the ABC:{{cite news|url=http://www.abc.net.au/insiders/content/2012/s3838363.htm|title=Tony Abbott joins Insiders|work=Insiders|publisher=ABC TV|format=streaming video|date=1 September 2013|access-date=13 September 2013|archive-date=8 September 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130908011914/http://www.abc.net.au/insiders/content/2012/s3838363.htm|url-status=live}}

{{blockquote|[J]ust to make it clear... I think that climate change is real, humanity makes a contribution. It's important to take strong and effective action against it, and that is what our direct action policy does. … The important thing is to take strong and effective action to tackle climate change, action that doesn't damage our economy. And that is why the incentive-based system that we've got, the direct action policies, which are quite similar to those that president Obama has put into practice, is – that's the smart way to deal with this, a big tax is a dumb way to deal with it.|Abbott on ABC TV Insiders prior to 2013 election.}}

Before becoming opposition leader in November 2009, Abbott questioned the science of climate change and an ETS. In November 2009, Abbott outlined his objections to the Rudd government's carbon pricing plan on the ABC's Lateline program. Upon becoming Leader of the Opposition, Abbott put the question of support for the Government's Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS) to a secret ballot and the Liberal Party voted to reject the policy – overturning an undertaking by Turnbull to support an amended version of the government's scheme. Under Abbott, the Coalition joined the Greens and voted against the CPRS in the Senate, and the bill was defeated twice, providing a double dissolution trigger.{{cite news|url=http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2010/s2883294.htm|title=Rudd puts ETS on backburner|date=27 April 2010|publisher=ABC News|location=Australia|access-date=5 June 2010|archive-date=29 June 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100629211454/http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2010/s2883294.htm|url-status=live}} The Rudd government eventually deferred its CPRS legislation until 2013.

With Abbott as opposition leader, the Liberal party opposed a carbon emissions tax and an Emissions Trading Scheme.{{cite news|url=http://au.news.yahoo.com/election/a/-/article/7497150/the-liberal-party-of-australia/|title=The Liberal Party of Australia|work=Yahoo!7|date=30 June 2010|access-date=15 October 2010|archive-date=24 July 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100724213410/http://au.news.yahoo.com/election/a/-/article/7497150/the-liberal-party-of-australia/|url-status=live}} Abbott predicted in March 2012 that the Gillard government's carbon tax would be the world's "biggest".{{cite press release|last=Abbott|first=Tony|title=The Carbon Tax: 100 days to go|date=23 March 2012|url=http://www.tonyabbott.com.au/LatestNews/PressReleases/tabid/86/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/8642/The-Carbon-Tax-100-Days-to-Go.aspx|work=Official Web Site|publisher=Tony Abbott|access-date=20 June 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120718065428/http://www.tonyabbott.com.au/LatestNews/PressReleases/tabid/86/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/8642/The-Carbon-Tax-100-Days-to-Go.aspx|archive-date=18 July 2012}} A January 2013 OECD report on taxation of energy use measured Australia's effective tax rate on carbon at 1 July 2012 as among the lower rates in the OECD.{{cite web|title=Figure 1|url=http://www.oecd.org/ctp/tax-policy/TaxingEnergyUse_ExecutiveSummary.pdf|work=Taxing Energy Use – A Graphical Analysis|publisher=OECD|access-date=20 June 2013|archive-date=3 November 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131103172600/http://www.oecd.org/ctp/tax-policy/TaxingEnergyUse_ExecutiveSummary.pdf|url-status=live}} In July 2011, Abbott criticised the proposed powers of the government's carbon tax regulator.{{cite web|title=Interview with John Laws, Radio 2SM and Super Radio Network|url=http://www.tonyabbott.com.au/News/tabid/94/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/8177/Interview-with-John-Laws-Radio-2SM-and-Super-Radio-Network.aspx|work=Tony Abbott Official Website|publisher=Tony Abbott|date=7 July 2011|access-date=24 May 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130812193758/http://www.tonyabbott.com.au/News/tabid/94/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/8177/Interview-with-John-Laws-Radio-2SM-and-Super-Radio-Network.aspx|archive-date=12 August 2013}}{{cite news|last=Kelly|first=Joe|title=Tony Abbott says 'draconian' carbon cop force will chase 'invisible' substance|url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/carbon-cop-handed-tough-new-powers/story-fn59niix-1226104093046|access-date=24 May 2013|newspaper=The Australian|date=29 July 2011|archive-date=14 February 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150214145446/http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/carbon-cop-handed-tough-new-powers/story-fn59niix-1226104093046|url-status=live}}{{cite news|last=Gordon|first=Michael|title=He says, she says in a faux election campaign|url=http://www.theage.com.au/national/he-says-she-says-in-a-faux-election-campaign-20110715-1hhx3.html|access-date=24 May 2013|newspaper=The Age|date=16 July 2011|location=Melbourne|archive-date=7 December 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131207191851/http://www.theage.com.au/national/he-says-she-says-in-a-faux-election-campaign-20110715-1hhx3.html|url-status=live}}

