He was a Senator for Tasmania from 1994 to 2022, representing the Liberal Party, and since March 2024 has been a member of the Tasmanian House of Assembly for the Franklin electorate.

Born in Germany, Abetz emigrated to Australia as a small child, when his father came to work for Tasmania's Hydro Electric Commission.

[3] His father, Walter Abetz, a radio technician in the Nazi Germany armed forces who lost a leg fighting on the Russian Front,[4] came to Australia to work for Tasmania's Hydro Electric Commission, which had advertised for skilled workers in German newspapers.

Abetz studied at Taroona High School, Hobart Matriculation College and the University of Tasmania, earning degrees in law and arts in 1981.

He served as president of the University of Tasmania Liberal Club,[11] and in 1980–1981, he became the first Tasmanian to become national president of the Australian Liberal Students' Federation, during which time he came into political conflict with Nick Sherry and Sue Mackay, both later to be Australian Labor Party senators.

[16] In mid-2009 Abetz was a central figure in the OzCar affair, which involved false allegations that Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Treasurer Wayne Swan had improperly given favourable treatment to a car dealer, John Grant, who was a friend of the Prime Minister.

[citation needed] Abetz also designed and implemented the Government's Jobactive Employment Services Reforms.

[citation needed] In August 2014 Abetz received criticism from the media and politicians such as the Greens' Adam Bandt for making claims of a link between abortion and breast cancer when appearing on The Project.

De Bruyn spent 36 years as National Secretary of the SDA, known for its close relationships with major employers such as Coles and Woolworths.

[26] In October 2015, Abetz attracted controversy after referring to Justice Clarence Thomas of the U.S. Supreme Court as a "negro American" during a radio interview.

On 24 March 2021, two days after Tasmanian House of Assembly speaker Sue Hickey resigned from the Liberal Party to sit as an independent, Hickey accused Abetz in the House of making "slut-shaming" comments on Brittany Higgins, who allegedly had been raped by a male staffer in the Federal Parliament in Canberra.

Hickey claimed that Abetz had told her at a citizenship ceremony in Hobart on 1 March:As for that Higgins girl, anybody so disgustingly drunk who would sleep with anybody could have slept with one of our spies and put the security of the nation at risk.

[39][40] On 7 January 2024, it was reported that Abetz would seek the preselection of the Liberal Party as a candidate for Franklin at the 2024 Tasmanian state election.