The Abbott family on 7 September 2013
It has long been known that Tony Abbott has a penchant for excepting gifts of tailored suits, shirts, ties and sports gear from donors and ‘sponsors’.
Now The Sydney Morning Herald reveals that the women in his family may have their hands out as well……
There are plenty of parallels between the Abbott and Obama roadshows. Strong, likeable wife. Tick. Two inspiring daughters. Tick. Skinny suits, white shirts and 365 blue ties. Tick, tick, tick. At the pointy end of his re-election, the President was rarely seen without a jacket and tie. When was the last time you saw Tony in a golf shirt? Or Speedos? Team Abbott should be given gold stars for slickness. With under two weeks to go they're stage-managing the finale with the precision (and wardrobe) of a Kardashian Christmas card.
Like many young Australian women, Bridget and Frances Abbott enjoy getting dressed up, telling Harper's Bazaar magazine that they act as each other's stylists when preparing for their father's events. "We still live at home and it's pretty much an all-girl household most of the time – dad's never there – so we bounce ideas off each other and mum. Sometimes we'll come out in a dress we think is really nice and she'll be like, 'No you wore that out on Saturday night - and you can't wear that to an event!' We do have to be careful of the type of clothes we wear."
Margie Abbott knows how to dress for the klieg light too. At the launch she wore red. Michelle Obama, inauguration ball red. Red that said I stand beside not behind my husband. When Bridget stood on the podium, resplendent in white and said, "I've seen my dad with people from all walks of life – young, old, rich, poor, gay, straight, the frail, the fit, indigenous and migrant – and he treats every single one of them with equal respect" – I believed her. I believed her white blazer.
Fashion can be a potent Kool-Aid and I'm certain that last Sunday night, I'm not the only Australian who took a big sip.
Athletic and fresh-faced, sunny and always keen to gossip, at lunch Frances spoke about the fashion designers clamouring to dress her and her sisters.
She said a lot of clothes swapping and borrowing went on among her sisters and that hopeful designers sent items to them via the Prime Minister's Office. ''We don't see [the clothes] because they send them to my dad's office. But [staff] said they've been inundated,'' she said.
She has a good relationship with young designer By Johnny, who sends her and her sisters ''five things a time'', which they send back after wearing, and being photographed in.
Mr Abbott updated his pecuniary interest register by adding three pages of entries, 23 of which relate to his wife and daughters.
They included tickets to fashion shows and the gift of a dress from designer Johnny Schembri to daughter Bridget, which she kept and paid $20 to the Collector of Public Monies.
Since their father Tony Abbott's appointment as PM, Bridget, 20 Frances, 22 and Louise, 24 Abbott have being thrust into the spotlight and have fast become regulars on the social scene.
When Confidential asked the photogenic twenty-somethings whether they had been inundated with requests from designers to wear their clothes, Bridget said, "a little bit and it is kind of hard to keep up with."
"When people say, "oh we would love you to wear something of ours," if we don't have an opportunity to wear it you feel bad.
"You don't want to be ungrateful and unappreciative but it is so hard to keep on top of it."
Since their dad gained the top job, the girls have aligned themselves with top Australian designers including Toni Matacevski, Nicola Finetti, Willow and Manning and Cartel.
However it is up and coming designer Johnny Schembri, who owns the label by johnny, who has received the tick of approval from the Abbott girls.
UPDATE
A single mum
has lost a legal stoush with the Prime Minister’s daughter after Frances Abbott
broke the lease at her Melbourne rental property….
The first
VCAT member to hear the case, Michael Sweeney, was forced to declare he had
“dealings with the Prime Minister” and Ms Credlin and excused himself from the
hearing.
The matter
was eventually heard by Ms Kylea Campana.
Ms Abbott
told the hearing she did not feel like the property was “safe and secure” as it
was advertised.
“I also had
my dad and the police check the apartment with me … my dad’s the prime
minister,” Ms Abbott told VCAT.
