Tony Abbott is the 28th Prime Minister of Australia, following the Liberal-National Coalition's clear victory over Kevin Rudd's Labour Party today.

Who is Tony Abbott? Below are 10 facts about Australia's new PM:

1. A boxer.

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He was a prominent student boxer and won two Oxford Blues in boxing, the top sporting award in Oxford University.

2. Almost a priest.

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He entered the St Patrick's Seminary in Manly where he studied to become a Catholic priest. He is nicknamed "The Mad Monk" by his critics.

3. A Rhodes Scholar.

Abbott was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University and studied Politics and Philosophy. Singapore's Opposition MP Chen Show Mao and former Transport Minister Raymond Lim were also Rhodes Scholars.

4. Married with three daughters.

Source: Tony Abbott Facebook

Abbott is married to Margaret and has three daughters: Louise, 24, Frances, 22, and Bridget, 20.

5. An MP since 1994.

Source: Tony Abbott website

Abbott was elected as a Member for Warringah at a by-election in March 1994.

5. Health Minister and Employment Minister

Source: Tony Abbott Facebook

Abbott served as a Minister for Employment, Workplace Relations and Small Business (2001-2003) and Minister for Health and Ageing in the Howard Government (2003-2007).

6. A monarchist

Tony Abbott was the first executive director of Australians for Constitutional Monarchy from 1993-94. He was part of the movement that defeated the 1999 Australian republic referendum. The proposed law was to alter the Constitution to establish Australia as a republic with the Queen and Governor-General being replaced by a President appointed by a two-thirds majority of the MPs.

7. Regularly competes in ironman triathlons.

Shortly after his appointment as Opposition Leader, he completed an ironman triathlon – a two mile swim, 111 mile bike ride and 26 mile run – in just under 14 hours.

8. Leader of Opposition since 1 December 2009.

Source: Tony Abbott Facebook

In 2009, Abbott narrowly beat then leader Malcolm Turnbull in the Liberal party leadership vote, winning 42 votes to Turnbull's 41. In the 2010 general election, Abbott's coalition denied the Labour government a majority, as the polls delivered a hung parliament. Then PM Julia Gillard formed a government that relied on the support of a handful of independents.

9. Three Mentors in life - John Howard, Bartholomew Augustine Santamaria and Father Emmet Costello

John Howard was the 25th PM of Australia (1996 - 2007) and is the second-longest serving Australian PM.

Bartholomew Augustine Santamaria (B.A. Santamaria) was an Australian political activist and journalist. He was the guiding influence of the Democratic Labor Party.

Emmett Costello is a Catholic priest.

10. Quotable quotes

Source: Tony Abbott Facebook

On Women: "I think it would be folly to expect that women will ever dominate or even approach equal representation in a large number of areas simply because their aptitudes, abilities and interests are different for physiological reasons".

On Climate change:"Climate change is absolute crap".

On Homosexuality:"I’d probably … I feel a bit threatened".

On Immigration: "Jesus knew that there was a place for everything and it’s not necessarily everyone’s place to come to Australia."

Featured Photo: Tony Abbott Facebook

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