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

13 May 1968 (age 57)
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Political party

Liberal

Other political
affiliations

Coalition

Spouse

Jenny Warren

(m. 1990)

Children

Parent

John Douglas Morrison (father)

Education

University of New South Wales (BSc Hons)

Signature

Website

scottmorrison.com.au

Nicknames

ScoMo
Scotty from marketing

Scott John Morrison (born 13 May 1968) is a former Australian politician. He was the 30th prime minister of Australia from 2018 to 2022. He was also the leader of the Liberal Party. From 2007 to 2024, he was the member of parliament (MP) for the Cook area in New South Wales.

Morrison was born in Sydney and studied economic geography at the University of New South Wales. Before politics, he worked in the tourism industry. He was the director of New Zealand's tourism office and later the managing director of Tourism Australia.

He was elected to the Australian House of Representatives in 2007. When the Liberal-National Coalition won the 2013 election, Morrison became the Minister for Immigration and Border Protection. He was in charge of Operation Sovereign Borders, a plan to stop boats of asylum seekers from reaching Australia. He later became Minister for Social Services and then Treasurer.

In August 2018, Morrison became the leader of the Liberal Party and prime minister. He led the Coalition to a surprise victory in the 2019 election. During his time as prime minister, he faced challenges like the 2019–20 bushfires and the COVID-19 pandemic. In foreign policy, he signed the AUKUS security pact with the United Kingdom and the United States.

After his government lost the 2022 election, Morrison stepped down as party leader. He resigned from parliament in February 2024. After leaving politics, it was revealed that he had secretly given himself power over several government departments while he was prime minister. This led to an official disapproval, called a censure, from Parliament.

Early Life and Education
Career Before Politics
Political Career
- Abbott Government (2013–2015)
  - Immigration Minister
  - Social Services Minister
- Turnbull Government (2015–2018)
Prime Minister of Australia (2018–2022)
- Major Events as Prime Minister
After Politics
Personal Life
Images for kids
See also

Early Life and Education

Scott Morrison was born in Waverley, a suburb of Sydney. His father, John Morrison, was a policeman and served as the mayor of Waverley for one term. As a child, Morrison appeared in some television commercials.

He went to Sydney Boys High School and then studied at the University of New South Wales. He earned an honours degree in applied economic geography. For his final project, he wrote about Christian Brethren churches in Sydney. He thought about studying religion in Canada but decided to start working instead.

Career Before Politics

After university, Morrison worked for the Property Council of Australia. He then moved into the tourism industry. From 1998 to 2000, he was the director of New Zealand's Office of Tourism and Sport. He helped create the famous "100% Pure New Zealand" advertising campaign.

In 2000, he returned to Australia and became the state director for the New South Wales Liberal Party. In 2004, he was appointed managing director of the new government agency Tourism Australia. He was in charge of the well-known but controversial "So where the bloody hell are you?" tourism ads. His time at Tourism Australia ended in 2006.

Political Career

Morrison in 2009

In 2007, Morrison was elected to the Australian Parliament as the member for the division of Cook. He quickly became part of the shadow cabinet, which is the opposition's team of senior members who "shadow" the government's ministers.

As the shadow minister for immigration, he often commented on the government's policies. In one instance, he questioned the government's decision to pay for relatives of asylum seekers who died in a boat disaster to attend their funerals. He said this was a special treatment not given to other Australians. His comments were called insensitive by some, including members of his own party.

Abbott Government (2013–2015)

Morrison is sworn in as Minister for Social Services in 2014.

After the Coalition won the 2013 election, Prime Minister Tony Abbott made Morrison the Minister for Immigration and Border Protection.

Immigration Minister

Morrison started Operation Sovereign Borders, a military-led operation to stop asylum seeker boats from reaching Australia. The policy was that any boats found would be turned back. This policy was successful in stopping the boats, but it was also criticized by groups like the UNHCR for being very strict.

During this time, Morrison was known for being very secretive about what was happening with the boats. He often said he would not comment on "on-water matters" to avoid helping people smugglers.

Social Services Minister

In a change of government roles in December 2014, Morrison became the Minister for Social Services. In this job, he introduced the "No Jab, No Pay" policy. This policy stopped some government payments to parents who did not vaccinate their children.

