Margie Abbott

In May 2014, Tim Mathieson, the partner of former prime minister Julia 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.

Mrs Abbott kept a relatively low profile during her husband's prime ministership, giving only a handful of interviews. She continued living in Sydney – neither she nor her husband lived at The Lodge, the usual prime minister's residence in Canberra, as it was undergoing renovations.

In September 2013, Mrs Abbott attracted media attention when she made comments apparently supportive of same-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".

She met Tony Abbott at a Sydney pub in 1988; he was then a journalist with The Bulletin. He proposed after taking her on the Kokoda Track. They married at Riverview Chapel on 24 September 1988, and have three daughters: Louise, Frances, and Bridget.

After leaving teaching, she worked at a recruitment firm, and in 1983 followed her boss to Sydney, Australia, when he sold the company. Her next career move was to the marketing department of a merchant bank in Sydney, where she met her future husband. She eventually opened a community-based not-for-profit child care centre in St Ives, Sydney, which employs 10 staff and cares for children from around 100 families. She continued as a director of the centre after her husband became prime minister.

Margaret Veronica Abbott (née Aitken; born 1 February 1958) is an Australian businesswoman who is best known as the wife of Tony Abbott, the 28th Prime Minister of Australia (2013–2015). She runs a childcare centre in Sydney.