Scott Morrison is undoubtedly one of the most controversial prime ministers in Australian history, yet he’s also the first PM to have served a full term in 15 years. Now, he’s gunning for a second term in office, with an election set for May 21.
The date will no doubt be a defining one for Australia, particularly given the 53-year-old’s recent backlash due to the way he dealt with the Queensland and New South Wales flooding crisis. But that certainly wasn’t the first time he’s sent ripples through the country.
Having been front and centre of the public eye since he was sworn in back in 2018, the leader of the Liberal party’s life and career has been a major topic of conversation—but there are several people who have backed him all the way.
Here, we look at Morrison’s life away from politics—from his wife and children, to his early career.
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Scott Morrison’s wife
Scott Morrison married Jenny Morrison (nee Warren) in 1990. The pair met at the young age of 12 on a day trip to Luna Park in Sydney. A year later, the couple met again at a Christian youth camp where they exchanged numbers. They eventually started dating age 16 and from there, they were inseparable.
Jenny became a registered nurse (a job she has since left) and she and Scott welcomed two daughters, Abbey and Lily. They previously lived in the suburban Sydney suburb of Sutherland Shire, but in 2018, their lives were turned upside down.
Indeed, when Scott Morrison became Australia’s 30th PM, Jenny said she was in complete shock.
“I did not see it coming,” she told Nine Honey.
Next thing, the family had packed up their bags and were on their way to Kirribilli House in Sydney’s lower North Shore. But despite the drastic change to her husband’s life, Jenny tried to keep things as simple as possible, choosing not to travel with an entourage and frequenting her favourite cafes in the area alone.
“I might be the Prime Minister’s wife, but I’m still a mum with two young girls and trying to keep things as normal as possible.”
“I think maybe people picture that your life as the wife of the Prime Minister is glamorous and amazing and exciting. But no… I’m doing the same things everyone else does. It’s hard work being a parent.”
Scott Morrison’s daughters
Scott and Jenny share two daughters, Abbey and Lily, who are now aged 15 and 13, respectively. The couple have been open about their struggle with infertility, telling The Australian Women’s Weekly that they were unable to conceive for almost 20 years.
“Yes, I was very sad that I couldn’t have children. That framed a lot of my life,” Jenny told the publication.
The couple also tried several failed rounds of IVF, and finally, Jenny fell pregnant naturally aged 39.
Due to the family’s heightened attention, Jenny has previously said that both of their daughters have been barred from having social media accounts.
“They’re not allowed to have Instagram accounts. Anything, actually—Snapchat, nothing,” she told Nine Honey in 2019.
she added: “As a mum, yes, I’m anxious about those days ahead where it’s going to play a much bigger part… I’m shielding them as much as I can.”
Career
Morrison studied a Bachelor of Science at the University of New South Wales, later graduating with a honours in economic geography. After graduating, he worked as a policy and research manager for the Property Council of Australia before becoming the deputy chief executive of the Australian Tourism Task Force. He moved to New Zealand in the late 90s, where he continued his work in tourism as director of the country’s Office of Tourism and Sport.
In 2000, Morrison returned to Australia where he became the state director of the New South Wales division of the Liberal Party, but in 2004, he left to become the managing director of Tourism Australia.
There, he worked on the infamous “So where the bloody hell are you?” campaign. He lasted two years before his contract was terminated.
The Saturday Paper later published a report suggesting this was due to the company failing to follow government procurement guidelines for specific contracts involved in the campaign. Morrison’s stint was also the inspiration behind his now-iconic nickname, ‘Scotty from Marketing’, which stuck after satire website Betoota Advocate published the phrase in the wake of his controversial response to the 2019 bushfires.
Morrison returned to work for the Liberal Party in 2007, where he became a unity candidate to represent Cook in the House of Representatives.
In 2013, Morrison was appointed Minister for Immigration and Border Protection in the Abbott government. In this position, he launched Operation Sovereign Borders, which was aimed at stopping unauthorised boats from entering Australian waters. Its policies drew widespread criticism, but Morrison continued to defend it, telling media, “we’ve got to have a policy that works, we’ve got to stop the people smuggling. Yes, it is a tough policy.”
After a brief stint as Minister for Social Services, Morrison became treasurer in December 2015. He remained in that position until then-prime minister Malcolm Turnbull called a leadership spill in 2018. When Turnbull, Morrison gained the most votes and became prime minister on August 24, 2018.
Standout moments from Morrison’s first term as prime minister include his controversial response to the Australian bushfires, which caused widespread damage, detrimentally affecting the livelihood of thousands of farmers. Instead of being on hand to help sign off on relief support and prove his own commitment to help and rebuild, he instead took an unannounced trip overseas with his family to Hawaii.
His government was also heavily criticised in 2022 when an investigation into the government’s workplace culture found that one-third of parliamentary staff in Australia had experienced some form of sexual harassment. Speaking to media, Morrison said he was “appalled” at the findings, explaining that while the working environment of the government can be stressful, “This is no excuse to normalise inappropriate, unhealthy and unprofessional behaviour.”
Later in 2022, Morrison’s response (or lack thereof) to the devastating flood crisis in both Queensland and northern New South Wales was met with backlash. At the time it was happening, Morrison was in Perth, which meant relief packages (and proper acknowledgement of the severity of the crisis) was delayed.
Now, Morrison has well and truly hit the campaign trail in a bid to top opposition leader Anthony Albanese. On May 21, we’ll find out if Australians are ready for a change, or if Scotty from Marketing has, in fact, marketed himself another term.
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