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85-537: Prime Minister of Australia [REDACTED] The Abbott ministry ( Liberal – National Coalition ) was the 68th ministry of the Government of Australia. It succeeded the Second Rudd Ministry after a federal election that took place on 7 September 2013. It was led by Prime Minister , Tony Abbott . Abbott announced his first ministry on 16 September 2013, and the ministry was sworn in by

170-677: A Rhodes Scholar , and former trainee Catholic priest, journalist and political advisor, had entered Parliament in 1994 as the Member for Warringah and served as a senior minister in the Howard government , which lost office at the 2007 election to the Australian Labor Party, led by Kevin Rudd . Abbott served as Shadow Minister for Indigenous Affairs under Liberal leaders Brendan Nelson and Malcolm Turnbull and then became Leader of

255-580: A leadership ballot , 54 votes to 44 and the Turnbull government became the executive government of Australia. In economic policy, the Abbott government aimed to rein in a budget deficit that reached A$ 48.5 billion by June 2014. It concluded free trade agreements with China, Japan and South Korea. It removed the Rudd-Gillard era Resource Super Profits Tax and carbon pricing . It established

340-524: A "religious revolution". After losing office, Abbott said on Paul Murray Live on 8 December 2015: "We've got to work closely with live-and-let-live Muslims because there needs to be, as President (Abdel Fattah) Al-Sisi of Egypt has said, a religious revolution inside Islam... 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, but we can't do it; Muslims have got to do this for themselves." In 2015,

425-757: A boat from Vietnam in July. In March 2016, Dutton stated that 698 people on 25 vessels had been turned back since the beginning of the OSB program. In 2014, the status of asylum seekers sent to offshore processing centres in Nauru Regional Processing Centre and Manus Regional Processing Centre was decided: 13 people (9 people from Iran and 4 people from Pakistan ) were granted asylum , while 7 people (from Iran, Pakistan, and Cameroon ) received negative assessments. The asylum protection in Nauru

510-541: A hostile reception in the Senate and media. Partial deregulation of universities, and a $ 7 contribution to doctor visits were proposed, but blocked by the Senate. The second Budget emphasised stimulus for the small business sector. Abbott campaigned in opposition and in office to halt the people smuggling trade, and unauthorised maritime arrivals ceased during his term of office under Operation Sovereign Borders . In foreign policy, Australia continued its military engagement in

595-575: A hot boat engine. Morrison downplayed refugee claims of being abused by the Navy, and called for the ABC to apologise to the Navy. The ABC's Media Watch program opined that ABC News had "over-reached" when reporting the story, and should have been more thorough in verifying the claims. On 4 February, ABC managing director Mark Scott issued a statement saying "The wording around the ABC's initial reporting needed to be more precise on that point", referring to

680-524: A joint review would be conducted to investigate the circumstances under which Australian naval vessels entered Indonesian territorial waters. The inquiry, which covered the period between 1 December 2013 and 20 January 2014, found that two Royal Australian Navy frigates had crossed into Indonesian territory four times during the period, while Customs vessels did so on another two occasions. In response, one Australian Navy officer lost his command, while several others were disciplined. Indonesia has responded to

765-554: A key component of Operation Sovereign Borders called the Regional Deterrence Framework. Budgeted at A$ 420 million, the RDF aimed to engage with other countries in the region, particularly Indonesia , to prevent asylum seeker vessels leaving for Australia. The framework included a $ 20 million proposal (titled "The Indonesian community engagement programme") which was to include: The "buy-the-boats" plan

850-625: A legal agreement for the deployment of around 1,300 US Marines to the Northern Territory, first proposed under the Gillard government. Abbott also moved to strengthen economic and defence ties with Japan, signing the Japan–Australia Economic Partnership Agreement and inviting Shinzō Abe to address Parliament and announcing a transfer of defence technology and equipment would be included in it. In 2014,

935-473: A media briefing for almost a month, Morrison announced that briefings would be held on what he described as "an as needs basis". On 10 July 2014, Morrison stated that the secrecy policy was put in place by Lieutenant General Campbell, which had been rigorously implemented by ministers, their advisers, and various government departments. On 23 August 2013, during the election campaign, the Coalition announced