In October 2017, Abbott spoke in London at the Global Warming Policy Foundation, a climate-skeptic lobby group, where he described climate change as "probably doing good; or at least, more good than harm."{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/oct/10/tony-abbott-says-climate-change-is-probably-doing-good|title=Tony Abbott says climate change is 'probably doing good'|last=Mathiesen|first=Karl|date=9 October 2017|work=The Guardian|access-date=4 February 2019|issn=0261-3077|archive-date=4 February 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190204065830/https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/oct/10/tony-abbott-says-climate-change-is-probably-doing-good|url-status=live}}{{cite news|url=https://www.news.com.au/national/politics/tony-abbott-tells-climate-sceptics-forum-global-warming-may-be-good-and-climate-science-is-crap/news-story/dc42c5598f4c63e0e9689d6eacaf3b07|title=Tony Abbott: Global warming may be good climate science is 'crap'|work=news.com.au|access-date=4 February 2019|archive-date=4 February 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190204065912/https://www.news.com.au/national/politics/tony-abbott-tells-climate-sceptics-forum-global-warming-may-be-good-and-climate-science-is-crap/news-story/dc42c5598f4c63e0e9689d6eacaf3b07|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-10-10/real-tony-abbott-emerges-in-london-climate-change-speech/9034684|title=The real Tony Abbott emerges in incendiary climate change speech|author=Andrew Probyn|date=10 October 2017|publisher=ABC News|access-date=4 February 2019|archive-date=8 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180908081125/http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-10-10/real-tony-abbott-emerges-in-london-climate-change-speech/9034684|url-status=live}} He argued that higher concentrations of carbon dioxide act as "plant food" and "are actually greening the planet and helping to lift agricultural yields."

On 15 December 2019, he claimed that the world was "in the grip of a climate cult".{{cite news |last1=Readfearn |first1=Graham |title=Tony Abbott, former Australian PM, tells Israeli radio the world is 'in the grip of a climate cult' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/jan/03/tony-abbott-former-australian-pm-tells-israeli-radio-the-world-is-in-the-grip-of-a-climate-cult |access-date=3 January 2020 |work=The Guardian |date=3 January 2020 |archive-date=3 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200103042509/https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/jan/03/tony-abbott-former-australian-pm-tells-israeli-radio-the-world-is-in-the-grip-of-a-climate-cult |url-status=live }}

Abbott opposed the legislation of same-sex marriage in Australia. Abbott is an opponent of embryonic stem cell research and euthanasia.{{Cite news|url=https://www.smh.com.au/news/national/should-australia-legalise-euthanasia--ba-hrefhttpwwwsmhcomaupollsnationalformhtmlbpollbab/2009/02/03/1233423223176.html|title=Plain speaking and brute experience|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|date=4 February 2009|access-date=5 June 2010|archive-date=9 June 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090609192103/http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/should-australia-legalise-euthanasia--ba-hrefhttpwwwsmhcomaupollsnationalformhtmlbpollbab/2009/02/03/1233423223176.html|url-status=live}} He supports the right for women to have an abortion.{{Cite episode|title=The Authentic Mr Abbott|url=http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/content/2010/s2842861.htm|series=Four Corners|series-link=Four Corners|credits=Jackson, Liz|network=ABC TV|airdate=15 March 2010|transcript-url=http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/content/2010/s2846485.htm|transcript=Transcript|access-date=12 May 2010|archive-date=16 May 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100516013750/http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/content/2010/s2842861.htm|url-status=live}}{{cite news|url=http://sixtyminutes.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=1020354|title=The Contender|work=60 Minutes|publisher=ninemsn.com.au|date=5 March 2010|access-date=15 October 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100413235856/http://sixtyminutes.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=1020354|archive-date=13 April 2010}}{{cite web|url=http://www.tonyabbott.com.au/LatestNews/ArticleswrittenbyTony/tabid/87/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/3607/PARLIAMENT-BEST-FORUM-FOR-RU486-DECISION.aspx|title=Parliament Best Forum for RU486 Decision|author=Abbott, Tony|date=6 February 2006|access-date=15 October 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130308051601/http://www.tonyabbott.com.au/LatestNews/ArticleswrittenbyTony/tabid/87/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/3607/PARLIAMENT-BEST-FORUM-FOR-RU486-DECISION.aspx|archive-date=8 March 2013}}{{cite news|url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/opinion/abbotts-crusade-to-woo-women-voters/story-e6frg6zo-1225817485857|first=Peter|last=van Onselen|date=9 January 2010|access-date=25 September 2010|work=The Australian|title=Abbott's crusade to woo women voters|archive-date=26 February 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190226200702/https://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/opinion/abbotts-crusade-to-woo-women-voters/story-e6frg6zo-1225817485857|url-status=live}} As Health Minister, he tried, but failed, to block the introduction of the abortion pill RU-486.{{cite news|url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/abbott-denies-he-will-change-abortion-law/story-fn59niix-1225903169056|title=Abbott denies he will change abortion law|work=The Australian|access-date=10 February 2011|first=Nicola|last=Berkovic|date=10 August 2010|archive-date=11 April 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110411044030/http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/abbott-denies-he-will-change-abortion-law/story-fn59niix-1225903169056|url-status=live}} As Health Minister, Abbott advocated for reducing the number of abortions performed each year as a national priority, and referred to abortion as the "easy way out".{{cite web|url=https://www.theage.com.au/national/abortion-rate-a-tragedy-says-abbott-20040317-gdxibx.html|title=Abortion rate a tragedy, says Abbott|work=The Age|author=Australian Associated Press|date=17 February 2004|accessdate=23 September 2011|archive-date=11 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181111225010/https://www.theage.com.au/national/abortion-rate-a-tragedy-says-abbott-20040317-gdxibx.html|url-status=live}} Abbott opposed allowing the introduction of embryonic stem cell research or therapeutic cloning in a conscience vote.{{cite news|url=http://www.theage.com.au/news/science/abbott-opposes-call-to-relax-cloning-laws/2005/09/29/1127804597157.html|title=Abbott opposes call to relax cloning laws|author=Evans, Chris|agency=Australian Associated Press|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|date=29 August 2005|access-date=28 November 2007|location=Melbourne|archive-date=17 November 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071117070911/http://www.theage.com.au/news/science/abbott-opposes-call-to-relax-cloning-laws/2005/09/29/1127804597157.html|url-status=live}}

