Scott Morrison facts for kids

Quick facts for kids The Honourable Scott Morrison
Official portrait, 2021
30th Prime Minister of Australia
In office 24 August 2018 – 23 May 2022
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Governor General	Sir Peter Cosgrove David Hurley
Deputy	Michael McCormack Barnaby Joyce
Preceded by	Malcolm Turnbull
Succeeded by	Anthony Albanese
14th Leader of the Liberal Party
In office 24 August 2018 – 30 May 2022
Deputy	Josh Frydenberg
Preceded by	Malcolm Turnbull
Succeeded by	Peter Dutton
Ministerial Positions Minister for Industry, Science, Energy and Resources In office 15 April 2021 – 23 May 2022 Serving with Christian Porter (2021); Melissa Price as Science and Energy (2021–2022); Angus Taylor as Industry (2021–2022) Prime Minister Himself Preceded by Christian Porter Succeeded by Madeleine King Minister for Home Affairs In office 6 May 2021 – 23 May 2022 Serving with Karen Andrews Prime Minister Himself Preceded by Karen Andrews Succeeded by Clare O'Neil Minister for Finance In office 30 March 2020 – 23 May 2022 Serving with Mathias Cormann (2020); Simon Birmingham (2020–2022) Prime Minister Himself Preceded by Mathias Cormann Succeeded by Katy Gallagher Minister for Health In office 14 March 2020 – 23 May 2022 Serving with Greg Hunt Prime Minister Himself Preceded by Greg Hunt Succeeded by Mark Butler Treasurer of Australia In office 6 May 2021 – 23 May 2022 Serving with Josh Frydenberg Prime Minister Himself Preceded by Josh Frydenberg Succeeded by Jim Chalmers In office 21 September 2015 – 28 August 2018 Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull Preceded by Joe Hockey Succeeded by Josh Frydenberg Minister for the Public Service In office 29 May 2019 – 8 October 2021 Prime Minister Himself Preceded by Mathias Cormann Succeeded by Ben Morton Minister for Social Services In office 23 December 2014 – 21 September 2015 Prime Minister Tony Abbott Malcolm Turnbull Preceded by Kevin Andrews Succeeded by Christian Porter Minister for Immigration and Border Protection In office 18 September 2013 – 23 December 2014 Prime Minister Tony Abbott Preceded by Tony Burke Succeeded by Peter Dutton
Member of the Australian Parliament for Cook
In office 24 November 2007 – 28 February 2024
Preceded by	Bruce Baird
Succeeded by	Simon Kennedy
Personal details
Born	Scott John Morrison (1968-05-13) 13 May 1968 (age 56) Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Political party	Liberal
Other political affiliations	Coalition
Spouse	Jenny Warren ​ (m. 1990)​
Children	2
Parent	John Douglas Morrison (father)
Education	University of New South Wales (BSc Hons)
Signature
Website	scottmorrison.com.au (dead) (21 Feb 2024 archive)
Nickname	ScoMo

Scott John Morrison (born 13 May 1968) is an Australian former politician who served as the 30th prime minister of Australia from 2018 to 2022. He held office as leader of the Liberal Party of Australia and was the member of parliament (MP) for the New South Wales division of Cook from 2007 until 2024.

Morrison was born in Sydney and studied economic geography at the University of New South Wales. He worked as director of the New Zealand Office of Tourism and Sport from 1998 to 2000 and was managing director of Tourism Australia from 2004 to 2006. Morrison also was state director of the New South Wales Liberal Party from 2000 to 2004. He was first elected to the Australian House of Representatives at the 2007 election as a member of parliament (MP) for the division of Cook in New South Wales, and was quickly appointed to the shadow cabinet.