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1020-774: A military exercise". Following the Arab Spring uprisings, and withdrawal of the bulk of US troops from Iraq, the threat of Islamic State /ISIL/ISIS emerged, amid the deteriorating Syrian Civil War . The extremist Sunni Islamist group was battling government forces in Syria and Iraq, with the objective of establishing of an Islamic caliphate across the region. Domestic terrorist attacks by ISIS supporters occurred in Australia in 2014, with knife and gun attacks in Melbourne and Sydney against police and civilians. In October 2014,

1105-487: A poorly received first Budget and amid media criticism. Abbott became the shortest-serving Australian Prime Minister since William McMahon , when his government was succeeded by the Turnbull government . Turnbull cited Newspoll results and "economic leadership" as reasons for mounting his challenge against Abbott. The Liberal–National coalition, led by Abbott, won the 2013 Australian federal election , returning their Coalition to power after six years in opposition. Abbott,

1190-502: A referendum to give recognition to Indigenous Australians in the Australian Constitution , and to prioritise indigenous affairs by placing it within the department of prime minister and cabinet, saying: "There will be, in effect, a prime minister for Aboriginal affairs". In his 2013 election campaign, Abbott told the media that the Coalition wanted to "build a stronger economy so that everyone can get ahead. We'll scrap

1275-475: A reshuffle announced on 21 December. The whips of the House of Representatives were rearranged following Tony Abbott's sacking of Phillip Ruddock on 13 February 2015. Abbott government Prime Minister of Australia [REDACTED] The Abbott government was the federal executive government of Australia led by the 28th Prime Minister Tony Abbott . The government was made up of members of

1360-706: Is a signatory, this principle forbids a nation state from sending a refugee back to anywhere where they may face persecution. Pre-empting the decision of the court, Minister for Immigration and Border Protection Morrison announced that the people on the boat would be transferred to the Curtin Immigration Reception and Processing Centre in Western Australia , where they would be assessed by Indian consular officials under an arrangement made with that country to repatriate any Indian citizens or residents. On 2 August, Morrison announced that

1445-785: Is concerned, it's coming after us." In July, Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull told the Sydney Institute that ISIL is not "Hitler's Germany, Tojo's Japan or Stalin's Russia" and that government should not amplify its significance. At the opening of a regional summit against terrorism in Sydney in June 2015, Abbott praised the leadership against Islamist terrorism shown by Muslim statesmen such as Malaysia's Prime Minister Najib – who had described ISIS as "against God, against Islam and against our common humanity" – and of Egypt's president el-Sissi – who told Egyptian imams that Islam needed

1530-821: Is defined as those "transferred to Australian immigration authorities", and does not include arrivals in Australian territorial waters who have been subject to a turnback operation—that is, sent out of Australian waters on their own vessel, or an Australian vessel employed for this purpose. As of 7 February 2014, The Australian newspaper estimated that at least "six boatloads" of asylum seekers had been subject to turnbacks by OSB authorities. On 15 January 2014, an orange fibreglass "survival capsule", containing about 60 asylum seekers, came ashore at Cikepuh in West Java . A second containing 34 people arrived at Pangandaran on 5 February. The Daily Telegraph reported that

1615-548: Is what actually stopped the boats." On 6 August 2015, the new immigration minister Peter Dutton announced it had been 12 months since the last successful people smuggling operation, with the last SIEV arriving in Australia's care in July 2014. The ABC News ' Fact Check subsequently listed the Coalition's "We Will Stop the Boats" promise as delivered. In August 2015, Dutton stated that, since December 2013, 633 people on 20 vessels have been subject to turnback operations, including

1700-699: The Australian Constitution , flagging a referendum for 2017, and promised a plebiscite on the issue of same-sex marriage . Investments in air and road infrastructure were prioritised. Many of Abbott's proposed policies were opposed by the Australian Senate which was, during the Abbott government, controlled by opposition parties. The 2013 election saw the emergence of the right-wing Palmer United Party , which lead to fears that conservative voters would defect from supporting Abbott's Liberal coalition, but Palmer United fractured soon after. The Liberal Party faced Cabinet leaks and early leadership instability, after