In his 2009 book Battlelines, Abbott proposed that consideration should be given to a return to an optional at-fault divorce agreement between couples who would like it, similar to the Matrimonial Causes Act, which would require spouses to prove offences like adultery, habitual drunkenness, cruelty, desertion, or a five-year separation before a divorce would be granted.{{Cite news|title=Abbott's divorce proposal 'ludicrous'|url=http://abc.gov.au/news/stories/2009/07/14/2625441.htm|publisher=ABC News|location=Australia|date=14 July 2009|access-date=29 November 2009|archive-date=9 July 2012|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120709055647/http://abc.gov.au/news/stories/2009/07/14/2625441.htm|url-status=live}} Abbott said that this would be a way of "providing additional recognition to what might be thought of as traditional marriage".{{Cite news|url=https://www.smh.com.au/national/battlelines-are-drawn-with-a-nod-to-family-tradition-20090711-dgp1.html|title=Battlelines are drawn with a nod to family tradition|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|date=12 July 2009|access-date=5 June 2010|first=Josh|last=Gordon|archive-date=15 August 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090815020450/http://www.smh.com.au/national/battlelines-are-drawn-with-a-nod-to-family-tradition-20090711-dgp1.html|url-status=live}}

Early on in his prime ministership, the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly passed the Marriage Equality (Same Sex) Act 2013, a bill to allow same-sex couples to legally marry.{{cite news|url=http://www.news.com.au/national/act-legalises-samesex-marriage/story-fncynjr2-1226744362166|title=ACT legalises same-sex marriage|publisher=news.com|date=22 October 2013|access-date=20 January 2014|archive-date=12 July 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140712070609/http://www.news.com.au/national/act-legalises-samesex-marriage/story-fncynjr2-1226744362166|url-status=dead}} Abbott announced that the federal government would challenge this decision in the High Court.{{cite news|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-10-22/ommonwealth-to-launch-challenge-over-act-same-sex-marriage-laws/5037674|title=Commonwealth to launch High Court challenge over ACT same-sex marriage laws|publisher=ABC News|location=Australia|date=23 October 2013|access-date=20 January 2014|archive-date=26 January 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140126185045/http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-10-22/ommonwealth-to-launch-challenge-over-act-same-sex-marriage-laws/5037674|url-status=live}} The case was heard on 3 December. Nine days later, on 12 December, the High Court gave judgement that the Same Sex Act would be dismantled as it clashed with the Federal Marriage Act 1961.{{cite news|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-12-12/high-court-decision-on-act-same-sex-marriage-laws/5152168|title=High Court throws out ACT's same-sex marriage laws|publisher=ABC News|location=Australia|date=13 December 2013|access-date=20 January 2014|archive-date=12 December 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131212090159/http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-12-12/high-court-decision-on-act-same-sex-marriage-laws/5152168|url-status=live}} When the Marriage Amendment (Definition and Religious Freedoms) Act 2017, which posed the question of whether same-sex couples should be able to marry, was presented to members of parliament, Abbott abstained from voting.{{cite news |last1=Bourke |first1=Latika |last2=Ireland |first2=Judith |title=Same-sex marriage: Tony Abbott, Barnaby Joyce, Scott Morrison and the other MPs who didn't vote 'yes' or 'no' |url=https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/samesex-marriage-tony-abbott-barnaby-joyce-scott-morrison-and-the-other-mps-who-didnt-vote-yes-or-no-20171207-h00kwo.html |access-date=25 August 2018 |work=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=8 December 2017 |language=en |archive-date=24 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180824162530/https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/samesex-marriage-tony-abbott-barnaby-joyce-scott-morrison-and-the-other-mps-who-didnt-vote-yes-or-no-20171207-h00kwo.html |url-status=live }}{{cite web|url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-11-14/same-sex-marriage-if-the-survey-says-yes-how-will-your-mp-vote/9104112?nw=0|title=Australia has said Yes, so how will your MP vote on a same-sex marriage bill in Parliament?|work=ABC News (Australia)|first=Louise|last=Yaxley|date=15 November 2017|accessdate=18 November 2017|archive-date=18 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200718113749/https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-11-14/same-sex-marriage-if-the-survey-says-yes-how-will-your-mp-vote/9104112?nw=0|url-status=live}} Ultimately, same-sex marriage would be passed into law in December 2017.{{cite web|url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-12-08/same-sex-marriage-legal-after-gg-approval/9239334|title=Same-sex marriage signed into law by Governor-General, first weddings to happen from January 9|work=ABC News (Australia)|first=Louise|last=Yaxley|date=8 December 2017|accessdate=12 December 2017|archive-date=11 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171211091703/http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-12-08/same-sex-marriage-legal-after-gg-approval/9239334|url-status=live}}