He was also the minister who started the Robodebt scheme. This program used an automated system to check if people had been overpaid welfare. However, the system was flawed and sent out thousands of incorrect debt notices. A later investigation, called a Royal Commission, found the scheme was unlawful. The report said Morrison did not make sure the plan was legal before presenting it to the government's senior ministers.

Turnbull Government (2015–2018)

Morrison in 2014

When Malcolm Turnbull became prime minister in 2015, he appointed Morrison as Treasurer. The Treasurer is in charge of the country's economy and budget.

As Treasurer, Morrison introduced a new tax on large international companies to make sure they paid their fair share of tax in Australia. This was sometimes called the "Google tax".

In February 2017, Morrison brought a lump of coal into Parliament. He held it up and said, "This is coal. Don't be afraid." He did this to show his support for the coal industry and to criticize people he felt had an "ideological, pathological fear of coal."

Morrison at first opposed calls for a Royal Commission into Australia's banks. He called the idea "crass populism." But he later changed his mind, calling it a "regrettable but necessary action."

Prime Minister of Australia (2018–2022)

Morrison with Indonesian President Joko Widodo during his first overseas trip as prime minister.

In August 2018, Malcolm Turnbull's leadership of the Liberal Party was challenged. After a week of uncertainty, the party voted for a new leader. Morrison defeated Peter Dutton and Julie Bishop to become the new leader of the Liberal Party and the prime minister of Australia.

He led the Coalition to a surprise victory in the 2019 federal election. Many people had expected the opposition Labor Party to win. On election night, Morrison said he had "always believed in miracles."

Major Events as Prime Minister

Bushfires and Climate Change

During the huge bushfires of 2019–20, Morrison was criticized for taking a family holiday to Hawaii. He returned early after his trip became public and said he "deeply regretted any offence caused." His government was also criticized for its response to the fires and its policies on climate change.

COVID-19 Pandemic

Morrison at a National Cabinet meeting.

When the COVID-19 pandemic began, Morrison created the National Cabinet. This was a group made up of himself and the leaders of Australia's states and territories to coordinate the country's response.

Australia was praised at first for controlling the virus. However, the government was later criticized for the slow rollout of COVID-19 vaccines. Morrison later apologized for the slow pace of the vaccination program.

Foreign Policy

Morrison at the 45th G7 summit in Biarritz, France.

In 2021, Morrison announced the AUKUS security pact with the United States and the United Kingdom. This deal involved Australia getting nuclear-powered submarines. The deal caused problems with France, because it meant Australia cancelled a previous deal to buy French submarines.

Under Morrison, relations between Australia and China became more tense. When Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, Morrison's government sent aid to Ukraine and placed sanctions on Russia.

Secret Ministerial Roles

After he left office, it was revealed that during the pandemic, Morrison had secretly appointed himself to run five extra government departments without telling the public or most of his colleagues. The departments were Health, Finance, Industry, Home Affairs, and the Treasury.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called an inquiry. The inquiry found the appointments were legal but "fundamentally undermined" the principles of responsible government. In November 2022, the House of Representatives voted to formally disapprove of Morrison's actions, a process known as a censure. He was the first former prime minister to be censured by Parliament.

After Politics

The Coalition lost the 2022 election, and Morrison stepped down as leader of the Liberal Party. He remained in Parliament as a backbencher until he resigned in February 2024.

After leaving politics, Morrison took a job with an American consulting firm. He also wrote a book about his life and faith called Plans For Your Good: A Prime Minister's Testimony of God's Faithfulness, which was published in 2024.

Personal Life

Scott and Jenny Morrison in March 2019

Morrison married his wife, Jenny, in 1990. They have two daughters. He is a fan of rugby union and the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks rugby league team.

Morrison is a devout Christian and is Australia's first Pentecostal prime minister. He has said that his faith is very important to him. He attends the Horizon Church, which is part of the Australian Christian Churches. He once told a church conference that people should put their trust in God, not in governments or the United Nations.

Images for kids

Morrison with U.S. President Donald Trump at the G20 Summit in 2018.
Morrison with East Timor's president Francisco Guterres in 2019.
Morrison with Queen Elizabeth II and other world leaders in Portsmouth, 2019.
Morrison giving a speech at the Lowy Lecture in 2019.
Morrison and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at the COP26 climate summit in 2021.
Morrison with U.S. President Joe Biden at the UN General Assembly in 2021.