Scott Morrison lauded with highest King's Birthday honour for COVID leadership
Former Prime Minister Scott Morrison has been recognised with the highest award in the 2025 King's Birthday Honours list.
Mr Morrison was made a Companion of the Order of Australia on June 8 for his leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic and brokering the trilateral security partnership AUKUS.
Mr Morrison, 57, served as Australia's 30th prime minister from 2018 to 2022.
In a statement to ACM, the publisher of this masthead, Mr Morrison said he was "honoured and grateful" to receive the accolade.
"It was an immense privilege to be given the opportunity by the Australian people to serve them, as their 30th Prime Minister of Australia from August 2018 to May 2022," he said.
"During this time, Australia faced challenges and threats not experienced since the Second World War."
"These ranged from unrelenting natural disasters and a once-in-a-century global pandemic and the recession it caused, to coercion and intimidation designed to threaten our support for a free and open Indo-Pacific, a world order that favours freedom and our strong bond with allies and partners," Mr Morrison said.
Mr Morrison won the safe seat of Cook in Sydney's Sutherland Shire in 2007 and was swiftly appointed to the shadow cabinet after a stellar career as Liberal Party state director and head of Tourism Australia.
In 2013, he became immigration minister in Prime Minister Tony Abbott's government where he coordinated the government's asylum seeker response known as Operation Sovereign Borders.
In the reshuffle the following year, he was appointed social services minister and later treasurer in Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's government.
READ MORE: Search the full King's Birthday Honours List
In August 2018, he was sworn in as prime minister, rising to the leadership as a compromise candidate after Peter Dutton challenged Malcom Turnbull in a bruising leadership battle.
Mr Morrison won a second term in May 2019 in a surprise victory despite the Coalition lagging in the polls in the weeks leading up to election day.
He famously declared "I have always believed in miracles."
Mr Morrison's career was also marked by controversy, including taking a family holiday in Hawaii during the Black Summer bushfires.
He also faced backlash over his handling of parliamentary misconduct allegations and for his secret ministries scandal for which he was censured in November 2022 for failing to disclose his secret self-appointments to a number of ministries.
Mr Morrison's government was defeated at the 2022 election after a large swing away from the Coalition and a clutch of "teal" independent wins in inner city seats.
During the campaign, Mr Morrison famously crash-tackled eight-year-old student Luca Fauvette while visiting Devonport Strikers soccer club practice in northern Tasmania.
He paid tribute to his wife Jenny and two "miracle girls" Abbey and Lily, who were conceived by the couple after years of infertility, during his valedictory speech in February 2023.
"As most people know, subject only to God, my family is the centre of my life, and at the very centre of our family is Jen," he said.
"I cannot imagine life without her. I love you, Jen, and always will- that is the cross you have to bear.
"Your love has been my stay and strength."
He left politics "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 failures and shortcomings," he said.
Mr Morrison has worked as an advisor to various lobby groups and as a public speaker in his career after public service.
He released Plans For Your Good: A Prime Minister's Testimony of God's Faithfulness in 2023, a part-political memoir, part-spiritual guide.
One of the revelations in the book is that he used medication to treat anxiety between 2018 and 2022, a period that covers his time as prime minister.
Mr Morrison also made headlines earlier this year after a photo album his wife accidentally donated to a charity shop was picked up by a TikToker. It was later safely returned.
Former Prime Minister Scott Morrison has been recognised with the highest award in the 2025 King's Birthday Honours list.
Mr Morrison was made a Companion of the Order of Australia on June 8 for his leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic and brokering the trilateral security partnership AUKUS.
Mr Morrison, 57, served as Australia's 30th prime minister from 2018 to 2022.
In a statement to ACM, the publisher of this masthead, Mr Morrison said he was "honoured and grateful" to receive the accolade.
"It was an immense privilege to be given the opportunity by the Australian people to serve them, as their 30th Prime Minister of Australia from August 2018 to May 2022," he said.
"During this time, Australia faced challenges and threats not experienced since the Second World War."
"These ranged from unrelenting natural disasters and a once-in-a-century global pandemic and the recession it caused, to coercion and intimidation designed to threaten our support for a free and open Indo-Pacific, a world order that favours freedom and our strong bond with allies and partners," Mr Morrison said.
Mr Morrison won the safe seat of Cook in Sydney's Sutherland Shire in 2007 and was swiftly appointed to the shadow cabinet after a stellar career as Liberal Party state director and head of Tourism Australia.
