Former Australian PM Scott Morrison To Quit Politics

January 23, 2024

Australia’s former Prime Minister Scott Morrison has announced he will quit parliament to join the private sector.

Mr Morrison, a conservative who was first elected in 2007, was the country’s leader from 2018 to 2022.

He oversaw Australia’s pandemic response, the Aukus defence pact, and was embroiled in a historic scandal for secretly appointing himself to several ministerial positions while PM.

“The time has come for me to return to private life,” he said on Tuesday.

“After having served in the parliament for more than sixteen years, including almost four as Prime Minister during a very challenging time for our country, now is the time to move on,” he added in a statement.

Mr Morrison said he would now take on “strategic advisory roles” across Asia to focus on security matters in the Indo-Pacific.

A devout Christian, he said he was “looking forward to being more active” in his church and spending time with his family.

Mr Morrison’s retirement has long been expected following a shattering election loss to Labor’s Anthony Albanese in 2022, during which his party dropped 18 seats.

Australia’s reputation as a climate laggard was a major factor in his government’s demise – with voters favouring candidates committed to more ambitious emissions cuts.

Later in 2022, he became the first former prime minister to be censured by Australia’s parliament – over secret powers he had given himself during the pandemic.

Mr Morrison said his decision to make himself the joint minister for health, finance, treasury, and home affairs had been in keeping with the “extraordinary times” the country was facing.

An investigation found his appointments were legal, and that he used his extra powers only once.

During his time in office, Mr Morrison had a particularly rocky relationship with China, Australia’s largest trading partner.

His government led calls for an international investigation into the origins of Covid, prompting a tit-for-tat trade dispute and a years-long diplomatic freeze.

In a strategic pivot, Mr Morrison instead focused on bolstering Australia’s security alliances, helping to set up the Quad partnership with India, Japan and the US, and signing the Aukus nuclear submarine

Www.bbcnews.co.uk/world

Written by: Safiya Wada