Margie Abbott | |
|---|---|
 Abbott in 2015 | |
| Spouse of the Prime Minister of Australia | |
| In role 18 September 2013 – 15 September 2015 | |
| Preceded by | Thérèse Rein |
| Succeeded by | Lucy Turnbull |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Margaret Veronica Aitken (1958-02-01)1 February 1958 (age 67) Lower Hutt, New Zealand |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 3[1][2] |
| Education | Wellington Teachers College |
| Occupation | Schoolteacher, businesswoman |
Margaret Veronica Abbott (néeAitken; born 1 February 1958)[3][4] is a New Zealand businesswoman best known as the wife ofTony Abbott, the 28thPrime Minister of Australia (2013–2015). She runs a childcare centre inSydney.
Margaret Veronica Aitken was born in Hutt Hospital,[5]Lower Hutt,New Zealand to Max and Gail Aitken, and grew up inWainuiomata. Both parents worked for thePost Office, Max as deputy chief postmaster ofWellington, and Gail as a typist.[6] She has a brother, Greg, a former private investigator.[6] The family has always been very sport-oriented; Max Aitken is a senior soccer administrator, and Abbott played soccer and netball for a number of years.[6] She is a Catholic, like her husband.[7]
Her father is a member of theNew Zealand Labour Party and her mother is a Labour voter.[6] There were pictures of Labour leaders in the kitchen of the family home.[8] Abbott was also briefly a member of the Labour Party.[9][10]
Abbott attended Fernlea School andWainuiomata College,[5] where among other studies she took part in a pioneeringMāori-language course.[6][10] At the age of 16, she entered theWellington Teachers' College, and after graduation taught primary school inUpper Hutt and Wainuiomata. She taught Māori both there and later inAustralia.[9]
After leaving teaching, she worked at a recruitment firm, and in 1983[10] followed her boss toSydney, Australia. She then moved to the marketing department of a merchant bank in Sydney.[11] She eventually opened a not-for-profitchild care centre inSt Ives, Sydney,[12] which employs 10 staff[when?] and cares for children from around 100 families.[9][10] She continued as a director of the centre after her husband became prime minister.[13]
She metTony Abbott at a Sydney pub in 1988; he was then a journalist withThe Bulletin and they married on 24 September 1988, and have three daughters (Louise, Frances, and Bridget),[14] and became grandparents in 2021.[15]
Abbott kept a relatively low profile during her husband's tenure as prime minister, giving only a handful of interviews. She continued living in Sydney – neither she nor her husband lived atThe Lodge, the usual prime minister's residence inCanberra, as it was undergoing renovations.[16]
In September 2013, Abbott attracted media attention when she made comments apparently supportive ofsame-sex marriage; her husband was one of its most prominent opponents. She told the media "I suppose at the end of the day I think that love, commitment, are things that should be recognised and I think it's a conversation that Australia needs to have".[17]
In May 2014,Tim Mathieson, the partner of former prime ministerJulia Gillard, gave an interview in which he said he was "disappointed that Margie Abbott is not doing any charity work [...] she has not contributed to any of them". In response, the Prime Minister's Office issued a list of the charities with which she was involved.[18]
| Honorary titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Spouse of the Prime Minister of Australia 2013–2015 | Succeeded by |