1785-838: The Australian Sports Party , and to the Greens' Senator Scott Ludlam . In February 2014, the High Court ordered a new Senate election for Western Australia. Governor-General Quentin Bryce officially commissioned the Abbott ministry on 18 September 2013. Fifteen of Abbott's ministers had served in the Howard government. The Leader of the National Party, Warren Truss, became Deputy Prime Minister, Joe Hockey assumed

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1870-562: The Boao Forum , Abbott said "Team Australia" is in China to "help build the Asian century". He was accompanied by Foreign Minister Bishop, Trade Minister Robb, five of Australia's state premiers, and 30 of the country's senior business executives. Abbott also discussed the search for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 , being led by Australia. Abbott announced military co-operation between

1955-556: The Governor-General on 18 September. Abbott expressed regret at the low number of women in cabinet, but still received strong criticism on the lack of female representation in the ministry, including from members of his own party. Abbott added a second woman to his cabinet in Sussan Ley following a reshuffle announced on 21 December 2014, and sworn in on 23 December. Following the defeat of Abbott by Malcolm Turnbull in

2040-590: The Liberal leadership spill of 14 September 2015, the ministry was replaced by the First Turnbull Ministry . The initial arrangement of the Abbott ministry remained virtually unchanged from the initial swearing-in of the Cabinet on 18 September 2013 until the reshuffle that was announced on 23 December 2014. The second arrangement of the Abbott ministry was sworn in on 23 December 2014 following

2125-499: The Liberal–National Coalition . The Leader of The Nationals , Warren Truss , served as Deputy Prime Minister . Following the 2013 Australian federal election held on 7 September, the Coalition defeated the second Rudd government , ending six years of Labor government . The Abbott government was sworn into office on 18 September 2013. Less than two years later on 14 September 2015, Malcolm Turnbull defeated Abbott in

2210-833: The Minister for Industry and Science . Julie Bishop became the first woman to represent Australia as Minister for Foreign Affairs. In Opposition, Abbott and Bishop pledged that a Coalition government would shift Australia's foreign policy focus to be "less Geneva, more Jakarta". Abbott chose the Indonesian capital as his first overseas destination, and travelled to Jakarta on 30 September 2013, to meet with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on 30 September 2013. In October, Abbott returned to Indonesia to attend his first APEC leaders' summit , to discuss trade and economic relations and meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping , US Secretary of State John Kerry and other world leaders. Following

2295-767: The National Commission of Audit to advise on restoring the Budget to surplus; instituted the Royal Commission into trade union governance and corruption ; founded the Medical Research Future Fund ; and produced White Papers on Developing Northern Australia and the Agricultural Competitiveness . Treasurer Joe Hockey delivered two Budgets, the first focused on expenditure reduction measures, but faced

2380-551: The United Nations Security Council to adopt a unanimous resolution, demanding that the armed groups in control of the crash site refrain from interfering with it and allow for the repatriation of victims and an international investigation into the attack. Bishop was honoured by The Netherlands for her role in securing the resolution and investigation. The downing of the flight had resulted in 298 deaths, including 38 Australian citizens and residents. In

2465-614: The 12-member council was headed by Warren Mundine . In Opposition, Abbott promised to spend a week a year in remote indigenous communities. In September 2014, Abbott and a number of Cabinet Ministers and Departmental Heads set up camp in an Aboriginal Community in Arnhem Land , near Nhulunbuy , 600 kilometres (370 mi) east of Darwin . The Prime Minister discussed land tenure, welfare and constitutional recognition . On his August 2015 week in remote indigenous communities, Abbott again discussed constitutional recognition and became

2550-487: The Australian Constitution, and noted that the 44th parliament would have two Indigenous members. Liberal MP Ken Wyatt chaired an all-party Parliamentary Committee examining the issue, and released a report in June 2015 ahead of a bi-partisan summit. In NAIDOC Week 2015, Abbott and Opposition Leader Bill Shorten jointly hosted a summit with around 40 indigenous leaders at Kirribilli House to discuss