Abbott supported Peter Dutton's call to give "special treatment" to white South African farmers seeking asylum.{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/mar/19/tony-abbott-backs-peter-duttons-call-for-visas-for-white-south-african-farmers|title=Tony Abbott backs Peter Dutton's call for visas for white South African farmers|first=Paul|last=Karp|date=19 March 2018|website=The Guardian|access-date=22 August 2018|archive-date=4 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181004033551/https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/mar/19/tony-abbott-backs-peter-duttons-call-for-visas-for-white-south-african-farmers|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://www.9news.com.au/national/2018/03/19/13/33/tony-abbott-backs-call-to-offer-white-south-african-farmers-refuge|title=Tony Abbott backs call to give white South African farmers refuge|website=9news.com.au|date=19 March 2018|access-date=22 August 2018|archive-date=23 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180823010709/https://www.9news.com.au/national/2018/03/19/13/33/tony-abbott-backs-call-to-offer-white-south-african-farmers-refuge|url-status=live}}

Abbott was opposed to a majority Fibre-to-the-Home (FttH) National Broadband Network (NBN). In 2010, as Leader of the Opposition, Abbott stated that he would "ferociously" hold the Labor government to account over what he believed to be "a white elephant on a massive scale" and would "demolish" the NBN.{{cite news |url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2010-09-14/abbott-orders-turnbull-to-demolish-nbn/2260320 |first=Emma |last=Rodgers |date=14 September 2010 |title=Abbott orders Turnbull to demolish NBN |work=ABC News |access-date=12 February 2017 |archive-date=5 March 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170305062612/http://www.abc.net.au/news/2010-09-14/abbott-orders-turnbull-to-demolish-nbn/2260320 |url-status=live }}[https://www.smh.com.au//breaking-news-national/turnbull-back-to-demolish-nbn-20100914-15aj3.html AAP, (14 September 2010), Turnbull back to 'demolish' NBN, Sydney Morning Herald] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171216104917/http://www.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/turnbull-back-to-demolish-nbn-20100914-15aj3.html |date=16 December 2017 }}. Retrieved 29 July 2010

In 2010, Abbott argued that an LTE network could meet Australia's future broadband needs, with "a tower on every street corner".{{Cite web|url=https://www.crikey.com.au/2010/08/16/coalition-broadband-a-wireless-tower-in-every-street/|title=Coalition broadband: a wireless tower in every street|date=16 August 2010|website=Crikey|access-date=4 September 2020|archive-date=7 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200807220125/https://www.crikey.com.au/2010/08/16/coalition-broadband-a-wireless-tower-in-every-street/|url-status=live}}

In 2011, he called for the NBN to be scrapped entirely with funding diverted to assist with recovery efforts following the Queensland floods, stating "The National Broadband Network is a luxury that Australia cannot now afford. The one thing you don't do is redo your bathroom when your roof has just been blown off."{{cite news |url=https://www.smh.com.au/technology/scrap-nbn-to-pay-for-floods-abbott-20110118-19uzt.html |date=18 January 2011 |title=Scrap NBN to pay for floods: Abbott |work=The Sydney Morning Herald |access-date=10 December 2019 |archive-date=10 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191210000821/https://www.smh.com.au/technology/scrap-nbn-to-pay-for-floods-abbott-20110118-19uzt.html |url-status=live }}

