Morrison, Scott, 1968–, Australian political leader, b. Sydney. Morrison was head of tourism for both New Zealand and Australia before he became state director (2000–2004) of the Liberal party in New South Wales. A social conservative, Morrison was first elected to parliament in 2007, as a Liberal. He became minister for immigration and border protection (2013–14) under Prime Minister Tony Abbott and inaugurated a controversial program to stop asylum seekers from reaching Australia by boat, intercepting and delivering them to Indonesia or to offshore detention centers. He then was social services minister (2014–15) and treasurer (2015–18), serving in Malcolm Turnbull's cabinet from 2015. In 2018 Morrison successfully challenged Turnbull for the party leadership and succeeded him as prime minister, and the following year he led his coalition to victory.
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