2635-493: The Australian government was believed to have purchased eleven of the capsules from Singapore at a cost of around $ 500,000. In May 2014, Australia was alleged to have placed two persons who had arrived earlier in the year onto a boat with other asylum seekers which was turned back to Indonesia. In January 2015, Minister Dutton announced that 15 vessels, containing 429 asylum seekers in total, had been subject to turnback operations of some kind towards Indonesia or Sri Lanka since

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2720-498: The Australian taxpayer, you wonder why I wouldn't trust them to build a canoe?" the Minister told Parliament. Labor campaigned at the by-election on the issue, and linked Abbott to the state vote. Labor won the traditionally Liberal seat by just five votes from a 7.27 percent two-party swing to go from minority to majority government . On 8 March 2014 Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370 disappeared and presumably crashed somewhere in

2805-722: The British and the French to join him in lobbying the Obama Administration to escalate its campaign against the Islamic State, and to deploy Australian Special Forces to find and kill ISIS leaders. In September 2015, the Abbott government expanded Australia's military mission, by joining US-led airstrikes against IS targets in Syria, and announced that 12,000 additional refugees from the region would be accepted. Shortly after losing office, Abbott gave this appraisal of

2890-619: The China and Australia would be developed to include high-level meetings, staff exchanges and joint exercises. He also announced that President Xi would address the Australian Parliament in 2015. The China–Australia Free Trade Agreement (ChAFTA) was signed in Canberra on 17 June 2015, by Andrew Robb, and the Chinese Commerce Minister, Gao Hucheng . Abbott hailed the agreement, saying that, along with

2975-510: The Federal cabinet approved the decision to launch air strikes in Iraq in response to concerns over ISIL militant groups. Abbott announced that the Australian mission was to "disrupt and degrade" Islamic State "at home and abroad". According to Defence analyst and Abbott confidant Catherine McGregor , Abbott was frustrated at the lack of a serious effort to destroy ISIS and wanted to approach

3060-570: The Gap " report to Parliament, Abbott said that Australia was failing to meet the "more important and the more meaningful targets" of reducing Indigenous disadvantage, and proposed to add a new target to close the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous school attendance within five years. Speaking at the Welcome to Country ceremony to mark the opening of the 44th Parliament in 2013, Abbott committed to pursuing recognition of Indigenous Australians in

3145-596: The Germany-Australia Advisory Group, to advise on improving trade relations, and pursued trade agreements with Indonesia and India. On the Japanese leg of the 2014 trade mission, Abbott agreed the key elements of a free trade agreement with the government of Shinzo Abe . A number of concessions were secured for Australian agricultural exporters, while Australian tariffs on electronics, whitegoods and cars were to be lowered. Negotiations for

3230-618: The High Court for the West Australian Senate election to be declared void, on account of 1,375 ballot papers lost during a recount after the election. The initial count had declared the Liberals and Labor winners of four of six seats, with remaining two going to Zhenya Wang of the Palmer United Party, and Labor's Senator Louise Pratt. The faulty recount narrowly gave the final two seats to Wayne Dropulich of

3315-707: The Indian Ocean, within Australia's search and rescue zone. Consequently, the Chinese and Australian militaries co-operated in the search for the missing plane, and in April 2014 the People's Liberation Army asked to operate under Australian command in the largest international exercises in which it had ever participated. The Fairfax press reported: "It is believed to be the first time the PLA would operate under Western command in

3400-634: The Korean and Japan agreements, it would underpin Australia's prosperity in coming years. Labor campaigned against the agreement during the Canning by-election, but subsequently agreed to support the Turnbull government in ratifying the FTA. The Abbott government period saw the continued wind down of Australia's involvement in the Afghanistan conflict and moves to enhance co-operation with China, Japan and

3485-801: The Middle-East, amid the worsening Syrian conflict . In 2015, The Abbott government agreed to resettle an additional 12,000 refugees from the region. Abbott and Foreign Minister Julie Bishop challenged Russia at the United Nations over the shooting down of Malaysian Flight MH17 in Ukraine . The government launched the New Colombo Plan to encourage educational exchange with the Indo-Pacific region. Domestically, Abbott campaigned for recognition of Indigenous Australians in

