Frances Abbott breaks silence about Freya Newman and scholarship scandal

THE Prime Minister’s daughter has spoken for the first time about the controversial scholarship she was awarded and the woman who leaked details of it to the media.

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - NOVEMBER 04: Frances Abbott attends on Melbourne Cup Day at Flemington Racecourse on November 4, 2014 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Scott Barbour/Getty Images)

THE daughter of the Prime Minister, Frances Abbott, has spoken for the first time about the controversial scholarship she was awarded and the woman who leaked the details of it to the media.

Tony Abbott’s middle daughter was at the centre of a national scandal in May when it was revealed she was awarded a $60,000 scholarship to study at exclusive private fashion college the Whitehouse Institute of Design.

Ms Abbott was accused of being given undue favourable treatment because of her prominent status as Mr Abbott’s daughter.

Frances Abbott in the Birdcage at Flemington Racecourse during the Melbourne Cup.

The whistleblower who leaked the details of the questionable scholarship to the media, university student Freya Newman, 21, now faces up to two years’ jail for her actions.

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Ms Abbott has broken her silence about the scandal today in The Australian, saying she did not approve of Ms Newman’s methods.

“To be honest, it’s just like as a small child you learn it’s not right to read someone’s diary. It’s not right to hack into anything,” she said.

It was revealed in court last month that Ms Newman sent a letter to say sorry for her actions and Ms Abbott said she had accepted the apology.

“I guess in that situation, I’m trying to move forward with everything, but it’s just one of those things. I wish Freya all the best and, moving forward, we all make mistakes,” Ms Abbott said.

“Obviously, (Freya) acknowledged her mistake so moving forward, moving on.”

Freya Newman leaves court last month after being charged over accessing the student records of Prime Minister Tony Abbott's daughter Frances.

Ms Abbott lives in Melbourne where she works as a buying assistant in children’s wear at Myer.

Ms Newman, meanwhile, has an agonising wait until she is sentenced on November 25. She has pleaded guilty to leaking restricted data by accessing the details of Ms Abbott’s scholarship via another staff member’s login when she was a casual library assistant at the college.

Ms Newman’s barrister, Tony Payne, SC, told a Sydney court last month that she was motivated by a “sense of injustice”, not a desire for notoriety or to embarrass Ms Abbott.

Ms Abbott won the secret scholarship in 2011 when her father was the opposition leader, which meant she paid only $7546 for her $68,182 degree. The elite institute’s chairman, Les Taylor, is a longtime friend of Mr Abbott and a Liberal Party donor.

Frances Abbott with boyfriend Lindsay Smith at the Melbourne Cup. Picture: Scott Barbour/Getty Images

When news of the scholarship broke in May, one of Ms Abbott’s fellow students told news.com.au that she was “disgusted” about Frances’ apparent “free ride”. Another classmate said it was “beyond a joke”.

Mr Abbott defended his daughter at the time, with his office saying she was awarded the scholarship “based on her application and art portfolio”.

The institute’s website clearly states that “Whitehouse does not currently offer scholarships to gain a place into the Bachelor of Design”, but a spokesman said the institute awarded “all sorts of scholarships; it would probably be 20 or more each year”.

Frances Abbott has accepted an apology from Freya Newman.