With Malcolm Turnbull as Shadow Minister for Communications and Broadband, the Liberal/National Coalition proposed an alternative - The Multi-Technology Mix (MTM), which heavily utilised Fibre to the Node (FttN) technology - in the lead up to the 2013 Australian federal election. Abbott said that if elected, all Australians would have access to a minimum broadband speed of 25 Mbit/s by the end of their first term of government. They promised download speeds between 25 and 100 Mbit/s by the end of 2016 and 50 to 100 Mbit/s by 2019, with the rollout completed by the end of 2019.{{cite news |url=https://www.news.com.au/national/communications-minister-stephen-conroy-rubbishes-the-coalitions-broadband-policy/news-story/f30964c78a9ab564293010008fffc366 |first=Lanai |last=Scarr |date=11 October 2013 |title=Tony Abbott promises cheaper and faster alternative to NBN |work=news.com.au |access-date=10 December 2019 |archive-date=10 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191210000817/https://www.news.com.au/national/communications-minister-stephen-conroy-rubbishes-the-coalitions-broadband-policy/news-story/f30964c78a9ab564293010008fffc366 |url-status=live }}

Abbott called the AUKUS (Australia, United Kingdom and United States) defence pact, which is directed at countering Chinese power in the Indo-Pacific region, "the biggest decision that any Australian government has made in decades" as "it indicates that we are going to stand shoulder to shoulder with the United States and the United Kingdom in meeting the great strategic challenge of our time, which obviously, is China".{{cite news |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-09-16/aukus-china-foreign-ministry-condemns-agreement-abbott-rudd/100468900 |title=China condemns AUKUS pact as Tony Abbott calls China a 'common danger' and Kevin Rudd urges caution |last1=Dalzell |first1=Stephanie |work=ABC News |date=16 September 2021 |archive-date=16 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210916125140/https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-09-16/aukus-china-foreign-ministry-condemns-agreement-abbott-rudd/100468900 |url-status=live }} Abbott said that Australia would be safer as a result, and cited China's increasing naval firepower as a justification for the deal.

Abbott strongly supports the de jure recognition of Taiwan as an independent nation. In 2021, Abbott attended a regional forum hosted in Taipei and met with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen. During a speech, he stated that he wants to help Taiwan end its isolation from global affairs and reaffirmed Australia's solidarity with the country amid increasing tensions with China.{{cite news | url=https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/oct/16/mr-abbott-goes-to-taiwan-an-unofficial-message-of-australian-solidarity | title=Mr Abbott goes to Taiwan: An unofficial message of Australian solidarity? | newspaper=The Guardian | date=15 October 2021 | last1=Hurst | first1=Daniel }}{{cite web | url=https://www.smh.com.au/world/asia/tony-abbott-in-taipei-says-it-s-time-to-end-taiwan-s-isolation-20211007-p58y4m.html | title=Tony Abbott, in Taipei, says it's time to end Taiwan's isolation | date=7 October 2021 }} In the speech, he also referred to China as a "bully" and Chinese President Xi Jinping as "the new red emperor".{{cite web | url=https://www.9news.com.au/national/tony-abbott-in-taiwan-speech-takes-aim-at-china/fcfb368e-8128-4df0-89ed-224ab6818d69 | title=Tony Abbott takes aim at China in strongly worded speech in Taiwan | date=8 October 2021 }} Chinese officials highly criticised Abbott's visit and speech,{{cite web | url=https://au.finance.yahoo.com/news/tony-abbott-taiwan-china-australia-angry-014641120.html | title='Prepare to fight': Why Tony Abbott has infuriated China more than ever | date=13 October 2021 }} although Prime Minister Scott Morrison and his government defended his visit.{{cite news | url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-10-07/tony-abbott-taiwan-visit-morrison-government-china/100522288 | title=Tony Abbott's 'unnecessary' Taiwan visit causes ructions inside Morrison government | newspaper=ABC News | date=7 October 2021 }}

In March 2020, an Australian computer security researcher obtained Abbott's passport number and personal phone number after Abbott posted a photo of his aeroplane boarding pass on Instagram. The researcher found a security flaw in the online check-in portal of the airline carrier Qantas, that divulged sensitive information given details printed on the pass.{{cite web|first1=Kait|last1=Sanchez|access-date=2021-02-05|title=Go read this hilarious story from the person who found Tony Abbott's passport number|url=https://www.theverge.com/2020/10/15/21516842/tony-abbott-passport-boarding-pass-instagram-hacking-cybersecurity|date=15 October 2020|website=The Verge}}{{cite news|access-date=2021-02-05|title=Tony Abbott hacked after posting boarding pass on Instagram|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-54193764|newspaper=BBC News|date=17 September 2020}}{{cite web|access-date=2021-02-05|title=Tony Abbott hacked after posting photo of boarding pass to social media|url=https://7news.com.au/sunrise/on-the-show/tony-abbott-hacked-after-posting-photo-of-boarding-pass-to-social-media-c-1325279|date=17 September 2020|website=7NEWS.com.au}}{{cite web|access-date=2021-02-05|title=Former Australian PM Tony Abbott's passport details and phone number obtained by hacker|url=http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/sep/16/former-australian-pm-tony-abbotts-passport-details-and-phone-number-obtained-by-hacker|date=16 September 2020|website=The Guardian}}

