AustraliaWho is Scott Morrison?
Scott John Morrison is a former Liberal prime minister, born in Sydney in 1968. He ran tourism bodies in New Zealand and Australia and was state director of the New South Wales Liberal Party before winning the seat of Cook in 2007. As immigration minister he implemented Operation Sovereign Borders, and he later served as treasurer. He became prime minister in August 2018 after a leadership crisis, won the 2019 election and lost the 2022 election. He resigned from parliament on 28 February 2024 and has since worked in advisory and corporate roles.
Political views
Promised an Australia where, if you have a go, you get a go, speaking for 'quiet' hardworking Australians.
Source: moadoph.gov.auPledged to pay off federal debt within a decade without raising taxes, partly by getting people off welfare and into work.
Source: moadoph.gov.auPromised to keep borders secure and migration under control as part of a population plan.
Source: moadoph.gov.auBacked practical emissions reduction but said he would not put the economy at risk to do it.
Source: moadoph.gov.auPledged net zero emissions by 2050 after the 2021 Glasgow climate conference, without putting the target into law.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgOpposed legalising same-sex marriage and sought amendments to the 2017 bill to protect religious freedom.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgCalled AUKUS, signed with the United States and United Kingdom in 2021, the most important defence agreement since ANZUS.
Source: moadoph.gov.auIntroduced the JobKeeper wage subsidy in the COVID-19 crisis, saying government had to know when to step in and when to step back.
Source: moadoph.gov.au
Legacy
Supporters credit Morrison with an unexpected election win in 2019, a 2020 COVID-19 response that made Australia one of the few Western countries to suppress the virus, the National Cabinet and the AUKUS pact, and with standing firm against Chinese trade coercion. Critics fault his holiday in Hawaii during the 2019-2020 bushfires, the slow early vaccine rollout, his handling of sexual misconduct allegations in Parliament House in 2021 and what they saw as weak climate policy. The Robodebt royal commission found in 2023 that he had misled cabinet over the unlawful welfare debt scheme, although the National Anti-Corruption Commission found in 2026 that he had not engaged in corrupt conduct. After he left office, parliament censured him for secretly taking on several ministries.
In their words
An Australia where, if you have a go, you get a go.