Editing Tony Abbott (section)

== Early life ==
===Birth and family background===
Abbott was born on 4 November 1957 at the [[General Lying-In Hospital]] in [[Lambeth]], London, England. He is the oldest of four children born to Fay (née Peters; b. 1933) and Richard Henry "Dick" Abbott (1924–2017).<ref name="Daily Telegraph">{{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}}</ref> He has three younger sisters, including [[Christine Forster]], who has also been involved in politics.<ref name="SMH-2013"/> His mother was born in Sydney,<ref name="SMH-2013">[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.</ref> while his father was born in [[Newcastle upon Tyne]], England.<ref name="Daily Telegraph"/>

At age 16, Dick Abbott moved to Australia with his parents.<ref>{{cite book|first1=Susan|last1=Mitchell|first2=Tony|last2=Abbott|title=A Man's Man|page=8}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{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}}</ref>

=== Childhood and education ===
On 7 September 1960, Abbott, his parents, and younger sister Jane, left the UK for Australia on the [[Assisted Passage Migration Scheme]] ship [[SS Oronsay (1950)|SS ''Oronsay'']].<ref>{{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.</ref><ref name="North Coast Voices">[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</ref> Settling in Sydney, the family first lived in the suburb of [[Bronte, New South Wales|Bronte]] and later moved to [[Chatswood, New South Wales|Chatswood]].<ref>{{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}}</ref> Dick Abbott established what was to become one of the largest [[orthodontics]] practices in Australia, retiring in 2002.<ref name="North Coast Voices" />

Abbott attended primary school at [[St Aloysius' College (Sydney)|St Aloysius' College]] at [[Milsons Point, New South Wales|Milson's Point]], before completing his secondary school education at [[Saint Ignatius' College, Riverview|St Ignatius' College, Riverview]], both [[Jesuit]] schools.<ref>{{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 (Australia)|ABC News]]|location=Australia|agency=[[Australian Associated Press|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}}</ref> During his time at St Ignatius' College, one was his teachers was [[John Kennedy (Australian politician)|John Kennedy]], who would later go on to serve as the member for [[Electoral district of Hawthorn|Hawthorn]].<ref>{{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}}</ref><ref>{{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 }}</ref> He graduated with a Bachelor of Economics (BEc) in 1979 and a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) in 1981<ref name="APH"/> from the [[University of Sydney]]. He resided at [[St John's College, University of Sydney|St John's College]] and was president of the [[University of Sydney Students' Representative Council|Student Representative Council]].<ref name="Abbott-2009">{{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}}</ref> 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 (Oxbridge and Dublin)|Master of Arts]].<ref>{{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}}</ref><ref>{{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}}</ref><ref>{{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 }}</ref><ref>{{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}}</ref>

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.<ref name="SMH-2009" /> According to the ''[[The Sun-Herald|Sun-Herald]]'' newspaper, it was "an ugly and often violent time", and Abbott's tactics in student politics were like "an aggressive terrier".<ref>{{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}}</ref> Abbott organised rallies in support of [[Governor-General of Australia|Governor-General]] [[John Kerr (governor-general)|John Kerr]] after he [[1975 Australian constitutional crisis|dismissed the Whitlam government]] in November 1975, as well as a pro-[[Falklands War]] demonstration during his time at Oxford.<ref>{{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}}</ref> At St. Ignatius College, Abbott had been taught and influenced by the [[Society of Jesus|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 [[Australian Labor Party split of 1955|1955 Labor Party split]] and the formation of the [[Democratic Labor Party (Australia, 1955)|Democratic Labor Party]].<ref name="SMH-2009" /> Santamaria has been described as Abbott's "political hero". He wrote the foreword to a novelisation of Santamaria's life written by [[Alan Reid (journalist)|Alan Reid]], and in 2015 launched a biography of Santamaria written by [[Gerard Henderson]].<ref>{{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}}</ref> In 1977, Abbott faced charges of [[Common assault|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}}<ref>{{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}}</ref>

Abbott was a student boxer, earning two [[Blue (university sport)|Blues]] for boxing while at Oxford.<ref>{{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}}</ref><ref>{{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}}</ref><ref>{{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}}</ref><ref>{{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}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{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}}</ref>

=== Early adult life and pre-political career ===
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.<ref name="SMH-2009">{{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}}</ref> 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."<ref name="ABC-2013a">{{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}}</ref>

Abbott worked in journalism, briefly ran a concrete plant, and began to get involved in national politics.<ref name="SMH-2009" /> 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 (Australian periodical)|The Bulletin]]''. He eventually became a journalist and wrote for ''[[The Australian]]''.<ref name="Abbott-2009" />

At birth, Abbott was a British citizen<ref>As a "Citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies"; that was changed by [[British nationality law|UK legislation]] in 1983, presumably to "British Citizen".</ref> 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 of Australia|section 44 of the constitution]].<ref>{{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}}</ref>