David Marr's Tony Abbott essay hits Button David Marr won the John Button Prize for his Quarterly Essay on the Opposition Leader, Political Animal: The Making of Tony Abbott. Picture: Bob Finlayson Source: The Sunday Telegraph A CONTROVERSIAL essay that reignited claims of misogyny against Tony Abbott has won one of the nation's richest awards for writing on public policy and politics. Former Fairfax journalist David Marr will tonight receive the $20,000 John Button Prize for his Quarterly Essay on the Opposition Leader, Political Animal: The Making of Tony Abbott. The piece made headlines over an allegation Mr Abbott punched the wall on either side of a female rival's head while active in student politics at Sydney University in the late 70s. Mr Abbott has said the incident "never happened." His accuser, Barbara Ramjan, has said she stands by what she told Marr. The judges said Marr's essay was a "powerful, nuanced and beautifully written account of the man who may become Prime Minister on September 7." Marr said he was delighted that "after all the hullabaloo," the essay "has been recognised as a piece of analysis." He said he had long been fascinated by Mr Abbott and found him even more interesting after writing the essay. "He is a most unpredictable leader: there's a chasm in him between the values he claims and the politics he practises," he said. Australia may be about to drop into that chasm. The award, named in honour of Hawke government minister John Button, will be presented at the Melbourne Writers Festival in tandem with the annual John Button Oration, in which former federal Labour leader Mark Latham will consider the future of the ALP. The judges also praised the two runners-up: Tim Soutphommasane for his book Don't Go Back to Where You Came: Why Multiculturalism Works, and former ambassador Tony Kevin for Reluctant Rescuers, which criticises Australia's record on assisting stricken asylum-seekers. Marr has now won prizes for major works on each of the men who want to be prime minister. His June 2010 Quarterly Essay on Kevin Rudd, Power Trip, won a Walkley Award for magazine feature writing. Interestingly, Mr Rudd was deposed by Julia Gillard soon after that essay was published. A similar fate befell Malcom Turnbull, who was ousted as Liberal leader not long after Annabel Crabb published a Quarterly Essay on him. The judges were academic and writer Morag Fraser, former West Australian premier Geoff Gallop, former head of the prime minister's department Michael Keating, Julian Leeser, who is director of government, policy and strategy at Australian Catholic University, and anthropologist and editor Sally Warhaft.