After the Liberal-National coalition's victory at the 2013 election, Morrison was appointed Minister for Immigration and Border Protection in the Abbott government, where he was responsible for implementing Operation Sovereign Borders. In a reshuffle the following year, he became Minister for Social Services. He was later promoted to the role of Treasurer in September 2015, after Malcolm Turnbull replaced Abbott as prime minister. In August 2018, Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton unsuccessfully challenged Turnbull for the leadership of the Liberal Party. Leadership tensions continued, and the party voted to hold a second leadership ballot days later, with Turnbull choosing not to stand. In that ballot, Morrison was seen as a compromise candidate and defeated both Dutton and Foreign Minister Julie Bishop to become party leader and thus prime minister in August 2018.

Morrison won a second term after leading the Coalition to an upset victory in the 2019 election. Morrison drew near unanimous condemnation for taking a holiday during Australia's 2019–20 bushfire season and for his government's response to the disaster. ..... During the COVID-19 pandemic, Morrison established the National Cabinet, and Australia received praise during 2020 for being one of the few Western countries to successfully suppress the virus, though the slow initial pace of the COVID-19 vaccination rollout was criticised. In foreign policy, Morrison oversaw the signing of the AUKUS security pact and increased tensions between Australia and China and Australia and France. Morrison directed logistical support to Ukraine as part of the international effort against Russia in the wake of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. Morrison has also been criticised for his government's response to the 2022 eastern Australia floods, and his perceived inaction on climate change. The government was defeated at the 2022 election and Morrison stepped down as leader of the Liberal Party; Peter Dutton was elected unopposed to replace him. On 23 January 2024, he announced his departure from politics altogether, and resigned his seat of Cook on 28 February 2024.

After leaving office, Morrison became involved in a scandal after it was revealed that he had secretly held several ministerial positions while serving as prime minister, which led to Parliament passing a censure motion against him.

Early life and education

Morrison was born in the suburb of Waverley in Sydney, the younger of two sons born to Marion (née Smith) and John Douglas Morrison (1934–2020). His father was a policeman who served on the Waverley Municipal Council, including a single term as mayor. Morrison's maternal grandfather was born in New Zealand. His paternal grandmother was the niece of noted Australian poet Dame Mary Gilmore. In 2012, on the 50th anniversary of her death, he delivered a tribute to her in federal parliament. Morrison is descended from William Roberts, a convict who was convicted of stealing yarn and transported to Australia on the First Fleet in 1788.

Morrison grew up in the suburb of Bronte. He had a brief career as a child actor, appearing in several television commercials and small roles in local shows. Morrison attended Sydney Boys High School before going on to complete a Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) honours degree in applied economic geography at the University of New South Wales. His honours thesis, a demographical analysis of Christian Brethren assemblies in Sydney, was deposited in the University of Manchester Library's Christian Brethren Collection. Morrison contemplated studying theology at Regent College in Vancouver, Canada, but he instead chose to enter the workforce after completing his undergraduate education, in part due to the disapproval of his father.

Early career

After graduating from university, Morrison worked as national policy and research manager for the Property Council of Australia from 1989 to 1995. He then moved into tourism, serving as deputy chief executive of the Australian Tourism Task Force and then general manager of the Tourism Council of Australia; the latter was managed by Bruce Baird, whom he would eventually succeed in federal parliament.

In 1998, Morrison moved to New Zealand to become director of the newly created Office of Tourism and Sport. He formed a close relationship with New Zealand's tourism minister, Murray McCully, and was involved with the creation of the long-running "100% Pure New Zealand" campaign. He left this position in 2000, a year before the contract schedule.

Morrison returned to Australia in 2000, to become state director of the New South Wales division of the Liberal Party. He oversaw the party's campaigns in the 2001 federal election and in the 2003 New South Wales state election.