In 2013, he became immigration minister in Prime Minister Tony Abbott's government where he coordinated the government's asylum seeker response known as Operation Sovereign Borders.
In the reshuffle the following year, he was appointed social services minister and later treasurer in Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's government.
READ MORE: Search the full King's Birthday Honours List
In August 2018, he was sworn in as prime minister, rising to the leadership as a compromise candidate after Peter Dutton challenged Malcom Turnbull in a bruising leadership battle.
Mr Morrison won a second term in May 2019 in a surprise victory despite the Coalition lagging in the polls in the weeks leading up to election day.
He famously declared "I have always believed in miracles."
Mr Morrison's career was also marked by controversy, including taking a family holiday in Hawaii during the Black Summer bushfires.
He also faced backlash over his handling of parliamentary misconduct allegations and for his secret ministries scandal for which he was censured in November 2022 for failing to disclose his secret self-appointments to a number of ministries.
Mr Morrison's government was defeated at the 2022 election after a large swing away from the Coalition and a clutch of "teal" independent wins in inner city seats.
During the campaign, Mr Morrison famously crash-tackled eight-year-old student Luca Fauvette while visiting Devonport Strikers soccer club practice in northern Tasmania.
He paid tribute to his wife Jenny and two "miracle girls" Abbey and Lily, who were conceived by the couple after years of infertility, during his valedictory speech in February 2023.
"As most people know, subject only to God, my family is the centre of my life, and at the very centre of our family is Jen," he said.
"I cannot imagine life without her. I love you, Jen, and always will- that is the cross you have to bear.
"Your love has been my stay and strength."
He left politics "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 failures and shortcomings," he said.
Mr Morrison has worked as an advisor to various lobby groups and as a public speaker in his career after public service.
He released Plans For Your Good: A Prime Minister's Testimony of God's Faithfulness in 2023, a part-political memoir, part-spiritual guide.
One of the revelations in the book is that he used medication to treat anxiety between 2018 and 2022, a period that covers his time as prime minister.
Mr Morrison also made headlines earlier this year after a photo album his wife accidentally donated to a charity shop was picked up by a TikToker. It was later safely returned.
Former Prime Minister Scott Morrison has been recognised with the highest award in the 2025 King's Birthday Honours list.
Mr Morrison was made a Companion of the Order of Australia on June 8 for his leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic and brokering the trilateral security partnership AUKUS.
Mr Morrison, 57, served as Australia's 30th prime minister from 2018 to 2022.
In a statement to ACM, the publisher of this masthead, Mr Morrison said he was "honoured and grateful" to receive the accolade.
"It was an immense privilege to be given the opportunity by the Australian people to serve them, as their 30th Prime Minister of Australia from August 2018 to May 2022," he said.
"During this time, Australia faced challenges and threats not experienced since the Second World War."
"These ranged from unrelenting natural disasters and a once-in-a-century global pandemic and the recession it caused, to coercion and intimidation designed to threaten our support for a free and open Indo-Pacific, a world order that favours freedom and our strong bond with allies and partners," Mr Morrison said.
Mr Morrison won the safe seat of Cook in Sydney's Sutherland Shire in 2007 and was swiftly appointed to the shadow cabinet after a stellar career as Liberal Party state director and head of Tourism Australia.
In 2013, he became immigration minister in Prime Minister Tony Abbott's government where he coordinated the government's asylum seeker response known as Operation Sovereign Borders.
In the reshuffle the following year, he was appointed social services minister and later treasurer in Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's government.
READ MORE: Search the full King's Birthday Honours List
In August 2018, he was sworn in as prime minister, rising to the leadership as a compromise candidate after Peter Dutton challenged Malcom Turnbull in a bruising leadership battle.
Mr Morrison won a second term in May 2019 in a surprise victory despite the Coalition lagging in the polls in the weeks leading up to election day.
He famously declared "I have always believed in miracles."
Mr Morrison's career was also marked by controversy, including taking a family holiday in Hawaii during the Black Summer bushfires.
He also faced backlash over his handling of parliamentary misconduct allegations and for his secret ministries scandal for which he was censured in November 2022 for failing to disclose his secret self-appointments to a number of ministries.
Mr Morrison's government was defeated at the 2022 election after a large swing away from the Coalition and a clutch of "teal" independent wins in inner city seats.