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3570-540: The Opposition following a 2009 leadership spill in which he defeated the incumbent leader, Turnbull, by one vote. Rudd did not complete his first term in office, having been replaced by Julia Gillard following an internal Labor party leadership vote in June 2010 . Abbott led the Coalition to the 2010 federal election , which saw the Gillard government narrowly retain office by forming a minority government with

3655-524: The Shadow Industry Minister Sophie Mirabella lost her seat at the election. Bronwyn Bishop resigned as Speaker in 2015. Julie Bishop remained the only woman in Cabinet until Sussan Ley was appointed to Cabinet to replace Peter Dutton as Health and Sport Minister in 2014 when Dutton was made Immigration Minister in Abbott's Cabinet revision. Five other women were appointed to posts in the outer ministry, and one of

3740-620: The South Korean leg of the mission, Abbott signed the Australia Korea Free Trade Agreement (KAFTA) with the government of Park Geun-hye in Seoul. The agreement reduced tariffs on primary products and reset the foreign investment review threshold to more than $ 1 billion. The Abbott trade mission continued on to China, where he met with Premier Li Keqiang and President Xi Jinping . In an address to

3825-428: The United States in regional defence operations, but also saw the deterioration of the Syrian Civil War and rise of the threat of Islamic State, along with an ongoing Islamist terrorism threat to Australia and its allies. Abbott committed to increasing Defence spending to two per cent of GDP within a decade. David Johnston served as Minister for Defence until December 2014, when he was replaced by Kevin Andrews . At

3910-422: The agreement began under the Howard government in 2007. Abbott said, "This is the first time that Japan has negotiated a comprehensive economic partnership agreement or free trade agreement with a major economy, particularly a major economy with a strong agricultural sector." Abe travelled to Australia in July to sign the Japan–Australia Economic Partnership Agreement , and address the Australian Parliament. On

3995-401: The battle against Islamic State: The rise of Daesh has turned it into a fight between bad and worse: the Assad regime whose brutality is the Islamic State death cult's chief local recruiter; and a caliphate seeking to export its apocalyptic version of Islam right around the world. Given the sheer scale of the horror unfolding in Syria, Iraq and everywhere Daesh gains a foothold – the beheadings,

4080-427: The beginning of OSB. In May 2015, Australian authorities allegedly paid Indonesian boat crew to return 65 asylum seekers to Indonesia. This and other turnbacks like it could be seen as tantamount to people smuggling against origin and transit countries. In July 2015, Labor Shadow Minister Richard Marles conceded that "Offshore processing and regional resettlement, together with the Coalition's policy of turn-backs,

4165-425: The cabinet debated giving the immigration minister new powers to strip dual nationals of their citizenship if they are supporters of terrorist organisations. Abbott, a former Indigenous Affairs Minister, reformed the portfolio and brought it within the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet , saying: "There will be, in effect, a prime minister for Aboriginal affairs". Northern Territory Senator Nigel Scullion

4250-462: The campaign. Operation Sovereign Borders operates as a Joint Agency Taskforce (JATF), with the support of a range of government agencies, organised as three operational task groups: Abbott's government claimed a ninety per cent reduction in maritime arrivals of asylum seekers. There were 207 in November 2013, as opposed to 2,629 in November 2012. In response, Shadow Minister for Immigration and Border Protection Richard Marles claimed there

4335-409: The carbon tax, end the waste, stop the boats and build the infrastructure and the roads of the 21st century." The Liberal Party under Abbott, together with the National Party, led by Warren Truss, achieved a 3.65-point two-party-preferred swing at the 2013 election, winning 90 of the Australian House of Representatives seats compared with the Labor Party's 55. The Greens retained their one seat in

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4420-447: The chamber, with Bob Katter of Katter's Australian Party also returned. Two independents won seats in the House, and the seat of Fairfax fell from the Nationals to Clive Palmer , leader of the newly formed Palmer United Party . The emergence of the fledgling Palmer United Party was a notable feature of the election. The new party secured a House of Representatives seat and three senators (although two senators subsequently split from

