Nigel Drury Gresley Abbott (29 March 1920 – 13 November 2011) was an Australian politician. He was a

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * Generally, a supporter of the political philosophy liberalism. Liberals may be politically left or right but tend to be centrist. * An adherent of a Liberal Party (See also Liberal parties by country ...

member of the

Tasmanian House of Assembly The House of Assembly, or Lower House, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of Tasmania in Australia. The other is the Tasmanian Legislative Council, Legislative Council or Upper House. It sits in Parliament House, Hobart, Parliament Hou ...

from 1964 to 1972, representing the seat of Denison. Tasmania's first Minister for Road Safety, he resigned from the Liberal Party to stand as an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

after failing to get his road safety measures approved by the party.

Early life and education

Abbott was born in the town of Clunes, near Ballarat in Victoria. He moved to Tasmania with his family when his father, a doctor, started a medical practice in the

Huon Valley The Huon Valley, often shortened to the Huon, is a rural region and river valley in southern Tasmania, Australia. Centred on the lower reaches of the Huon River, it was historically renowned for its apple orchards. Today the valley’s econ ...

. He was educated at a public high school in

Geeveston Geeveston is a small town in the south of Tasmania in Australia near the Huon River, south west of Hobart, making it Australia's most southerly administrative centre. The town takes its name from William Geeves, an English settler who was giv ...

, then at the Anglican private school Hutchins in Hobart, and completing his secondary education at

St Peter's College, Adelaide St Peter's College (officially The Anglican Church of Australia Collegiate School of Saint Peter, but commonly known as Saints) is an Private school, independent Anglican Church of Australia, Anglican Primary school, primary and Secondary school ...

in 1937. Following his father into a medical career, Abbott studied the first year of a medical degree at the

University of Tasmania The University of Tasmania (UTAS) is a public research university, primarily located in Tasmania, Australia. Founded in 1890, it is Australia's fourth oldest university. Christ College (University of Tasmania), Christ College, one of the unive ...

before moving to the

University of Adelaide The University of Adelaide is a public university, public research university based in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. Its main campus in the Adelaide city centre includes many Sa ...

, from where he graduated

MBBS A Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (; MBBS, also abbreviated as BM BS, MB ChB, MB BCh, or MB BChir) is a medical degree granted by medical schools or universities in countries that adhere to the United Kingdom's higher education tradi ...

in 1944. During his studies, he played six games of

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

for South Adelaide in the

SANFL The South Australian National Football League, or SANFL ( or ''S-A-N-F-L''), is an Australian rules football league based in the Australian state of South Australia. It is also the state's sports governing body, governing body for the sport. ...

.
He was later involved for many years with the

Hobart Football Club Hobart Football Club (nicknamed The Tigers) is an Australian rules football club based in Hobart, Tasmania. The club play their home fixtures at the TCA Ground on the Queens Domain, in Hobart and is a member of the Southern Football League. ...

as the club's doctor, also serving a term as President of the club in 1960 and was still involved in the club for his medical help as late as 1999.

Military service

In January 1942 in Adelaide, Abbott enlisted in the

Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of Australia. It is a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF), along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army ...

and served as a private in the 6th Cavalry Ambulance unit. In July 1945 in

Brighton, Tasmania Brighton is a suburb 27 km north of Hobart, in Tasmania, Australia. It is between Pontville and the outer Hobart suburb of Bridgewater on the Midland Highway. At the 2021 census, Brighton had a population of 4,983. History Prior to Eu ...

, he enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force (AIF), and saw service with the

British Commonwealth Occupation Force The British Commonwealth Occupation Force (BCOF) was the British Commonwealth taskforce consisting of Australian, British, Indian, and New Zealander military forces in occupied Japan, from 1946 until the end of occupation in 1952. At its pe ...

in post-war Japan. Upon his discharge with the rank of captain in July 1948, he joined the

Citizen Military Forces The Australian Army Reserve is a collective name given to the military reserve force, reserve units of the Australian Army. Since the Federation of Australia in 1901, the reserve military force has been known by many names, including the Citize ...

and was commanding officer of the 10th Field Ambulance. As a lieutenant colonel, Abbott served for three months in 1968 as head of a military aid mission during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

. He implemented a new

malaria prophylaxis Malaria prophylaxis is the preventive treatment of malaria. Several malaria vaccines are under development. For pregnant women who are living in malaria endemic areas, routine malaria chemoprevention is recommended. It improves anemia and parasite ...

regimen, which was later adopted across all Australian and American forces in Vietnam.

Medical career

Following his military service, Abbott returned to Tasmania where he resumed his medical career, working as a consulting physician at the

Royal Hobart Hospital The Royal Hobart Hospital is a public hospital in the Hobart CBD, Tasmania, Australia. The hospital also functions as a teaching hospital in co-operation with the University of Tasmania. The hospital's research facilities are known as the Roy ...

and later Queenstown Hospital. He then worked as a

general practitioner A general practitioner (GP) is a doctor who is a Consultant (medicine), consultant in general practice. GPs have distinct expertise and experience in providing whole person medical care, whilst managing the complexity, uncertainty and risk ass ...

