Ex-Australian PM Abbott Loses Seat in ‘Unprecedented’ Defeat

(Bloomberg) -- Former Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott has been soundly defeated in his formerly ultra-safe seat on Sydney’s wealthy north shore in Saturday’s election, ending a 25-year parliamentary career.

Abbott, 61, suffered a 13% swing against him in Warringah to independent Zali Steggall, a lawyer and former Olympic skier, according to the Australian Electoral Commission. Once preference flows from minor parties were incorporated, he scored 41% of the two-party preferred vote to Steggall’s 59%, the AEC projected.

Abbott conceded defeat this evening and congratulated Steggall, but said he took solace from the very strong performance by the government after what was widely agreed to be an effective campaign by Prime Minister Scott Morrison.

“The good news is much more important than the bad news. The good news is that there is every chance that the Liberal-National coalition has won this election,’’ Abbott told supporters. “Scott Morrison will now quite rightly enter the Liberal pantheon forever.’’

Abbott has been criticized over the years for his arch-conservative views that have seen him doubt climate change, oppose same-sex marriage and reinstate Australia’s archaic honors system of appointing knights and dames. After being removed as Liberal leader by his own lawmakers, he remained in parliament on the backbench and often criticized the policy positions of his moderate successor, Malcolm Turnbull.

‘Unprecedented’

“This is a slaughter. This is unprecedented,” said Labor lawmaker Anthony Albanese. “This is the absolute faithful walking away from Tony Abbott.”

Abbott served as prime minister for two years from September 2013 before he was dumped in a party-room coup. A figure-head of the Liberals’ hard-right wing, he’s been a lightning rod for controversy for much of his political career, and was famously labeled a misogynist by then Labor Prime Minister Julia Gillard in 2012.

“The nature of politics changed” under Abbott, Albanese said. “It’s come home to roost.”

Abbott, in an upbeat speech despite being one of just a handful of current or former prime ministers to lose his seat, said the Liberal party could be returned to office in the evening’s “stupendous result.”

‘More Confident’

“What’s best for the country is not who wins or loses Warringah. But who forms or does not form a government in Canberra,” he said. “And tonight we can be extraordinarily confident, more confident than we ever had any right to expect, that we will have continued good Liberal-National government.’’

Abbott first won the seat of Warringah in Sydney’s northern beaches in 1994. It has long been considered safe and entrenched for the Liberals. But he’s faced a well-funded campaign to remove him at this election.

He struggled to move from being a highly effective opposition leader to prime minister, appearing more comfortable fighting ideological battles than dealing with the complexities of policy and governing for the nation as a whole.

“I’m a bit of a traditionalist, I’m a bit sad to see a former prime minister go out like that,’’ said Labor’s Chris Bowen, the shadow treasurer. “I think it would have been better if he had gone of his own accord.’’

To contact the reporter on this story: Michael Heath in Sydney at mheath1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Nasreen Seria at nseria@bloomberg.net, Malcolm Scott, Chris Bourke

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