4505-438: The control of information by stating that the government was not "operating a shipping news service for people smugglers". On 22 January 2014, the ABC broadcast allegations that Royal Australian Navy personnel had mistreated asylum seekers during an OSB operation, including video footage of passengers receiving medical treatment in Indonesia for burns on their hands, which they claimed were sustained when they were forced to touch

4590-482: The crucifixions, the mass executions, the hurling off high buildings, the sexual slavery – and its perverse allure across the globe, it's striking how little has been done to address this problem at its source. The United States and its allies, including Britain and Australia, have launched airstrikes against this would-be terrorist empire. We've helped to contain its advance in Iraq but we haven't defeated it because it can't be defeated without more effective local forces on

4675-479: The election of the Abbott government, US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden had been granted asylum by Russia after handing over large amounts of confidential information from US government databases to world media. Australian–Indonesian diplomatic relations began to suffer in the early months of the government, as The Guardian and ABC News began to publish material, which had been made public due to Snowden's leaking, suggesting that Australian spy agencies during

4760-491: The end of October 2013, Abbott travelled to Afghanistan with opposition leader Bill Shorten for a special ceremony at the Australian base in Tarin Kowt in Uruzgan, saying that "Australia's longest war is ending. Not with victory, not with defeat, but with, we hope, an Afghanistan that is better for our presence here." Afghan forces were scheduled to take over running of the camp in mid-December. Abbott met with US President Barack Obama in June 2014, in Washington, and approved

4845-440: The existence, location, or status of the boat, until the High Court placed an injunction on any attempted refoulement of the vessel's passengers to Sri Lanka , while the full bench of the Court considered a challenge to the handover on the grounds that the government was breaching non-refoulement obligations under international law . Under Article 33 of the UN Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees , to which Australia

4930-455: The first Prime Minister to visit the grave of land rights champion Eddie Mabo . The government also reduced funding to the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services ( ATSILS ) and associated policy officer positions in state governments, but not by as much as it had committed to during the election campaign. Operation Sovereign Borders The current Commander of Operation Sovereign Borders, Rear Admiral Brett Sonter,

5015-432: The government announced the investment of $ 12 billion in F-35 joint strike fighters. Fairfax Political Editor Mark Kenny attributed the anti-Liberal swing in the 2014 Fisher state by-election in South Australia to Federal factors associated with the Defence Portfolio, writing: "People on both sides of the aisle in Adelaide say the dominant factor was the Abbott government's perceived intention to buy submarines 'off

5100-444: The ground. The government was concerned as early as August 2014 that the Indonesian militant Islamist terror group Jemaah Islamiah has aligned itself to ISIL (ISIS), and formed a potential threat. On 23 September, the government raised Australia's terror alert level from medium to high. In September 2014, an Islamic State supporter was shot dead after stabbing two policemen in Melbourne, and in December, an Islamic State supporter

5185-482: The group had refused to meet with Indian officials and were then transferred to the Nauru Regional Processing Centre . The government's response was to rush through Parliament the Migration and Maritime Powers Legislation Amendment (Resolving the Asylum Legacy Caseload) Bill 2014, which was passed by both Houses in December 2014, placing border policing ahead of asylum seeker rights as expressed in UN Convention. The number of arrivals given in OSB operational updates

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5270-405: The handling of asylum seeker policy. He offered support to the Gillard government's National Disability Insurance Scheme , and matched the government on its first four years funding for the Gonski restructuring of education funding. He took a proposal for an expanded paid parental leave scheme, part funded by a levy on big business, to the 2010 and 2013 elections. If elected, he promised to instigate

5355-530: The incursions by deploying military assets to intercept people-smuggling boats. Several journalists and media outlets have expressed concern and frustration over the tightly controlled release of information about Operation Sovereign Borders, usually restricted to the weekly briefings held on Friday afternoons. In the weekly briefings, both Minister Morrison and Lieutenant General Campbell have refused to discuss "operational" or "on-water" matters in response to questions from journalists. The Minister has rationalised

5440-443: The lead up to the 2014 G20 meeting in Brisbane, Tony Abbott focused world attention on Russia's role in the shooting down of the civilian plane. In a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the APEC meeting in Beijing, Abbott reportedly told the president that Australia had information that the missile that destroyed the plane had Russian origin and that Russia should consider apologising and offering appropriate restitution to