During the campaign, Mr Morrison famously crash-tackled eight-year-old student Luca Fauvette while visiting Devonport Strikers soccer club practice in northern Tasmania.
He paid tribute to his wife Jenny and two "miracle girls" Abbey and Lily, who were conceived by the couple after years of infertility, during his valedictory speech in February 2023.
"As most people know, subject only to God, my family is the centre of my life, and at the very centre of our family is Jen," he said.
"I cannot imagine life without her. I love you, Jen, and always will- that is the cross you have to bear.
"Your love has been my stay and strength."
He left politics "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 failures and shortcomings," he said.
Mr Morrison has worked as an advisor to various lobby groups and as a public speaker in his career after public service.
He released Plans For Your Good: A Prime Minister's Testimony of God's Faithfulness in 2023, a part-political memoir, part-spiritual guide.
One of the revelations in the book is that he used medication to treat anxiety between 2018 and 2022, a period that covers his time as prime minister.
Mr Morrison also made headlines earlier this year after a photo album his wife accidentally donated to a charity shop was picked up by a TikToker. It was later safely returned.
Former Prime Minister Scott Morrison has been recognised with the highest award in the 2025 King's Birthday Honours list.
Mr Morrison was made a Companion of the Order of Australia on June 8 for his leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic and brokering the trilateral security partnership AUKUS.
Mr Morrison, 57, served as Australia's 30th prime minister from 2018 to 2022.
In a statement to ACM, the publisher of this masthead, Mr Morrison said he was "honoured and grateful" to receive the accolade.
"It was an immense privilege to be given the opportunity by the Australian people to serve them, as their 30th Prime Minister of Australia from August 2018 to May 2022," he said.
"During this time, Australia faced challenges and threats not experienced since the Second World War."
"These ranged from unrelenting natural disasters and a once-in-a-century global pandemic and the recession it caused, to coercion and intimidation designed to threaten our support for a free and open Indo-Pacific, a world order that favours freedom and our strong bond with allies and partners," Mr Morrison said.
Mr Morrison won the safe seat of Cook in Sydney's Sutherland Shire in 2007 and was swiftly appointed to the shadow cabinet after a stellar career as Liberal Party state director and head of Tourism Australia.
In 2013, he became immigration minister in Prime Minister Tony Abbott's government where he coordinated the government's asylum seeker response known as Operation Sovereign Borders.
In the reshuffle the following year, he was appointed social services minister and later treasurer in Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's government.
READ MORE: Search the full King's Birthday Honours List
In August 2018, he was sworn in as prime minister, rising to the leadership as a compromise candidate after Peter Dutton challenged Malcom Turnbull in a bruising leadership battle.
Mr Morrison won a second term in May 2019 in a surprise victory despite the Coalition lagging in the polls in the weeks leading up to election day.
He famously declared "I have always believed in miracles."
Mr Morrison's career was also marked by controversy, including taking a family holiday in Hawaii during the Black Summer bushfires.
He also faced backlash over his handling of parliamentary misconduct allegations and for his secret ministries scandal for which he was censured in November 2022 for failing to disclose his secret self-appointments to a number of ministries.
Mr Morrison's government was defeated at the 2022 election after a large swing away from the Coalition and a clutch of "teal" independent wins in inner city seats.
During the campaign, Mr Morrison famously crash-tackled eight-year-old student Luca Fauvette while visiting Devonport Strikers soccer club practice in northern Tasmania.
He paid tribute to his wife Jenny and two "miracle girls" Abbey and Lily, who were conceived by the couple after years of infertility, during his valedictory speech in February 2023.
"As most people know, subject only to God, my family is the centre of my life, and at the very centre of our family is Jen," he said.
"I cannot imagine life without her. I love you, Jen, and always will- that is the cross you have to bear.
"Your love has been my stay and strength."
He left politics "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 failures and shortcomings," he said.
Mr Morrison has worked as an advisor to various lobby groups and as a public speaker in his career after public service.
He released Plans For Your Good: A Prime Minister's Testimony of God's Faithfulness in 2023, a part-political memoir, part-spiritual guide.
One of the revelations in the book is that he used medication to treat anxiety between 2018 and 2022, a period that covers his time as prime minister.
Mr Morrison also made headlines earlier this year after a photo album his wife accidentally donated to a charity shop was picked up by a TikToker. It was later safely returned.
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