Scott Morrison leaves politics

Former Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has delivered his valedictory speech, signalling the end of his time in politics. 
 
In his final speech to Parliament, Mr Morrison said that his Christian faith compelled him to forgive other people and to consider his own failings. 

“Mr Speaker, I leave this place not as one of those timid souls who no neither victory nor defeat – I leave having given all in that arena, and there are plenty of scars to show for it,” he said. 

“While I left nothing of my contributions on that field, I do believe that, in that arena, will always remain any bitterness, disappointments or offences that have occurred along the way. I leave this place appreciative and thankful, unburdened by offences, and released from any bitterness that can so often haunt post-political lives.” 

“This is due to my faith in Jesus Christ, which gives me the faith to both forgive but also to be honest about my own failings and shortcomings.” 

Mr Morrison was first elected to Parliament when he became the Member for Cook in 2008. In his first speech to Parliament, he quoted Bono and said that Australia was not a secular country. Mr Morrison also argued that Christians had a right to profess their faith as part of public debates. 

“In recent times it has become fashionable to negatively stereotype those who profess their Christian faith in public life as ‘extreme’ and to suggest that such faith has no place in the political debate of this country,” Mr Morrison said. 

“This presents a significant challenge for those of us… who seek to follow the example of William Wilberforce or Desmond Tutu, to name just two.” 

Mr Morrison indicated that more needed to be done to help Africa, to make poverty history and to raise the level of foreign aid, commending the Rudd Labor Government for doing so. He said, however, that far more needed to be done to bridge the gap between aid funding levels and what was needed. 

He became Prime Minister on 24 August 2018, after winning a Liberal party room vote for party leadership. After winning the 2019 election, he led the Coalition to electoral defeat in 2022.  

Throughout his time in Parliament, much discourse surrounded his public professions of faith.  

When he became Prime Minister, he faced criticism over this record as immigration minister, as it relates to his faith as a Christian. 

On the subject of asylum seekers, Love Makes A Way lashed Mr Morrison for his previous asylum seekers policies and statements the day that he became Prime Minister. In a post on the group’s Facebook page, they argued that he was “more fit for the Hague than for the Lodge.” 

Mr Morrison is a former member of the Uniting Church, having grown up in the denomination. He joined Pentecostal churches later in life. In his maiden speech to parliament, he thanked, among others, the Uniting Church minister Rev. Ray Green, as one of the early Christian influences on his life. Mr Morrison currently worships at Horizon, a Pentecostal Church located in the Southerland Shire.