Tourism Australia

In 2004, Morrison left the NSW Liberal Party post to become the inaugural managing director of Tourism Australia, which had been established by the Howard government. His appointment was controversial due to its openly political nature. He signed an initial three-year contract. Morrison approved and defended the contentious "So where the bloody hell are you?" advertising campaign featuring Lara Bingle. His contract was terminated in July 2006, which at the time was attributed to conflict with tourism minister Fran Bailey over the government's plans to further integrate the agency into the Australian Public Service. He had been awarded a pay rise by the Remuneration Tribunal three weeks before his sacking. A 2019 investigation by The Saturday Paper suggested Morrison was sacked due to concerns that Tourism Australia was not following government procurement guidelines for three contracts relating to the "So where the bloody hell are you?" campaign, with a total value of $184 million. A 2008 report from the Auditor-General found that "information had been kept from the board, procurement guidelines breached and private companies engaged before paperwork was signed and without appropriate value-for-money assessments". It was suggested that M&C Saatchi, which had previously worked with Morrison on the "100% Pure" campaign in New Zealand, received favourable treatment in the tendering process. In 2022, following the ministerial positions controversy, Fran Bailey revealed that Morrison showed no respect for his colleagues at Tourism Australia and he left her feeling bullied, also confirming that he “point-blank refused” to provide her or the board with any documentation or to answer questions about how the ad campaign was awarded to Saatchi.

This episode and, more generally, his career in marketing led to his satirical sobriquet, "Scotty from Marketing," originating with the satirical news website The Betoota Advocate in August 2018. It was taken up on Twitter in early 2019, and spiked at the height of the bushfire crisis on 29 December 2019. In January 2020, Morrison referred to the name as a "snarky comment" used by the Labor Party to discredit him.

Political career

Opposition (2007–2013)

Morrison sought Liberal preselection for the division of Cook, an electorate in the southern suburbs of Sydney which includes Cronulla, Caringbah, and Miranda, for the 2007 election, following the retirement of Bruce Baird, who had been the member since 1998. He lost the ballot to Michael Towke, a telecommunications engineer and the candidate of the Liberals' right faction, by 82 votes to 8. Paul Fletcher who came closest to Towke received 70 votes. Fletcher went on to win Liberal preselection for the North Shore seat of Bradfield.

However, allegations surfaced that Towke had engaged in branch stacking and had embellished his resume. The state executive of the Liberal Party disendorsed Towke and held a new pre-selection ballot, which Morrison won. The allegations subsequently proved to be false, and The Daily Telegraph was forced to pay an undisclosed amount to settle a defamation suit filed by Towke. At the general election, Morrison suffered a two-party swing of over six percent against Labor candidate Mark Buttigieg, but was able to retain the seat on the strength of winning 52 percent of the primary vote. In 2022, Towke accused Morrison of engaging in "racial vilification" during the 2007 preselection, including "saying Mr Morrison told party members they should not vote for him because he was from a Lebanese family and because of rumours he was a Muslim", a claim Morrison denied.

Morrison in 2009

In September 2008, Morrison was appointed to Malcolm Turnbull's coalition front bench as shadow minister for housing and local government. In December 2009, he became shadow minister for immigration and citizenship, coming into the shadow cabinet for the first time during Tony Abbott's first cabinet reshuffle shortly after winning the leadership.

In December 2010, forty-eight asylum seekers died in the Christmas Island boat disaster. In February 2011, Morrison publicly questioned the decision of the Gillard Labor government to pay for the relatives of the victims to travel to funerals in Sydney, arguing that the same privilege was not extended to Australian citizens. After fellow Liberal and shadow treasurer Joe Hockey disagreed with Morrison's statements, Morrison said that the timing of his comments was insensitive, but did not back away from the comments themselves. Other Liberal Party members including former prime minister Malcolm Fraser and former opposition leader John Hewson also criticised Morrison for his comments. In the same month, it was revealed that Morrison had "urged the shadow cabinet to capitalise on the electorate's growing concerns" about Muslims and appeal to the public perception of their "inability to integrate" to gain votes.

In February 2013, Morrison said that the police should be notified of where asylum seekers are living in the community if any antisocial behaviour has occurred, and that there should be strict guidelines for the behaviour of those currently on bridging visas while they await the determination of their claims. The new code of conduct was released by the immigration minister for more than 20,000 irregular maritime arrivals living in the community on bridging visas.