5525-406: The operations. Following the 2013 election, the portfolio of the Minister for Immigration was renamed as the Minister for Immigration and Border Protection. The appointed ministers, initially Scott Morrison and subsequently Peter Dutton , refused to release information on asylum seeker boat arrivals as they occurred, and a weekly media briefing was announced. In January 2014, having not held

5610-418: The party). The Greens, which had been in alliance with Labor for the preceding three years, lost one senator and a third of their vote under new leader Christine Milne . The party had campaigned heavily against Abbott and promised to block his key election commitment to abolish the carbon tax it had jointly introduced with the Gillard government. The Australian Electoral Commission successfully petitioned

5695-454: The plan as "offensive", and officials from the Indonesian Navy said "forcing the boats back would also unfairly shift the burden of dealing with the asylum-seeker problem back on Indonesia". The policy also came under fire from refugee advocates. On 26 September 2013, Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa took the "unusual step" of releasing details of his talks about the policy with his Australian counterpart Julie Bishop , which

5780-441: The post of Treasurer and Deputy Liberal Leader Julie Bishop became the first woman appointed Foreign Minister of Australia . Senator Mathias Cormann was promoted to the position of Minister for Finance. Of the three female members of the Abbott Shadow Cabinet, Julie Bishop retained her position in Foreign Affairs following the 2013 election, while Bronwyn Bishop became Speaker of the Australian House of Representatives , and

5865-480: The process for achieving Constitutional recognition. Abbott said he hoped the wording for a referendum could be concluded in 2016, for a referendum vote in 2017. Abbott announced the establishment of the Indigenous Advisory Council in November 2013. The government-appointed council was to meet three times a year with the Prime Minister and senior ministers to advise the government on policy implementation. Aimed at sparking "new engagement" with Indigenous Australians,

5950-495: The shelf' from Japan rather than build the high-tech vessels in South Australia as had been promised." Days prior to the by-election, the Defence Minister David Johnston had denounced the capabilities of the Australian Submarine Corporation which wanted to construct Australia's new submarine fleet at Adelaide, saying the company was at least $ 350 million over budget in building three air warfare destroyer ships: "You wonder why I'm worried about ASC and what they're delivering to

6035-497: The summit, Abbott travelled to Bali, where he laid a wreath at the memorial of the 2002 Bali bombing. He also announced a commitment to extend compensation to Australian victims of terrorist attacks, allowing payments of up to A$ 75,000 to those who suffered in attacks on New York, London, Egypt, Mumbai, Jakarta, Bali and Nairobi since 2001. In Brunei, Abbott also attended his first East Asia Summit with world leaders, including India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh . In 2013, prior to

6120-527: The support of four crossbench MPs after the election produced a hung parliament . Leadership instability in the Labor Party continued, and Gillard was replaced by Rudd following a Labor ballot conducted shortly before the 2013 election. As Opposition Leader, Abbott opposed the Rudd–Gillard government's introduction of a mining profits tax, and emissions trading scheme and carbon tax, and criticised

6205-638: The term of the previous government had spied on the Indonesian President and his wife. The alleged spying had taken place soon after the July 2009 bombing of Jakarta's Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels. Indonesia recalled its ambassador over the affair. During the 2014 Russian military intervention in Ukraine , Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was shot down in a missile attack. Julie Bishop and Australia's UN Ambassador Gary Quinlan led negotiations at

6290-860: The twelve parliamentary secretaries is female. Philip Ruddock , the longest serving member in the Parliament, was appointed Chief Government Whip. Eric Abetz retained the portfolio of Employment, George Brandis was appointed Attorney-General, Christopher Pyne as Education Minister, and Abbott's former leadership rival Malcolm Turnbull took Communications. In his speech following his swearing-in ceremony, Abbott said his government would "strive to govern for all Australians": "We won't forget those who are often marginalised; people with disabilities, Indigenous people and women struggling to combine career and family. We will do our best not to leave anyone behind. We hope to be judged by what we have done rather than by what we have said we will do." The Abbott ministry

