Former Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison declared he would be leaving government to work in the private sector.
From 2018 to 2022, Mr. Morrison, a conservative who was originally elected in 2007, led the nation.
He managed the Aukus defence pact, Australia’s reaction to the epidemic, and he was involved in a historic scandal when he surreptitiously nominated himself to many cabinet positions while serving as prime minister.
He declared on Tuesday, “The time has come for me to go back to my private life.”
Mr. Morrison, 55, announced in a statement that he will now focus on Indo-Pacific security issues by taking on “strategic advisory roles” in Asia.
He was a devoted Christian who expressed his excitement about “getting more involved” in his church and spending more time with his loved ones.
After Labor’s Anthony Albanese crushed the Liberal-National coalition in 2022, leaving it with fewer seats than ever before, Mr. Morrison’s departure was long anticipated.
His government’s downfall was largely caused by Australia’s image as a climate laggard, as voters favoured candidates who promised more drastic emissions reductions.
Although a delayed vaccination introduction eventually garnered criticism, Mr. Morrison’s initial reaction to Covid, which included border closures, lockdowns, and test and trace processes, is credited for helping to suppress early outbreaks.
Australia’s major commercial partner, China, and the prime minister had a particularly tense relationship while he was in office.
His administration spearheaded demands for a global inquiry into the cause of Covid, which resulted in a trade spat and a protracted diplomatic embargo.
Mr. Morrison made a strategic U-turn and concentrated on strengthening regional security alliances, signing the Aukus nuclear submarine agreement with the US and UK, and assisting in the formation of the Quad relationship with Japan, India, and the US.
However, the public’s opinion of him had quickly begun to decline after he chose to vacation in Hawaii amid Australia’s tragic 2019–2020 bushfires.
He later issued an apology, having come under heavy fire for his first reticent reaction to a barrage of claims of sexual misconduct that shocked parliament.
Following his defeat in the 2022 election, which an internal review referred to as the “most serious” loss in the history of the coalition, Mr. Morrison went back to the opposition backbench.
Because of the secret powers he had granted himself during the pandemic, he became the first former prime minister to face censure by parliament.
According to Mr. Morrison, his choice to serve as leader and a joint minister for home affairs, finance, health, and treasury was appropriate given the “extraordinary times” the nation was going through.
In the end, an inquiry concluded that he had legitimate appointments and had only once exercised his additional authority.
After being promoted to cabinet in 2013 as the minister of immigration and overseeing Operation Sovereign Borders, which strengthened Australia’s divisive asylum seeker policy, Mr. Morrison initially attracted widespread notice.
Before taking over as head of the Liberal Party as prime minister in place of Malcolm Turnbull, he held the positions of minister of social services and treasurer.
After assuming the nickname “ScoMo” and appealing to voters as an ordinary family man the country could trust, Mr. Morrison famously defied polls to win the 2019 federal election.
After ten years of political leadership challenges that overthrew administrations in both main parties, he was the first prime minister to hold the office for the entire term since John Howard in 2007.