Abbott government (2013–2015)

Morrison is sworn in as Minister for Social Services by Governor-General Sir Peter Cosgrove, 2014

Following the Coalition's victory at the 2013 federal election, Morrison was appointed Minister for Immigration and Border Protection in the Abbott government and included in cabinet.

Based on a series of off-the-record interviews, in June 2014 Morrison was identified by Fairfax Media as the leader of an informal grouping of "economically moderate, or wet" government MPs, also including Greg Hunt, Stuart Robert, and Josh Frydenberg. It was linked with another moderate grouping led by Christopher Pyne. It was further reported that Morrison had unsuccessfully argued in cabinet for a $25 million bailout of SPC Ardmona.

Immigration

On 18 September 2013, Morrison launched Operation Sovereign Borders, the new government's strategy aimed at stopping unauthorised boats from entering Australian waters. Cabinet documents from this time revealed in 2018 that Morrison asked for mitigation strategies to avoid granting permanent visas to 700 refugees. His office reported that there were 300 boats and 20,587 arrivals in 2013 to only 1 boat and 157 arrivals for all of 2014. The UNHCR expressed concerns that the practice may violate the Refugee Convention. In September 2014, it was reported that zero asylum seekers had died at sea since December 2013, compared with more than 1,100 deaths between 2008 and 2013. The annual refugee intake, which had been increased to 20,000 for 2012–13 by the previous government, was reduced to 13,750, the level it had been in 2011–12. Morrison stated that "Not one of those places will go to anyone who comes on a boat to Australia [...] they will go to people who have come the right way."

Morrison defended his use of the terms "illegal arrivals" and "illegal boats," saying that "I've always referred to illegal entry ... I've never claimed that it's illegal to claim asylum."

During his time as Immigration Minister, Morrison's dealings with the media and accountability to the public were widely criticised by journalists, Labor and Greens senators, and others for refusing to provide details about the matters within his portfolio. Morrison asserted that to reveal details of operations would be to play into the hands of people smugglers who used this information to plan illegal smuggling operations. On many occasions Morrison refused to answer questions about the status of asylum seekers or boats coming to and from Australia, often on the basis that he would not disclose "on water" or "operational" matters.

In November 2014, the Australian Human Rights Commission delivered a report to the government which found that Morrison failed in his responsibility to act in the best interests of children in detention during his time as Minister. The overarching finding of the inquiry was that the prolonged, mandatory detention of asylum seeker children caused them significant mental and physical illness and developmental delays, in breach of Australia's international obligations. The report was criticised by Tony Abbott as being politically motivated, with regard to the timing of the report's release after the Abbott government had taken office. The government released the report publicly in February 2015.

In early December 2014, Morrison had the Migration and Maritime Powers Legislation Amendment (Resolving the Asylum Legacy Caseload) Bill 2014 passed through the Australian Parliament. The bill gave Morrison more power than any previous minister in dealing with people seeking asylum in Australia, including the power to return asylum seekers to their place of origin, detain asylum seekers without charge, and refuse asylum seekers who arrive by boat access to the Refugee Review Tribunal. The bill reintroduced temporary protection visas to deal specifically with the backlog of 30,000 people who had arrived under the previous Labor government but who had yet to be processed. The bill allowed those on bridging visas to apply for work, and increased the refugee intake to 18,750.

Social services

Morrison in 2014

In a cabinet reshuffle in late December 2014, Morrison was appointed the Minister for Social Services and ceased to be Minister for Immigration and Border Protection. As minister, Morrison changed indexation changes to the Family Tax Benefits payment. In April 2015, he announced the introduction of the "No Jab, No Pay" policy, which withholds family and childcare benefits from parents who do not vaccinate their children. His time as minister was criticised by his opposition counterpart Jenny Macklin, who said that "Scott Morrison was appointed to clean up Kevin Andrews' mess but left behind more chaos, confusion and cuts."

In March 2015, three hundred alumni of Sydney Boys High School signed a letter protesting Morrison's attendance at an alumni fund-raising event. The protest letter expressed the opinion that the school should not celebrate a person who has "so flagrantly disregarded human rights."

