Scott Morrison

The Honourable Scott Morrison MP
Treasurer of Australia
Incumbent
Assumed office 21 September 2015
Prime Minister	Malcolm Turnbull
Preceded by	Joe Hockey
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
Incumbent
Assumed office 24 November 2007
Preceded by	Bruce Baird
Personal details
Born	Scott John Morrison (1968-05-13) 13 May 1968 Sydney, Australia
Political party	Liberal Party
Other political affiliations	Coalition
Spouse(s)	Jenny
Children	2
Alma mater	University of New South Wales
Religion	Pentecostalism[1]
Website	Official website

Scott John Morrison (born 13 May 1968) is an Australian politician. He has been a Liberal Party member of the Australian House of Representatives representing the Division of Cook since the 2007 federal election. After the Liberal Party was elected to government at the 2013 federal election, Morrison was appointed the Minister for Immigration and Border Protection,^[2] responsible for implementing Operation Sovereign Borders, aimed at preventing people smuggling. In late 2014 he was appointed Minister for Social Services after a cabinet reshuffle.^[3] He became the Treasurer of Australia in the First Turnbull Ministry.^[4]

Early life and education

Morrison grew up in Waverley in Sydney's eastern suburbs. His father was a policeman and his mother worked in administrative positions. Outside their day jobs, Morrison's parents ran youth programs for the local church. His father was involved in aged care and served as a local government councillor for sixteen years.

Morrison was educated at Sydney Boys High School, where he completed his Higher School Certificate. In March 2015, approximately three hundred alumni of the school signed a letter to the school's alumni union protesting Mr. Morrison's attendance at an alumni fund-raising event, the letter stating that the school should not celebrate a person who has "so flagrantly disregarded human rights".^[5]

Morrison went on to the University of New South Wales, where he received an honours degree in Applied Economic Geography.

Pre-political career

Before entering parliament, Morrison was the managing director of Tourism Australia^[6] and NSW State Director of the Liberal Party of Australia from 2000 to 2004. Before this, he served in senior executive roles in the tourism and property sector in Australia and New Zealand, including the Property Council of Australia and the Tourism and Transport Forum.

During his tenure as managing director of Tourism Australia, Morrison approved the "So where the bloody hell are you?" advertising campaign.^[7]

Political career

Election to Parliament

Morrison sought Liberal preselection for the Division of Cook, an electorate in the southern suburbs of Sydney, which includes Cronulla, Caringbah, and Miranda, in the 2007 election following the retirement of Bruce Baird, who had served as the member since 1998. He lost in the ballot 82 votes to 8 to Michael Towke, a telecommunications engineer and the candidate of the Liberals' right faction.^[8] However, allegations surfaced that Towke had engaged in branch stacking and had embellished his resume.^[9] The state executive of the Liberal Party disendorsed Towke and held a new pre-selection ballot, which Morrison won. The allegations against Towke were subsequently proved to be false, and The Daily Telegraph was forced to pay an undisclosed amount to settle a defamation suit filed by Towke.^[8]

Shadow ministry

In September 2008, Morrison was appointed to Malcolm Turnbull's coalition front bench as shadow minister for housing and local government.

On December 8, 2009, Morrison became shadow minister for immigration and citizenship, coming into the cabinet for the first time during Tony Abbott's first cabinet reshuffle shortly after winning the leadership. He served on the Shadow Cabinet Committee on Border Protection. Abbott described Morrison as "a great talent who was one of the bright new stars of the new generation of MPs."^[10]

In December 2010, forty-eight asylum seekers died in the Christmas Island boat disaster.^[11] On February 15, 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. 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.^[12][13]

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 guide-lines 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

On September 18, 2013, Morrison launched Operation Sovereign Borders, the newly elected Coalition government strategy aimed at stopping unauthorised boats departing for Australia.,^[14] 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.^[15] The UNHCR expressed concerns that the practice may violate the Refugee Convention.^[16] The annual refugee intake, which had recently been increased to 20,000 by the Labor Government, was reduced to 13,750.^[17][18]

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."^[19][20]

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 members of the Australian Senate, 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.^{[21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31]} 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.^{[32][33][34][35][36]}

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.^[37] The report was criticised by Tony Abbott as being politically motivated, pointing out the timing of the report's release after the Abbott Government had taken office. The Government released the report publicly in February 2015.^[38]

