Scott Morrison

For other people named Scott Morrison, see Scott Morrison (disambiguation).
"Scomo" redirects here. For other uses, see Scomo (disambiguation).

The Honourable
Scott Morrison
Official portrait, 2021
30th Prime Minister of Australia
In office
24 August 2018 – 23 May 2022
MonarchElizabeth II
Governors General
Deputy
Preceded byMalcolm Turnbull
Succeeded byAnthony Albanese
14th Leader of the Liberal Party
In office
24 August 2018 – 30 May 2022
DeputyJosh Frydenberg
Preceded byMalcolm Turnbull
Succeeded byPeter Dutton
Ministerial Positions
Minister for Industry, Science, Energy and Resources[1]
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 MinisterHimself
Preceded byChristian Porter
Succeeded byMadeleine King
Minister for Home Affairs
In office
6 May 2021 – 23 May 2022
Serving with Karen Andrews
Prime MinisterHimself
Preceded byKaren Andrews
Succeeded byClare O'Neil
Minister for Finance
In office
30 March 2020 – 23 May 2022
Serving with Mathias Cormann (2020); Simon Birmingham (2020–2022)
Prime MinisterHimself
Preceded byMathias Cormann
Succeeded byKaty Gallagher
Minister for Health
In office
14 March 2020 – 23 May 2022
Serving with Greg Hunt
Prime MinisterHimself
Preceded byGreg Hunt
Succeeded byMark Butler
Treasurer of Australia[1]
In office
6 May 2021 – 23 May 2022
Serving with Josh Frydenberg
Prime MinisterHimself
Preceded byJosh Frydenberg
Succeeded byJim Chalmers
In office
21 September 2015 – 28 August 2018
Prime MinisterMalcolm Turnbull
Preceded byJoe Hockey
Succeeded byJosh Frydenberg
Minister for the Public Service
In office
29 May 2019 – 8 October 2021
Prime MinisterHimself
Preceded byMathias Cormann
Succeeded byBen Morton
Minister for Social Services
In office
23 December 2014 – 21 September 2015
Prime Minister
Preceded byKevin Andrews
Succeeded byChristian Porter
Minister for Immigration and Border Protection
In office
18 September 2013 – 23 December 2014
Prime MinisterTony Abbott
Preceded byTony Burke
Succeeded byPeter Dutton
Member of the Australian Parliament
for Cook
In office
24 November 2007 – 28 February 2024
Preceded byBruce Baird
Succeeded bySimon Kennedy
Personal details
Born
Scott John Morrison

(1968-05-13) 13 May 1968 (age 56)
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Political partyLiberal
Other political
affiliations		Coalition
Spouse
​
(m. 1990)​
Children2
Parent
EducationUniversity of New South Wales (BSc Hons)[1]
Signature
Websitescottmorrison.com.au (dead)
(21 Feb 2024 archive)
NicknameScoMo[2]
This article is part of
a series about
Scott Morrison

Member for Cook (2007–2024)

Prime Minister of Australia
(International trips)

Royal Commissions

Elections

Government of Australia

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.[3] 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.[4] Morrison also faced criticism for his response to the 2021 Parliament sexual misconduct allegations.[5] 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,[6] though the slow initial pace of the COVID-19 vaccination rollout was criticised.[7] In foreign policy, Morrison oversaw the signing of the AUKUS security pact and increased tensions between Australia and China[8] and Australia and France.[9] 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,[10][11][12] and his perceived inaction on climate change.[13][14] 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.[15][16] On 23 January 2024, he announced his departure from politics altogether, and resigned his seat of Cook on 28 February 2024.[17]

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.[18]

  1. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference Morrison Au parl was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ "Scott Morrison or ScoMo — is it time he retired the nickname now he's Prime Minister?". ABC News. September 2018. Archived from the original on 18 January 2020. Retrieved 22 March 2020.
  3. ^ Belot, Henry (19 May 2019). "Federal election result: Scott Morrison says 'I have always believed in miracles' as Coalition retains power". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 18 May 2019. Retrieved 18 May 2019.
  4. ^ Remeikis, Amy (21 December 2019). "Scott Morrison's Hawaii horror show: how a PR disaster unfolded". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 23 December 2019. Retrieved 23 December 2019.
  5. ^ Mao, Frances (2 March 2021). "How rape allegations have rocked Australian politics". BBC News. Archived from the original on 4 March 2021. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
  6. ^ "Australia has almost eliminated the coronavirus — by putting faith in science". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Archived from the original on 31 May 2021. Retrieved 16 July 2021.
  7. ^ Topsfield, Jewel (30 May 2021). "Why has the vaccine rollout been so slow?". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 28 June 2021. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
  8. ^ Hadley, Erin (29 December 2021). "Australia-China relations continued to sour in 2021. What can we expect in 2022?". ABC News. Archived from the original on 29 December 2021. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
  9. ^ "Aukus: French minister condemns US and Australia 'lies' over security pact". BBC News. 19 September 2021. Archived from the original on 20 September 2021. Retrieved 20 September 2021.
  10. ^ Karp, Paul (4 April 2022). "Liberal MP accuses Scott Morrison of 'ruthless bullying' and scheming at the expense of flood victims". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 7 April 2022. Retrieved 7 April 2022.
  11. ^ Haslam, Alex (11 March 2022). "Scott Morrison's tone-deaf leadership is the last thing traumatised flood victims need. Here are two ways he can do better". The Conversation. Archived from the original on 11 March 2022. Retrieved 12 March 2022.
  12. ^ Henriques-Gomes, Luke (15 April 2022). "Coalition faces criticism for limiting 'top-up' payment to Lismore flood victims only". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 17 April 2022. Retrieved 17 April 2022.
  13. ^ RN Breakfast (8 November 2021). "Scott Morrison accused of failing to understand the 'urgency' of climate change". ABC News. Archived from the original on 12 November 2021. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  14. ^ Victor, Daniel; Cave, Damien (3 November 2021). "Australia's climate pledges fall short, again, critics say". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 21 May 2022. Retrieved 29 May 2022.
  15. ^ "Live: Morrison calls Albanese to concede electoral defeat as Labor, independents unseat Coalition". ABC News. 20 May 2022. Archived from the original on 21 May 2022. Retrieved 21 May 2022.
  16. ^ "Peter Dutton elected new Liberal Party leader, Sussan Ley becomes deputy leader". ABC News. 30 May 2022. Archived from the original on 30 May 2022. Retrieved 30 June 2022.
  17. ^ "Hon Scott Morrison". Parliament of Australia. 28 February 2024. Retrieved 5 March 2024.
  18. ^ Karp, Paul (30 November 2022). "Parliament censures Scott Morrison over secret ministries after Liberal Bridget Archer backs Labor and Greens". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 30 November 2022. Retrieved 30 November 2022.