During May 2015, Morrison promoted his plan for a $3.5 billion overhaul of the childcare subsidies system. His substantial advertising efforts led to claims that he was overshadowing the role of Treasurer Joe Hockey. Morrison insisted that he did not desire to take over the position of Treasurer despite his strong performances.

Morrison was the minister who established the Robodebt scheme that sent out an estimated 526,000 incorrect automated debt notices to mostly low-income Australians. This scheme was later found by the Royal Commission into the Robodebt Scheme to be unlawful and "cruel and crude".

The Royal Commission report stated that "Mr Morrison allowed cabinet to be misled because he did not make that obvious inquiry. He took the proposal to cabinet without necessary information as to what it actually entailed and without the caveat that it required legislative and policy change to permit the use of the ATO PAYG data in the way proposed in circumstances where: he knew that the proposal still involved income averaging; only a few weeks previously he had been told of that caveat; nothing had changed in the proposal; and he had done nothing to ascertain why the caveat no longer applied. He failed to meet his ministerial responsibility to ensure that cabinet was properly informed about what the proposal actually entailed and to ensure that it was lawful."

Turnbull government (2015–2018)

Morrison was appointed as Treasurer in the Turnbull government in September 2015, replacing Joe Hockey. In his first press conference as Treasurer, he indicated a reduction in government expenditure and stated that the Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook (MYEFO) and White Paper on tax reform would arrive on time.

In May 2016, Morrison handed down the 2016 Australian federal budget. It included the introduction of a 40 percent diverted profits tax (popularly known as the "Google tax"), which is an anti-avoidance measure designed to prevent base erosion and profit shifting. It was passed into law as the Diverted Profits Tax Act 2017 and took effect on 1 July 2017. The new tax received criticism from some quarters, with the Corporate Tax Association stating that it would have "unpredictable outcomes" and negatively affect Australian business.

In February 2017, Morrison addressed the House of Representatives while holding a lump of coal, stating "This is coal. Don't be afraid. Don't be scared. It won't hurt you," and accusing those concerned about the environmental impact of the coal industry of having "an ideological, pathological fear of coal." He handed down the 2017 Australian federal budget in May 2017, reporting a $33.2 billion deficit.

In December 2017, the government introduced the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry (popularly known as the Banking Royal Commission). Morrison originally opposed the creation of a royal commission, believing that a Senate inquiry would be sufficient. He voted against a royal commission 23 times between April 2016 and June 2017, and in September 2016 described it as "nothing more than crass populism seeking to undermine confidence in the banking and financial system, which is key to jobs and growth in this country." In announcing that the royal commission would take place, Morrison described it as a "regrettable but necessary action." In response to the commission's findings, in April 2018 he announced the introduction of new criminal and civil penalties for financial misconduct, including potential prison sentences of 10 years for individuals and fines of up to $210 million for companies.

Morrison handed down the 2018 Australian federal budget on 8 May, reporting a $14.5 billion deficit. He subsequently rejected calls to increase the rate of the Newstart Allowance, saying "my priority is to give tax relief to people who are working and paying taxes."

Prime Minister of Australia (2018–2022)

Morrison with Indonesian President Joko Widodo on his first overseas visit as prime minister

Morrison with U.S. President Donald Trump at the G20 Summit in Buenos Aires

Morrison with U.S. President Joe Biden at the UN General Assembly in New York City

Morrison with East Timor's president Francisco Guterres

Morrison at 45th G7 summit in Biarritz, France

Morrison at a National Cabinet meeting

At the 2019 Lowy Lecture, Scott Morrison argued that the "distinctiveness of independent nations is preserved within a framework of mutual respect".

As prime minister, Morrison drew near unanimous condemnation for taking a holiday during Australia's 2019–20 bushfire season and for his government's response to the disaster. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Morrison established the National Cabinet, and Australia received praise during 2020 for being one of the few Western countries to successfully suppress the virus, though the slow initial pace of the COVID-19 vaccination rollout was criticised. To describe Australia's prolonged vaccination rollout, trade unionist Sally McManus coined the term "strollout", with the phrase being named as the country's word of the year by Macquarie Dictionary.

