WASHINGTON – Scott Morrison may not have the name recognition of some of his contemporaries like Boris Johnson, but as a foreign leader, Morrison made his mark on the world stage, forging a deeper bond between the United States and the Land Down Under.
From 2018 until 2022, Morrison served as Australia’s prime minister, securing an unexpected second term in 2019 dubbed “Morrison’s Miracle” by Australian media. However, his four-year tenure was defined by devastating bushfires, historic flooding, and a once-in-a hundred-year global pandemic.
Behind his broad smile and easy-going manner is a man of conviction, fortified from decades in the rough and tumble world of government service.
“Politics is a very brutal business,” Morrison told CBN News on a visit to the Washington news bureau during his book tour. “It’s no different here in the United States.”
His CBN interview included a wide range of topics from his vantage point as a former international leader: Starting with Israel’s war with Hamas.
“Israel has every right to defend itself,” he declared. “Every time I talk about this I say October 7 as many times as I can, because I think the world is forgetting.”
Morrison connected the recent swell of antisemitism to the lack of support for the state of Israel.
“I certainly won’t abandon them. And I know so many Christians around the world won’t abandon them and will stand with them as well – and we should pray for them,” Morrison said.
“We should pray for the people of Palestine as well – that they one day have a government that cares about their health and welfare and the education of their children, rather than building tunnels and launching terrorist attacks,” he added while disavowing international calls for Israel to agree to a ceasefire.
When Russian President Vladimir Putin authorized the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Morrison quickly condemned the move and backed the Ukrainian resistance with money and supplies. He told CBN News his logic for supporting Ukraine mirrors his reasoning for his stance on Israel.
“What Russia is doing, Iran is sympathetic to, China is sympathetic to. They are all working together,” he explained. “They may not have the history of friendship between those countries that we have, say, with Australia, the United States, and the United Kingdom. But their goals are the same, and that is to undermine the United States; to undermine the rules-based order, which is an order that favors freedom.”
Morrison pointed to Australia’s regional neighbor, China, and its burgeoning alignment with Russia, Iran, and North Korea as a reason for pushing through the AUKUS military alliance between Australia, the U.K., and the U.S., which he described as the “three most trusted friends in the world.”
“It’s about ensuring we have the defense capabilities and the new technologies in defense that enables us to provide a credible deterrent,” he explained while acknowledging the awkward-sounding acronym.
As leader of Australia’s conservative Liberal Party, Morrison received wide praise for navigating the COVID outbreak with lower fatalities than in other countries and shoring up support for mental health.
“Those services helped people. They got them through. Suicide rates fell by 7½ percent for two years running,” he recalled. “The great challenge was everything that saved lives also trashed your economy, and my concern was that could produce a bigger epidemic than the pathogen.”
Morrison reflects on the highs and lows of his premiership in a new book Plans for Your Good, which is a scriptural reference to the Old Testament prophet Jeremiah.
As the country’s first Pentecostal prime minister, he leans heavily on scripture and offers readers spiritual and practical lessons he has learned throughout his lifetime.
Morrison told CBN News he has an affinity for the Biblical story of Daniel. He believes it provides a model for how Christians can respond to external hostility without compromising their witness as culture clashes with traditional Christian beliefs.
“In the book, I talk a lot about Daniel and Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. I found Daniel an inspiration because Daniel, of course, was a prime minister in a secular country that completely rejected his faith,” he explained. “The way Daniel dealt with it was in prayer, in faithfulness, in obedience, in integrity – but was always steadfast and looked to God. If Daniel was around today, he wouldn’t be blasting people in capital letters on Facebook.”
Morrison’s book explores the themes of patience and choosing forgiveness after being voted out of office over what he calls a smear campaign that led him to receive Parliament’s first-ever censure of a former prime minister. The rebuke came after the revelation that Morrison secretly granted himself additional ministerial powers.
He also reveals how he sought treatment and medication for anxiety to deal with the pressures of office.
“I’m just trying to be as honest as I can with people and reveal that it doesn’t matter whether you’re a prime minister or anyone else. We’re all people and we all struggle with the same things,” he told CBN News. “I wanted it to be encouragement for people who are dealing with the same thing.”
In January 2024, Morrison retired from politics for good. Now as a private citizen, he’s trusting God’s plans for his future.
“As difficult sometimes as you know, processing loss and change and transition and all of that can be, what’s the ultimate test as a Christian as you’ve come through a time like that: do you feel closer to God today than you did at the start? If the answer to that question is yes, he’s doing a great work.”