6375-441: The victims of the shooting. Russia continued to deny involvement. Andrew Robb served as Minister for Trade and Investment . In April 2014, Abbott led a trade delegation to Japan, South Korea and China. The three economies accounted for more than half of all of Australia's two-way trade. By the close of his tenure, Abbott's government had struck free trade agreements with the three nations. The Abbott government also established

6460-435: The video footage verifying the injuries but not how they had occurred. On 7 February, Yousif Ibrahim Fasher repeated the initial allegations, as well as several further claims of mistreatment and possible breaches of maritime law in an interview with a Fairfax correspondent. Immigration law specialists, academics and others have criticised the political over-use of border control in general to win votes, and in particular of

6545-599: Was a 40 per cent reduction in arrivals in the month following the introduction of the Regional Resettlement Arrangement with Papua New Guinea , shortly before the 2013 election. On 19 June 2014, the Government announced that it had been six months since the last successful boat arrival. On 7 July 2014, a vessel containing 153 mostly Tamil asylum seekers from Sri Lanka was intercepted by Australian authorities 27 kilometres (15 nmi) from Christmas Island . The government refused to confirm

6630-655: Was appointed the Minister for Indigenous Affairs in the Abbott Ministry. Scullion also served as Leader of the Nationals in the Senate. In 2013, Andrew Forrest was chosen to lead a review into Indigenous employment and training programs, which was to report to the Australian government. The review was delivered on 1 August 2014, with 27 recommendations. This was the genesis of the Healthy Welfare Card initiative. In his February 2014 " Closing

6715-490: Was appointed to the command on 10 January 2024. During the 2013 federal election, the Abbott-led Coalition campaigned on a policy that, if elected to government, they would "stop the boats" and would launch Operation Sovereign Borders, combining the resources of multiple government bodies under direct control of a three star general . Following the election, Angus Campbell was promoted and appointed to oversee

6800-543: Was later blamed on a clerical error. Australia has apologised for violating Indonesian waters during their "tow back" operations. These incursions occurred after Chief of the Defence Force David Hurley stripped naval personnel of workplace safety protections that would have required them to exercise "reasonable care" to protect their safety and that of the refugees. On 21 January 2014, Customs (now Australian Border Force) and Defence announced that

6885-551: Was moved from the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs into the Prime Minister's Office, with Michaelia Cash appointed Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Women . The ministry also divided responsibilities for science between the portfolios of Education, under Christopher Pyne, and Industry, under Ian McFarlane . The December 2014 Cabinet reshuffle saw Ian McFarlane become

6970-519: Was not announced for an unusually long period and the Agence France Presse reported that Abbott had set out to stamp a "markedly different style on government" standing "in stark contrast to the 'chaos' he liked to accuse his Labor predecessors of fomenting as almost hourly soundbites, lengthy press conferences and briefings were cranked out in an effort to control the 24-hour news cycle". Responsibility for women's policies and programs

7055-631: Was shot dead after taking hostages and holding up a café in Martin Place, Sydney, in an attack in which two hostages died. A month later, Abbott condemned the Charlie Hebdo terror attacks in France as an "unspeakable atrocity". When 60 people were killed in attacks in France, Tunisia and Kuwait on one day on 27 June, Abbott said: "This illustrates yet again that as far as the Daesh death cult

7140-609: Was valid from 2014 for up to 5 years. As of 2015 , more than 400 people who had their refugee claims rejected had been returned home from the Australian-run detention centre in Papua New Guinea, some of which did so voluntarily. The Indonesian government has voiced concern over the operation due to its implications for Indonesia's national sovereignty . A member of the Golkar party, Tantowi Yahya , described

7225-587: Was widely ridiculed, with fact-checking group PolitiFact Australia calling the proposal "ridiculous". Lieutenant General Campbell told a Senate Estimates committee that, two months into the OSB program, no boats had been purchased because Indonesia did not support the idea, although he stated that the measure remained available. The government runs a "communication campaign to counter people smuggling" with advertisements in multiple languages, targeting "press, radio, social and search media" across Australia. Between January and May 2015, $ 750,000 had been spent on

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