In foreign policy, Morrison oversaw the signing of the AUKUS security pact and increased tensions between Australia and China and Australia and France. Morrison has also been criticised for his government's response to the 2022 eastern Australia floods, and his perceived inaction on climate change.

Relations with New Zealand

Morrison has defended Australia's policy of deporting non-citizens including New Zealanders who had violated its character test or committed crimes. This policy was criticised by his New Zealand counterpart Jacinda Ardern, who described it as "corrosive" to Australia–New Zealand relations in February 2020.

In mid-February 2021, Morrison defended the Australian policy of revoking Australian citizenship for dual nationals engaged in terrorism. The previous year, the Australian government had revoked the citizenship of dual Australian–New Zealand citizen Suhayra Aden, who had become an ISIS bride. New Zealand Prime Minister Ardern had criticised the decision, accusing Australia of abandoning its citizens. Following a phone conversation, the two leaders agreed to work together in the "spirit of the Australian-New Zealand relationship" to address what Ardern described as "quite a complex legal situation."

In late May 2021, Morrison made his first state visit to New Zealand since the COVID-19 lockdown, meeting New Zealand Prime Minister Ardern in Queenstown. The two heads of governments issued a joint statement affirming bilateral cooperation on the issues of COVID-19, bilateral relations, and security issues in the Indo-Pacific.

Post-prime ministerial career

Soon after the 2022 election, on 30 May, Peter Dutton was elected as the new leader of the Liberal Party in a leadership election, with Dutton later stating that Morrison would not be included in his shadow ministry. Morrison remained in Parliament as a backbencher until his resignation in February 2024. In May 2023, he took an advisory position with the U.S. based think tank the Center for a New American Security.

In December 2022, Morrison gave evidence to the Royal Commission into the Robodebt Scheme, concerning his role in the implementation of the unlawful scheme, which was piloted during his time as Social Services minister. The commission handed down its final report in July 2023, with Morrison being criticised for misleading Cabinet and failing his ministerial duties. The commission also found that Morrison gave false evidence to the commission.

Private sector career

On 23 January 2024, Morrison announced his resignation as Member for Cook. He formally resigned on 28 February 2024. Morrison is reportedly set to join a consulting firm founded by Robert C. O'Brien, who served as National Security Advisor to former U.S. President Donald Trump. Morrison will reportedly join the firm, American Global Strategies LLC, as a non-executive vice chairman.

Political views

Morrison's political views are considered as conservative, and he is aligned with the centre-right faction of the Liberal Party, which he led while in government.

Social policies

Morrison with Queen Elizabeth II, Head of the Commonwealth, and other world leaders in Portsmouth, 2019

Morrison has declared himself a proud supporter of the Australian constitutional monarchy. In January 2021, he commented that he opposes changing the date of Australia Day from 26 January, which attracted criticism.

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Morrison's views on immigration have been the subject of media attention, with The Straits Times describing his stance as "hardline" and "uncompromising". As Minister for Immigration and Border Protection, he was responsible for implementing Operation Sovereign Borders, which requires all asylum seekers arriving in Australia via boat to be refused entry and escorted back to the county they came from. In May 2021, the Morrison government passed laws which would allow refugees to be detained for life in Australia's immigration detention facilities, despite indefinite detention being illegal under international law.

Morrison was an opponent of legalising same-sex marriage in Australia. After the Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey, he proposed an amendment to the Marriage Amendment (Definition and Religious Freedoms) Bill 2017 allowing parents to remove children from classes if "non-traditional" marriage is discussed. All amendments failed, and Morrison abstained from voting on the final bill. Morrison's electorate of Cook had a participation rate of 82.22% in the Marriage Law Postal Survey, and 55.04% of those had responded "Yes." By November 2017, Morrison considered the topic to be a "done deal" and a "finished debate", and same-sex marriage ultimately came into law on 9 December of that year.

