Former Prime Minister Tony Abbott has congratulated his daughter on her surprise engagement sparking outrage among gay marriage activists.
Mr Abbott, a lead spokesman for the No campaign, congratulated his fitness fanatic daughter Frances on her engagement to former Olympian turned weightlifter Sam Loch on Twitter, even after just two weeks of dating.
@TiffanyBakker wrote: ‘So two weeks is fine to get engaged, but gay couples who have been together years, no? Right.’
Tony Abbott congratulated his daughter on her surprise engagement on Twitter (pictured)
His congratulatory tweet (pictured) caused outrage among gay marriage activists
Frances Abbott announced her engagement to the Olympian rower on Instagram (pictured)
Gay rights activists perceived Tony Abbott’s (pictured) congratulatory tweets as hypocritical
@NathanhyperBole fired off: ‘Thanks for protecting the sanctity of marriage just so that total strangers like your daughter and her new fiance can get married.’
Frances, 26, made the shock announcement on her Instagram account on Sunday, sharing photo booth picture strips of herself and Olympic rower Sam Loch, 34, adding the engagement notice in the caption.
‘Hey Feyonce,’ she wrote.
‘Two weeks was all it took to know that forever with you was a mighty fine idea.’
Ms Abbott added hashtags reading: ‘why wait’, ‘he liked it so he put a ring on it’ and ‘let’s do this’.
No image has emerged of the ring.
Frances Abbott (right) and her new fiance Sam Loch (left) are both fitness fanatics, with Ms Abbott regularly competing in bodybuilding competitions and Mr Loch previously competing in the Olympics
The announcement was met with a mix of shock and excitement by the competitive bodybuilder’s followers.
A journalist for Harper’s Bazaar who recently interviewed Ms Abbott was more shocked than most.
‘Whoa! Things change quickly,’ wrote Rachelle Unreich.
‘When I interviewed you not very long ago for Harper’s, you said you were sooooo single! Congrats! Wishing you a lifetime of happiness.’
Ms Abbott told her social media followers she had only been dating Mr Loch for two weeks
The 26-year-old has undergone a drastic transformation since taking up professional bodybuilding.
Last year, she competed and recently told Daily Mail Australia the competitions were an ‘exciting experiment’ for herself.
She recently made headlines for her publicly stating she supported marriage equality, while her politician father stood firmly against it, despite his sister being in a high-profile same sex relationship.
Ms Abbott told Daily Mail Australia earlier this month the debate could rage on between the highly passionate members of her family, but would all be set aside at the dinner table.
The 26-year-old has undergone a drastic transformation since taking up professional bodybuilding last year
Sam Loch holds multiple world records for rowing, and has competed in the Beijing and London Olympics
Both Ms Abbott and Mr Loch are understood to work as personal trainers in Melbourne
‘Politics is one of those things,’ she said. ‘It’s hard to avoid when it comes to my family, but we love each other.
‘We will politely agree to disagree and I guess that’s the same with most families. You’re like: ‘I’ll give you the stink eye across the table, but that’s about it’.’
When asked about Tony and his sister, Christine Forster, disagreeing, Frances said: ‘Of course it’s set aside when we sit down. It’s all: ”Hey’, ‘Hey”.’
Ms Abbott recently worked for the marriage equality campaign, which she said was ‘interesting’:
‘For me, it seems so obvious,’ she explained.
‘I don’t really understand why it’s a debate. It was great working with the equality campaign. It’s time for change.’
Sam Loch, her new fiance, holds multiple world records for rowing, and has competed in the Beijing and London Olympics.
Both Ms Abbott and Mr Loch are understood to work as personal trainers in Melbourne.
No announcement has been posted to Mr Loch’s Instagram, though he is an avid user of the platform, often sharing videos demonstrating his super-human strength.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Ms Abbott for comment.
No announcement has been posted to Mr Loch’s Instagram, though he is an avid user of the platform