Zeehan Zeehan is a town on the west coast of Tasmania, Australia south-west of Burnie. It is part of the West Coast Council, along with the seaport Strahan and neighbouring mining towns of Rosebery and Queenstown. History The greater Zeehan a ...

before returning to Hobart to operate a GP practice at

Kingston Kingston may refer to: Places * List of places called Kingston, including the six most populated: ** Kingston, Jamaica ** Kingston upon Hull, England ** City of Kingston, Victoria, Australia ** Kingston, Ontario, Canada ** Kingston upon Thames, ...

Political career

Abbott entered politics at a local government level, serving as an alderman on the

Hobart City Council The City of Hobart is a local government area in Tasmania which covers the central metropolitan area of the state capital, Hobart. The city is governed by Hobart City Council and led by the Lord Mayor. The local government area has a populat ...

from 1962 to 1964. At the Tasmanian state election in 1964, Abbott was elected as a member of the

, representing the electorate of Denison for the Liberal Party. When the Liberal Party led by Angus Bethune formed an alliance with

Kevin Lyons Kevin Orchard Lyons (7 February 1923 – 24 May 2000) was an Australian politician and member of the Tasmanian House of Assembly representing the seat of Darwin (later renamed Braddon). Biography Early life Born in 1923 in Hobart, he was the ...

' Centre Party in 1969, the Labor government of

Eric Reece Eric Elliott Reece, AC (6 July 190923 October 1999) was Premier of Tasmania on two occasions: from 26 August 1958 to 26 May 1969, and from 3 May 1972 to 31 March 1975. His 13 years as premier remains the second longest in Tasmania's history, se ...

lost its majority in the House of Assembly, and Bethune became

Premier of Tasmania The premier of Tasmania is the head of the Government of Tasmania, executive government in the Australian state of Tasmania. By convention, the leader of the party or political grouping which has majority support in the Tasmanian House of Assem ...

. Abbott was appointed to Bethune's cabinet, serving as Minister for Health and taking on a new portfolio of Road Safety. On 27 September 1971, Abbott announced he had resigned as road safety minister after the

Tasmanian Legislative Council The Tasmanian Legislative Council is the upper house of the Parliament of Tasmania in Australia. It is one of the two Chambers of parliament, chambers of the Parliament, the other being the Tasmanian House of Assembly, House of Assembly. Both ho ...

voted down what he saw as vital legislation on road safety, introducing on-the-spot fines for traffic offences and a

demerit point A penalty point or demerit point system revokes or suspends a person's driving license based on the number of points accumulated over a specific period. Points are assigned for traffic offenses and infringements committed during this time. The de ...

system. He had previously promised to resign if he could not successfully lower the state's road toll, which by September had already exceeded the number of road deaths in 1970. Bethune's cabinet met the next day, and after a two-and-a-half hour meeting, convinced Abbott to withdraw his resignation and return to work. Five months later, the Liberal–Centre coalition collapsed when Lyons resigned as Deputy Premier and withdrew his support for the Liberals, triggering the 1972 election. In the week after Lyons' resignation, Abbott also resigned as a minister after not getting the assurance of support he sought from the party for his road safety reforms. Abbott's portfolios were assigned to the state attorney-general Max Bingham until the election. Abbott announced he would not contest the 1972 election, but ended up contesting Denison as an ungrouped independent candidate, however he was not elected. He returned to local government in 1988, serving as an alderman on

Kingborough Council Kingborough Council is a local government body in Tasmania, and one of the five municipalities that constitutes the Greater Hobart Area. Kingborough is classified as an urban local government area and has a population of 37,734, it covers the ...

until 1996. In the Queen's Birthday Honours in 1994, he was made a Member of the

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

(AM) for service to the community, particularly through local government and to the Tasmanian Parliament.

Personal life

Abbott's father, also named Dr Nigel Abbott, was a medical doctor who was involved with the conservative Nationalist Party (a precursor to the Liberal Party)—Abbott senior was an endorsed Nationalist candidate for the seat of

Franklin Franklin may refer to: People and characters * Franklin (given name), including list of people and characters with the name * Franklin (surname), including list of people and characters with the name * Franklin (class), a member of a historic ...

at the

1934 Tasmanian state election The 1934 Tasmanian state election was held on 9 June 1934 in the Australian state of Tasmania to elect 30 members of the Tasmanian House of Assembly. The election used the Hare-Clark proportional representation system South Yarra South Yarra is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 4 km south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the Cities of Melbourne and Stonnington local government areas. South Yarra recorded a populati ...

, Melbourne. They had six children: Tony, Deb, Clive, Geoff, Rick and Felicity. Felicity was killed in a road accident in 1952, which inspired Abbott's commitment to road safety as a campaigner and later as a government minister.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abbott, Nigel 1920 births 2011 deaths Royal Australian Army Medical Corps officers Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Tasmania Members of the Tasmanian House of Assembly Australian general practitioners Australian military doctors Members of the Order of Australia Australian colonels Australian Army personnel of World War II People from Clunes, Victoria Fellows of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians University of Adelaide Medical School alumni University of Tasmania alumni South Adelaide Football Club players People educated at St Peter's College, Adelaide Australian military personnel of the Vietnam War People educated at The Hutchins School Military personnel from Victoria (state)