Morrison has indicated support for excluding transgender women from playing "single-sex sports".

Environmental policies

Morrison's policies and views on climate change have been a subject of interest. Morrison, along with the rest of the Coalition, voted to abolish Australia's carbon pricing scheme in July 2014. Morrison also famously presented a lump of coal to Parliament during question time in February 2017. During his term as prime minister, the 2020 Climate Change Performance Index ranked Australia in last place for its climate policies and was the only country to score 0 for the same metric in 2021. During the 2019–20 Australian bushfire season, Morrison dismissed suggestions of a link between Australia's emissions or policies and the intensity of the bushfires and initially downplayed the influence of climate change on the fires, but later admitted that climate change may have contributed. Protests over his government's climate policies took place across Australia amidst the fire season.

Following his attendance of the 2021 Leaders' Climate Summit, Morrison declined to set net-zero emissions or other climate change targets, unlike other world leaders. Morrison allegedly requested climate change policy targets be removed from a proposed 2021 Australia–United Kingdom trade deal and initially suggested he would not attend the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, but later confirmed that he would. Following the conference, Morrison's government pledged that Australia would aim to achieve net zero emissions by 2050, but did not introduce this into national law; Morrison said he believed market forces rather than government regulation could address climate change.

His government's climate action plan was criticised by journalist Phil Coorey as "lightweight", and by a Climate Council spokesman as "meaningless without strong action this decade".

Personal life

Scott and Jenny Morrison in March 2019

Morrison is a fan of rugby union and supported the Eastern Suburbs RUFC during his childhood. After moving to the Sutherland Shire, he became a fan of the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks rugby league team and was named the club's number-one ticket holder in 2016.

Marriage and children

Morrison began dating Jenny Warren when they were both 16. They married in 1990, when Morrison was 21 and Warren was 22, and have two daughters together. After multiple unsuccessful IVF treatments over a period of 14 years, their daughters were conceived naturally. Their daughters attend an independent Baptist school. Morrison has stated that one of the reasons for this choice was so that he could avoid "the values of others being imposed on my children."

Religious beliefs

Morrison was raised in the Presbyterian Church of Australia, which partly merged into the Uniting Church when he was a child. He later became a Pentecostal and now attends the Horizon Church, which is affiliated with the Australian Christian Churches. Morrison was Australia's first Pentecostal prime minister. As a Pentecostal and evangelical church, Horizon is not a mainstream church in Australia. Some members believe in divine healing, and practise "speaking in tongues", which is seen as a miraculous gift from God.

While the Australian Christian Lobby welcomed the appointment of a prime minister with such a deep faith, some Australians have been suspicious of its effect on his rulings. As Treasurer of Australia during the vote for legislation on same-sex marriage in 2017, Morrison abstained from voting due to his faith. He has said, "the Bible is not a policy handbook, and I get very worried when people try to treat it like one". In late 2017, Morrison stated that he would become a stronger advocate for protections for religious freedom.

He thinks misuse of social media is the work of "the evil one" and practises the Christian tradition of the "laying on of hands" while working. He said in a speech to the Australian Christian Churches conference in April 2021 that he believes he was elected to do God's work, although he later said that his comments were mischaracterised and that they were meant to reflect his belief that "whatever you do every day... is part of your Christian service".

In July 2022, he told a Pentecostal church congregation that, speaking from experience, he believed that people should not trust governments or the United Nations but should put their trust in God. Morrison's successor as prime minister, Anthony Albanese, found this statement "quite astonishing" and the reference to the United Nations a "nonsense throwaway conspiracy line".

Health

In 2024, Morrison revealed he had been prescribed medication for anxiety during his premiership, which he blamed on "pure physical exhaustion" and the "unrelenting and callous brutality of politics".

Honours

Foreign honours

•  United States:
  • Chief Commander of the Legion of Merit by the president of the United States, Donald J. Trump. (22 December 2020)