In early December 2014 Morrison had the Migration and Maritime Powers Legislation Amendment (Resolving the Asylum Legacy Caseload) Bill 2014 successfully 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.^[39][40] 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.^[41]

The bill caused controversy in parliament because Morrison stated he could release children held in immigration detention on Christmas Island if Senate cross-benchers agreed to vote for the legislation; however, those opposed to the bill said he could have released the children at any time.^[42]

In a cabinet reshuffle in late December 2014, Morrison was replaced as Minister for Immigration and Border Protection and appointed the Minister for Social Services.^[43]

Turnbull Government

Morrison was appointed as Treasurer of the Turnbull Government in September 2015. 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.^[44]

Other Parliamentary roles

Morrison has served on parliamentary committees, including as deputy chair of the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters, as well as the House Committee on Economics, House Committee on Families, Community and Housing, and House Committee on Health and Ageing. He has served on the Coalition's Policy Committees on Social Policy, Education and Industrial Relations and Legal and Immigration issues, as well as the Party Leader's Taskforces on Party Reform and Reform of Federalism.

References

External links

• Scott Morrison on Twitter
  
• Profile at Parliament of Australia official website
• Profile at TheyVoteForYou.org.au

(Rudd ←)   Abbott Ministry (2013–2015)   (→ Turnbull)
Prime Minister: Tony Abbott
Cabinet	Eric Abetz Kevin Andrews Bruce Billson Julie Bishop George Brandis Mathias Cormann Peter Dutton Joe Hockey Greg Hunt Barnaby Joyce Sussan Ley Ian Macfarlane Scott Morrison Christopher Pyne Andrew Robb Nigel Scullion Warren Truss Malcolm Turnbull
Outer Ministry	Simon Birmingham Jamie Briggs Michaelia Cash Mitch Fifield Josh Frydenberg Luke Hartsuyker Michael Keenan Fiona Nash Marise Payne Stuart Robert Michael Ronaldson
Parliamentary Secretaries	Karen Andrews Bob Baldwin Darren Chester Steven Ciobo Richard Colbeck Concetta Fierravanti-Wells Paul Fletcher Michael McCormack Kelly O'Dwyer Christian Porter Scott Ryan Alan Tudge
Dismissed/resigned	David Johnston Arthur Sinodinos Brett Mason

(Abbott ←)   First Turnbull Ministry (2015–16)   (→ Turnbull)
Prime Minister: Malcolm Turnbull
Cabinet	Simon Birmingham Julie Bishop George Brandis Michaelia Cash Darren Chester Steven Ciobo Mathias Cormann Peter Dutton Mitch Fifield Josh Frydenberg Greg Hunt Barnaby Joyce Sussan Ley Scott Morrison Fiona Nash Kelly O'Dwyer Marise Payne Christian Porter Christopher Pyne Arthur Sinodinos Nigel Scullion
Outer Ministry	Matthew Canavan Richard Colbeck Concetta Fierravanti-Wells Paul Fletcher Michael Keenan Scott Ryan Dan Tehan Alan Tudge
Assistant Ministers	Karen Andrews Alex Hawke Peter Hendy Craig Laundy Michael McCormack James McGrath Keith Pitt Jane Prentice Wyatt Roy Anne Ruston Angus Taylor Ken Wyatt
Dismissed/resigned	Jamie Briggs Mal Brough Luke Hartsuyker Andrew Robb Stuart Robert Warren Truss

(Turnbull ←)   Second Turnbull Ministry (2016–)
Prime Minister: Malcolm Turnbull
Cabinet	Simon Birmingham Julie Bishop George Brandis Matthew Canavan Michaelia Cash Darren Chester Steven Ciobo Mathias Cormann Peter Dutton Mitch Fifield Josh Frydenberg Greg Hunt Barnaby Joyce Sussan Ley Scott Morrison Fiona Nash Kelly O'Dwyer Marise Payne Christian Porter Christopher Pyne Arthur Sinodinos Nigel Scullion
Outer Ministry	Concetta Fierravanti-Wells Paul Fletcher Michael Keenan Michael McCormack Scott Ryan Dan Tehan Alan Tudge
Assistant Ministers	Karen Andrews David Gillespie Luke Hartsuyker Alex Hawke Craig Laundy James McGrath Keith Pitt Jane Prentice Anne Ruston Zed Seselja Angus Taylor Ken Wyatt