Abbott has admitted to having smoked cannabis once.{{cite web | url=https://www.smh.com.au/national/turnbulls-pot-admission-makes-a-whiff-of-history-20080925-4o7e.html | title=Turnbull's pot admission makes a whiff of history | date=25 September 2008 }}

In September 2021, during the second COVID-19 lockdown in Sydney, Abbott was fined $500 for not wearing a mask in breach of COVID-19 health orders.{{cite web |last1=Hunter |first1=Fergus |title='I am not going to waste police time': Tony Abbott fined for not wearing a mask |url=https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/i-am-not-going-to-waste-police-time-tony-abbott-fined-for-not-wearing-a-mask-20210911-p58qty.html |website=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=11 September 2021 |access-date=29 January 2024}}{{cite web |last1=Murray |first1=Lucy |title=Tony Abbott says it's un-Australian to dob as he cops $500 fine for not wearing mask |url=https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/tony-abbott-says-its-un-australian-to-dob-as-he-cops-500-fine-for-not-wearing-mask/6gsdg81kb |website=SBS News |publisher=Special Broadcasting Corporation |access-date=29 January 2024}}{{cite web |title=Tony Abbott fined by NSW Police |url=https://www.9news.com.au/national/coronavirus-new-south-wales-update-police-fine-former-prime-minister-tony-abbott/7686baa0-543b-4b24-be87-40cca33abd44 |website=Nine News |date=11 September 2021 |publisher=Nine Network |access-date=29 January 2024}}

File:Margie Abbott and Tony Abbott at the Canberra Operation Slipper Welcome Home Ceremony in March 2015.jpgWhen Abbott was 22, his girlfriend at the time became pregnant and claimed he was the biological father. The couple did not marry and put the child up for adoption. For 27 years, Abbott believed that he was the father of the child.{{Cite news|last=Murphy|first=Damien|title=Abbott's love child turns into shaggy dog story|newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald|page=1|date=22 March 2005|url=https://www.smh.com.au/news/National/Abbotts-love-child-turns-into-a-shaggy-dog-story/2005/03/21/1111253960197.html|access-date=4 December 2009}} In 2004, the man sought out Abbott, and it was publicly revealed he was an ABC sound recordist who worked in Parliament House, Canberra, and was involved in making television programmes in which Abbott appeared.{{cite news|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2005-02-21/abbott-reunited-with-long-lost-son/1522230|title=Abbott reunited with long-lost son|publisher=ABC News|date=21 March 2005|access-date=28 November 2007}} The story was reported around the world, but DNA testing later revealed that Abbott was not the man's father.{{cite news|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2005-03-21/dna-test-shows-abbott-not-father-of-son/1537516|title=DNA test shows Abbott not father of 'son'|publisher=ABC News|date=21 March 2005|access-date=28 November 2007}}

Following his departure from the seminary, Abbott met and married Margaret "Margie" Aitken, a New Zealander working in Sydney.{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/australiaandthepacific/australia/10278034/Australia-begrudgingly-willing-to-accept-Mad-Monk-Tony-Abbott.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/australiaandthepacific/australia/10278034/Australia-begrudgingly-willing-to-accept-Mad-Monk-Tony-Abbott.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|author=Pearlman, Jonathan|title=Australia begrudgingly willing to accept Mad Monk Tony Abbott|work=The Daily Telegraph|location=UK|date=4 September 2013|access-date=4 September 2013}}{{cbignore}} The couple have three daughters (Louise, Bridget and Frances),{{cite web|title=Tony Abbott-Liberal for Warringah – About Tony|url=http://www.tonyabbott.com.au/abouttony.aspx|access-date=4 April 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130912002945/http://www.tonyabbott.com.au/AboutTony.aspx|archive-date=12 September 2013}} and became grandparents in 2021.{{cite web|url= https://www.smh.com.au/national/oh-baby-there-s-a-new-boy-in-the-abbott-family-20210712-p5891b.html |title=Oh baby, there's a new boy in the Abbott family|date=12 July 2021 |access-date=13 July 2021}}

Abbott is a Roman Catholic.{{Cite news|url=http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-australia-election-abbott-idUKTRE67F0JJ20100816|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160107004243/http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-australia-election-abbott-idUKTRE67F0JJ20100816|url-status=dead|archive-date=7 January 2016|title=Australia's conservative leader Tony Abbott|work=Reuters|access-date=10 February 2011|first=Michael|last=Perry|date=16 August 2010}}{{Cite news|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article6946058.ece|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629103528/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article6946058.ece|url-status=dead|archive-date=29 June 2011|title=Australia's 'Mad Monk' deals blow to eco-campaign|work=The Times|location=UK|access-date=10 February 2011|first=Paul|last=Ham |date=6 December 2009}} Before the 2013 Election, Abbott spoke of his religious outlook:

{{blockquote|The Jesuits helped to instill in me this thought that our calling in life was to be … 'a man for others' … I am a pretty traditional Catholic... I'm not an evangelical, a charismatic Christian, I'm not. I try to attend Mass, but I don't get there every Sunday any more... Faith has certainly helped to shape my life, but it doesn't in any way determine my politics".|Tony Abbott on ABC TV's Kitchen Cabinet; September 2013.}}

As a former Catholic seminarian, Abbott's religiosity has come to national attention and journalists have often sought his views on the role of religion in politics. According to John Warhurst of the Australian National University, academics have at times placed an "exaggerated concentration on the religious affiliation and personal religious background of just one of [the Howard government's] senior ministers, Tony Abbott." Journalist Michelle Grattan wrote in 2010 that while Abbott has always "worn his Catholicism on his sleeve", he is "clearly frustrated by the obsession with [it] and what might hang off that".{{Cite news|url=https://www.smh.com.au/national/pragmatic-pugilist-20100409-rywa.html|title=Pragmatic pugilist|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|date=10 April 2010|access-date=5 June 2010|first=Michelle|last=Grattan}} Abbott has said that a politician should not rely on religion to justify a political point of view:

{{blockquote|We are all influenced by a value system that we hold, but in the end, every decision that a politician makes is, or at least should, in our society be based on the normal sorts of considerations. It's got to be publicly justifiable; not only justifiable in accordance with a private view; a private belief.|Abbott on ABC TV Four Corners, March 2010.}}

Various political positions supported by Abbott have been criticised by church representatives, including aspects of Coalition industrial relations, asylum seeker, and Aboriginal affairs policies.{{cite news|url=http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2007/s2057260.htm|title=Abbott attacks church over WorkChoices criticism|publisher=ABC News|location=Australia|access-date=5 June 2010}}{{Cite news|url=http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/abbott-winning-voters-on-asylum-seekers-20100406-rofb.html|title=Abbott winning voters on asylum seekers|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|date=6 April 2010|access-date=5 June 2010}} After criticisms of Liberal Party policy by clergy, Abbott has said, "The priesthood gives someone the power to consecrate bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ. It doesn't give someone the power to convert poor logic into good logic."

File:Tony Abbott competing in the Lake to Lagoon in Wagga Wagga.jpg

Abbott is an active volunteer member for the Davidson, NSW Rural Fire Service.{{cite news|url=https://www.smh.com.au/news/national/abbott-fights-flames-in-bushfires/2006/01/27/1138319422809.html|title=Abbott fights flames in bushfires|agency=Australian Associated Press|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|date=27 January 2006|access-date=28 November 2007}} He is also an active volunteer member of the Queenscliff Surf Life Saving Club.[http://www.liberal.org.au/member/tony-abbott Tony Abbott – Prime Minister] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130920015021/http://www.liberal.org.au/member/tony-abbott |date=20 September 2013 }}, Liberal Party of Australia. Retrieved 16 October 2014

Abbott participates in the Pollie Pedal, an annual 1,000 km charity bike ride. In April 2007, he launched the tenth annual Pollie Pedal, to raise money for breast cancer research.{{cite news|url=http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/charity-ride-and-a-blushing-bride/story-e6freuzi-1111113347788|title=Charity ride and a blushing bride|author=Cazzulino, Michelle|work=The Daily Telegraph|location=Australia|date=16 April 2007|access-date=16 March 2014}}

In 2008, Abbott spent three weeks teaching in a remote Aboriginal settlement in Coen on Cape York, organised through Indigenous leader Noel Pearson. He taught remedial reading to Aboriginal children and worked with an income management group helping families manage their welfare payments. In 2009, he spent 10 days in Aurukun on Cape York working with the truancy team, visiting children who had not been attending school. Abbott's stated goal for these visits was to familiarise himself with Indigenous issues.{{Cite news|url=http://www.theage.com.au/national/abbott-teaches-what-he-preaches-20080801-3omc.html|title=Abbott teaches what he preaches|work=The Age|location=Melbourne|date=2 August 2008|access-date=5 June 2010|first=Sarah|last=Smiles}}{{cite news|title=Fact checker: Coalition leader Tony Abbott's bush jaunts make him almost a local|url=https://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/fact-checker/fact-checker-coalition-leader-tony-abbotts-bush-jaunts-make-him-almost-a-local-20130825-2sjzo.html|access-date=15 March 2014|newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald|date=26 August 2013}}

Abbott has published four books. In 2009, he launched Battlelines; a personal biography, reflections on the Howard government and discussion of potential policy directions for the Liberal Party of Australia. Previously he had published two books in defence of the existing constitutional monarchy system, The Minimal Monarchy and How to Win the Constitutional War. In 2012, he released a compilation of key speeches from that year, entitled A Strong Australia.

