Tony Abbott, ‘Above All Else Patriots’ Battling for Australian Liberalism

Since the record-breaking run of Robert Menzies, there have been 14 leaders of the Liberal Party of Australia. Each of them has been influenced in various ways by the party’s founder, as they try to take up the essential task of upholding the principles of Australian liberalism (which indeed is a political tradition which long predates Menzies himself). In this special series of the Afternoon Light podcast, we intend to speak to each of the surviving leaders of the party about their connection to Menzies, philosophical beliefs, and time spent heading the centre-right of Australian politics.

In this week’s episode of the Afternoon Light podcast, Robert Menzies Institute CEO Georgina Downer talks to Tony Abbott, one of just four Leaders of the Liberal Party of Australia to win government from Opposition, about his beliefs and experiences in the role.

Tony Abbott is Australia’s 28th Prime Minister and the 12th Leader of the Liberal Party of Australia, serving from 2009-2015. He served as Minister for Employment Services in the Howard Government, before being promoted to Cabinet as Minister for Employment, Workplace Relations and Small Business and later Minister for Health and Ageing.