Margie Abbott

Margaret Veronica Abbott (née Aitken; born 1 February 1958) is a New Zealand businesswoman best known as the wife of Tony Abbott, the 28th Prime Minister of Australia (2013–2015). She runs a childcare centre in Sydney. Early life Margaret Veronica Aitken was born in Hutt Hospital, Lower Hutt, New Zealand to Max and Gail Aitken, and grew up in Wainuiomata. Both parents worked for the Post Office, Max as deputy chief postmaster of Wellington, and Gail as a typist. She has a brother, Greg, a former private investigator. 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. She is a Catholic, like her husband. Her father is a member of the New Zealand Labour Party and her mother is a Labour voter. There were pictures of Labour leaders in the kitchen of the family home. Abbott was also briefly a member of the Labour Party. Abbott attended Fernlea School and Wainuiomata College, where among other studies she took part in a pioneering Māori-language course. At the age of 16, she entered the Wellington Teachers' College, and after graduation taught primary school in Upper Hutt and Wainuiomata. She taught Māori both there and later in Australia.