• {{Cite book|last=Abbott|first=Tony|title=The Minimal Monarchy: and why it still makes sense for Australia|year=1995|publisher=Wakefield Press|location=Kent Town South Australia|isbn=1-86254-358-5}}
• {{Cite book|last=Abbott|first=Tony|title=How to Win the Constitutional War: and give both sides what they want|year=1997|publisher=Wakefield Press|location=Kent Town South Australia|isbn=1-86254-433-6}}
• {{Cite book|last=Abbott|first=Tony|title=Battlelines|year=2009|publisher=Melbourne University Press|location=Carlton Victoria Australia|isbn= 978-0-522-85606-4}}
• {{Cite book|last=Abbott|first=Tony|title=A Strong Australia|year=2012|publisher=Liberal Party of Australia|isbn=978-0-646-59033-2}}

• {{Flagicon|AUS}} 8 June 2020 Companion of the Order of Australia (AC), For eminent service to the people and Parliament of Australia, particularly as prime minister, and through significant contributions to trade, border control, and to the Indigenous community.{{Citation|title=Queen's Birthday Honours 2020|publisher=Governor General|url=https://www.gg.gov.au/sites/default/files/2020-06/QB2020%20Gazette%20-%20O%20of%20A.PDF|access-date=7 June 2020}}
• {{Flagicon|AUS}} 4 November 2018 National Medal (Australia), for 15 years service as a volunteer Firefighter.{{Citation|title=It's an Honour: Award Extract Tony Abbott|publisher=AustralianGovernment|url=https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/2006687|access-date=8 June 2020}}
• {{Flagicon|AUS}} 1 January 2001 Centenary Medal, for service as Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations.{{Citation|title=It's an Honour: Centenary Medal|publisher=AustralianGovernment|url=https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/1128118|access-date=12 April 2014|archive-date=2 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191002002656/https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/1128118|url-status=live}}

• {{flag|New South Wales}}: 8 March 2015 Rural Fire Service Long Service Medal, for ten years of long service{{Citation|title=Prime Minister Tony Abbott rewarded for a decade of RFS service with a medal|work=The Daily Telegraph|url=http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/prime-minister-tony-abbott-rewarded-for-a-decade-of-rfs-service-with-a-medal/story-fni0cx12-1227253642735|access-date=8 March 2015}}

• {{flag|Japan}}: 29 April 2022 Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun{{cite web |url= https://www.mofa.go.jp/mofaj/files/100337859.pdf|title= 令和4年春の外国人叙勲 受章者名簿|access-date= April 29, 2022|work= Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan}}

In January 2016, the Macquarie Dictionary announced that it had named "captain's call" its 2015 Word of the Year. The selection committee said 'captain's call' perfectly encapsulates what happened in Australia over the past year, after Mr Abbott's incessant use of it during his leadership in reference to making decisions without consulting colleagues.{{cite web |title=Tony Abbott's 'captain's call' is Macquarie Dictionary's Word of the Year |website=ABC News |date=21 January 2016 |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-01-22/tony-abbotts-captains-call-macquarie-dictionary-word-of-year/7104056 |access-date=26 November 2024}}

• Abbott government
• 2014 Australian federal budget
• 2015 Australian federal budget

{{notelist}}

{{Reflist|30em|refs={{Cite journal|author=Warhurst, John|title=Religion and politics in the Howard decade|journal=Australian Journal of Political Science|volume=42|issue=1|date=March 2007|pages=19–32|doi=10.1080/10361140601158526|hdl=1885/37648|s2cid=153995715|hdl-access=free}}}}

• {{cite journal|last=Aly|first=Waleed|author-link=Waleed Aly|url=http://www.themonthly.com.au/issue/2013/july/1372600800/waleed-aly/inside-tony-abbotts-mind|title=Inside Tony Abbott's Mind|journal=The Monthly|date=July 2013|access-date=30 October 2013|archive-date=31 October 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131031150025/http://www.themonthly.com.au/issue/2013/july/1372600800/waleed-aly/inside-tony-abbotts-mind|url-status=dead}}
• {{cite journal|last=Marr|first=David|author-link=David Marr (journalist)|year=2012|url=http://www.themonthly.com.au/issue/2012/september/1347234466/david-marr/political-animal-making-tony-abbott|title=Political Animal: The Making of Tony Abbott|journal=Quarterly Essay|number=47|isbn=978-1-86395-577-5}}
• {{cite book|first1=Adam|last1=B. Masters|first2=John|last2=Uhr|title=Leadership Performance and Rhetoric|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|isbn=9783319587745|date=2017}}
• {{cite journal|first=Mathei|last=Laurenz|title=Tony Abbott: the expert the UK has been waiting for?|publisher=LSE Brexit|date=2020}}

{{Commons category}}

{{Wikiquote}}

• {{Official website|http://www.tonyabbott.com.au/}}
• [http://www.aph.gov.au/Help/Federated_Search_Results?q=tony%20abbott Parliamentary profile]
• {{OpenAustralia}}
• {{C-SPAN|1016969}}

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