Newyork Daily -  International News, Latest News, Breaking News,Sports, Business and Political News
Newyork Daily - International News, Latest News, Breaking News,Sports, Business and Political News
Friday, 29 Apr 2022 14:00 pm
Newyork Daily -  International News, Latest News, Breaking News,Sports, Business and Political News

Newyork Daily - International News, Latest News, Breaking News,Sports, Business and Political News

Australian leader Scott Morrison will soon face an election, hoping for another against-odds victory to extend his four-year tenure as prime minister.

His centre-right Liberal-National coalition will face off against Anthony Albanese's Labor Party in the vote on 21 May.

Mr Morrison has gained a reputation as a shrewd political tactician and survivor. After a surprise election win in 2019 that gave him huge influence over his party, he said had "always believed in miracles".

But three years on, many are wondering if he has become a liability in voters' minds.

Rise to the top

The son of a police officer, Mr Morrison grew up in Sydney's beachside suburbs and now represents a traditional heartland in the city's south.

The 53-year-old has worked hard to forge an image as the proverbial "family man" who understands Australia's suburban values, often donning high-vis vests and a cap featuring his favourite rugby league team.

One of the country's leading religious conservatives, he is now closely connected to the Pentecostal movement. He married his wife Jenny when he was 21 and the pair have two children.

Mr Morrison has always been politically engaged and was a former state director for the Liberal Party. But he also held senior roles in tourism - he was a former managing director of Tourism Australia - before running for federal office in 2007 and finally entering the cut-throat political stage in Canberra.

He rose to national prominence for vigorously enforcing Australia's controversial approach to asylum seekers, including the "Stop the Boats" policy, as immigration minister in Tony Abbott's government.

Despite trenchant public criticism of the policy, Mr Morrison proceeded with his severe approach to the portfolio and built a reputation as a tough operator. He remained unfazed by specific accusations about the lack of transparency over what was happening in Australia's offshore detention centres.

Scott Morrison signs a deal with CambodiaMr Morrison signs a refugee resettlement deal with Cambodia in 2014; it ultimately resettled fewer than 10 people

He later took on portfolios in social security and treasury - where he was lauded for his competence, work ethic and clear communication.

He opposed the marriage equality bill but kept a low profile during that debate - he ultimately abstained, a sign of his characteristic pragmatic approach to his political career.

Mr Morrison entered the top job in 2018 after his predecessor, Malcolm Turnbull, was forced out by infighting within the government.

Time as prime minister

Mr Morrison will become the first Australian prime minister in 15 years to serve a full three-year term.

His government's stewardship of the economy is at the heart of his re-election bid, with economic activity surpassing pre-pandemic levels and projected to grow a further 4.25% this year. Unemployment levels also dipped to 4% in 2022 - a rate unseen since 2008.

Australia's response to Covid - tight border controls, movement restrictions and free vaccinations - has left it with one of the lowest death rates globally, but the federal government shares credit for this with state governments.

Mr Morrison negotiated a landmark defence pact with the US and the UK in 2021, termed Aukus. The agreement - widely seen as a joint effort to counter China's growing military might - re-aligns Australia more closely with the US.

But his tenure has been frequently controversial, including over Aukus, which caused a diplomatic spat when he reneged on an earlier $37bn (£27bn) submarine deal with France.

The move caused a rift between Australia and France, culminating with French President Emmanuel Macron accusing Mr Morrison of lying to him. "I don't think - I know," Mr Macron famously told reporters.

Other rifts - particularly within Mr Morrison's own party in recent times - have also had many calling his character into question.

Government senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells launched a blistering attack on Mr Morrison in March, accusing him of being "an autocrat" and "a bully with no moral compass" over internal party processes.

Australian Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce (L) and former New South Wales premier Gladys Berejiklian

Text messages reportedly written by Deputy PM Barnaby Joyce and a former premier, Gladys Berejiklian, have been blows for Mr Morrison

A leaked text message from Barnaby Joyce - written before he became Mr Morrison's deputy prime minister - labelled the leader a "hypocrite and a liar". Mr Joyce also wrote that he had "never trusted him".

A separate text exchange, reportedly between a party colleague and former New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian, was also leaked to the media. Ms Berejiklian was said to have labelled the prime minister "a horrible person" who was untrustworthy. Ms Berejiklian later said she did not recall sending the message, but did not deny writing it.

During Australia's deadly Black Summer bushfires of 2019-20, the prime minister encountered a severe backlash when he went on a poorly timed family holiday to Hawaii.

News of the trip - which his office initially tried to avoid making public - forced Mr Morrison to issue a statement expressing "deep regret" for "any offence caused to any of the many Australians affected by the terrible bushfires by my taking leave with my family".

The prime minister didn't fare much better when floods ravaged large parts of Queensland and New South Wales in March, drawing accusations of responding too slowly to declare a national emergency.

The fire and flood events - two of Australia's worst-ever natural disasters - again showcased anger over the government's climate targets, which are among the weakest set by rich nations.

Mr Morrison's government has also drawn fire for its treatment of women. Most prominently a former Liberal staffer, Brittany Higgins, alleged that a colleague had raped her in a ministerial office in 2018, and that the party had pressured her to stay silent.

It led to a landmark report that found a third of employees in Australia's federal parliament had been sexually harassed.

Opinion polls show Mr Morrison is not favoured to win the next election, but given his upset win in 2019, many political observers say it would be foolish to write him off.