Loyal lieutenant’s rapid rise up Liberal leadership ladder

Operation Sovereign Borders ensured Scott Morrison earned a reputation as a tough operator critical to his political success.

Treasurer Scott Morrison with frontbench colleagues in parliament House yesterday. Picture: AAP

Scott Morrison’s rise up the Liberal leadership ladder has been remarkably quick and efficient.

Aside from any innate political talents, his elevation to key ministerial roles — to the point that he is today a serious contender for the top job — is also a reflection of the tribulations of his party. In large part, Morrison is the product of a leadership revolving door that has dogged the Liberals, and Labor too, for a decade.

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At 50, elected to parliament for the first time in 2007 when the ­Coalition was thrown into a six-year spell in opposition, Morrison has now held the key portfolios of immigration minister, social ser­vices minister and now Treasurer.

It has been as Malcolm Turnbull’s Treasurer, a common springboard position for any aspiring leader, that Morrison has boosted his profile to household name status. But it was as Tony Abbott’s immigration minister, as the man who turned back the boats and seemingly adopted an uncompromising stance, giving little or no public information out about the implementation of Operation Sovereign Borders, where Morrison earned his reputation as a tough operator critical to the ­Coalition’s political success.

It was perhaps fortuitous for Morrison that Abbott moved him out of immigration to social ser­vices in a 2014 reshuffle: Morrison was handed the opportunity to broaden his image, and not be ­saddled with a reputation as a harsh, negative, one-dimensional figure of the sort that has hurt Peter Dutton’s appeal factor with many voters the longer he spent in the job.

As Treasurer, Morrison has been fortunate to preside over a healthy if at times sluggish economy. His budgets, unlike those of predecessor Joe Hockey, have been generally well received. He is from the churchgoing conservative Right of the party, with social views not dissimilar to those of Dutton, but he has remained loyal to the more moderate Turnbull.

Abbott became most agitated with Morrison in 2015 when he felt Morrison ran dead, or did not do enough, to support his prime ministership from an assault by the Turnbull conspirators.

Morrison is not without other critics, especially in the media. His run-ins with broadcasters Ray Hadley and Alan Jones have been spectacular, and tensions could continue if Morrison becomes prime minister today. The frequent complaint about Labor politicians is they are often party hacks recruited from the campaign mach­ine. Morrison is the Liberal equivalent, if there is one.

Despite stints with the Property Council and Australian Tourism Taskforce, it was his years as a NSW state party director from 2000 to 2004 that most defined his political pedigree and style, and helped his party connections.

He was a protege of Bruce Baird and took Baird’s seat in Sydney’s south. Through the years of ­Abbott and Turnbull wrangling in opposition and then government, Morrison rose through the frontbench ranks as a loyalist of one and then the other.

WHO IS SCOTT MORRISON?

Scott Morrison.

* Born May 13, 1968 in Sydney

* Married to Jenny and has two daughters

* Often referred to as ScoMo

* Studied an economics and geography degree at the University of NSW

* General Manager of Tourism Council between 1996-1998, then Director of the New Zealand Office of Tourism and Sport 1998-2000.

* State Director of the NSW Liberal Party 2000-2004

* As director of Tourism Australia 2004-2006 he presided over the campaign featuring the slogan “Where The Bloody Hell Are You?

* Elected as the Federal Member for Cook in 2007 after first losing the preselection to Michael Towke, who was disendorsed over reported branch stacking

* Appointed to the front bench by federal Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull in 2008 * Took on shadow minister for immigration and citizenship in 2009 following Tony Abbott’s leadership spill

* Appointed by Tony Abbott as Minister for Immigration and Border Protection from September 2013, then Minister for Social Services from December 2014

* After Malcolm Turnbull replaced Tony Abbott as prime minister he was made Treasurer from September 2015

* Holds the safe seat of Cook in southern Sydney with a margin of 15.4 per cent.