Written by Gian Ellis-Gannell
For many non-political followers, the name never really came up before 24 August this year.
ScoMo, or Scott Morrison, has recently won enough votes to become the next Liberal Leader and our 30th Prime Minister after a sneaky challenge made by rat MP Peter Dutton. The party decision, expelling Malcolm Turnbull from his job after 3 years, means that we haven’t had a full term-serving Prime Minister since John Howard. This is of course old news, and the more important question you may want answered is… who is he?
Mr Morrison attended the prestigious Sydney Boys High School and during this time also embarked on a short-lived child-acting career, however try as we might: no one seems to be able to get a hold of any footage.
He is now 50 years old, and was born and raised in Bronte, Coastal Sydney- this makes Mr Morrison the third Prime Minister in a row to hail from the Beachside electorates.
At university, he studied Applied Economic Geography at UNSW and was quickly employed at the Property Council of Australia. However, the most interesting part of his pre-politics career was his job as the Chief Executive of Tourism in Australia 2004. Hence, he oversaw Australia’s greatest tourism campaign of all time…. Where the Bloody Hell Are You?
(This means we have him to thank for Lara Bingles big break.)
Also a Cronulla Sharks Fan, Mr Morrison was named the number one ticket holder for the NRL Club.
Mr Morrison is an Evangelical Christian who attends a Hillsong-Style Pentecostal Church in Sydney (and states that worshipping there is his favourite hobby.) One of his most influential mentors includes the Harley Davidson-riding pastor Brian Houston, founder of Hillsong.
Co-incidentally, this is also where he met his wife at age 12, who now have two daughters together: Lily and Abbey.
Political Career Up Until Now
Morrison entered parliament in 2007, and within a year of winning the Cook seat, he was promoted to Shadow Ministry by Malcolm Turnbull. In 2013, this time under Tony Abbott’s leadership, Morrison became the immigration minister before being Minister for social services in 2014. Since then, he has delivered 3 budgets.
Along the way, he has faced much controversy due to his political opinions, and has been described as relentless, ambitious, and hard-line by his colleagues. Although, these descriptions only give us vague clues to his ultimate political agenda.
I will therefore use the next issue to explore the key policies that ScoMo has supported and debated once we have had a proper chance to see him in action.
Sources:
- https://www.pedestrian.tv/news/scott-morrison-scomo-rundown-prime-minister/
-https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/australia/meet-australias-new-prime-minister-the-hillsong-christian-who-made-lara-bingle-famous-and-married-at-21-before-trying-14-years-to-have-his-first-child/ar-BBMmAbj
-https://theconversation.com/what-kind-of-prime-minister-will-scott-morrison-be-102050
-https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/national/2015/09/20/15-things-didnt-know-scott-morrison/