Morrison was born in Sydney and studied economic geography at the University of New South Wales. Before entering politics, he worked as director of the New Zealand Office of Tourism and Sport from 1998 to 2000. He was managing director of Tourism Australia from 2004 to 2006. He was also state director of the New South Wales Liberal Party from 2000 to 2004. Morrison was first elected to the House of Representatives at the 2007 federal election. He was appointed to the opposition frontbench after the 2010 election.
Following the Coalition's victory at the 2013 election, Morrison was appointed Minister for Immigration and Border Protection in the Abbott Government. In that capacity he was responsible for implementing Operation Sovereign Borders, one of the Coalition's flagship policies. In a December 2014 cabinet reshuffle, Morrison was instead made Minister for Social Services. He was promoted to Treasurer in September 2015, when Malcolm Turnbull replaced Tony Abbott as prime minister.
In August 2018, Peter Dutton challenged Turnbull for the leadership of the Liberal Party, due to dissatisfaction from the party's conservative wing. Turnbull defeated Dutton in a leadership ballot, but tensions continued to mount and the party voted in favour of holding a second ballot; Turnbull chose not to be a candidate. In the second vote, Morrison emerged as a compromise candidate, defeating Dutton and Julie Bishop to become leader of the Liberal Party and prime minister.
Morrison was born in Waverley, Sydney, New South Wales, the younger of two sons born to Marion (née Smith) and John Morrison. His father was a policeman who served on the Waverley Municipal Council for 16 years, including for a brief period as mayor. Morrison's maternal grandfather was born in New Zealand.
Morrison grew up in the suburb of Bronte. He had a brief career as a child actor, appearing in several television commercials. Some reports have suggested that he was the iconic 1970s Vicks "Love Rub" kid, but footage to confirm or refute this has not been found; he has stated he was in a different Vicks commercial. He attended Sydney Boys High School before going on to complete an honours degree in applied economic geography at the University of New South Wales. He contemplated studying theology at Regent College in Vancouver, Canada, but he instead chose to enter the workforce after completing his bachelor's degree, in part due to the disapproval of his father.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull called a leadership spill on 21 August 2018 in order to gauge the confidence of the Liberal Party in his leadership. He defeated challenger Peter Dutton by 48 votes to 35. Over the following days, there was repeated speculation about a second spill being called, without Turnbull's approval. Turnbull announced two days later that he would resign the leadership if a spill motion were passed. Dutton, Morrison and Julie Bishop announced they would stand for the leadership if that were the case. A spill motion was passed on 24 August by 45 votes to 40, and Turnbull did not run as a candidate in the resulting leadership vote. On the first ballot, Dutton received 38 votes, Morrison 36 votes, and Bishop 11 votes. On the second ballot, Morrison received 45 votes and Dutton 40 votes. He thus became leader of the Liberal Party and prime minister-designate. Josh Frydenberg was elected as the party's deputy leader, in place of Bishop. Morrison was widely seen as a compromise candidate, who was agreeable to both the moderate supporters of Turnbull and Bishop and conservatives concerned about Dutton's electability. He was sworn in as prime minister on the evening of 24 August.
Morrison with President Joko Widodo of Indonesia on his first overseas visit as prime minister.
Morrison made his first overseas trip as prime minister less than a week after acceding to the office. He visited Jakarta for the Australia–Indonesia Business Forum and met with President Joko Widodo, announcing a free trade deal between the two nations that had been negotiated under the preceding Turnbull Government.
Morrison began dating Jenny Warren when they were both 16. They married when they were 21 and have two daughters together. After multiple unsuccessful IVF treatments over a period of 18 years, their daughters were conceived naturally. His daughters attend an independent Baptist school. Morrison has stated that one of the reasons for this choice was so that he could avoid "the values of others being imposed on my children". He is a fan of the Cronulla Sharks rugby league team and, in 2016, was named the club's number-one ticket holder.
Morrison was raised in the Presbyterian Church, which merged into the Uniting Church when he was a child. He later became a Pentecostal, and now attends the Horizon Church,[66] which is affiliated with the Australian Christian Churches and the Assemblies of God. He has said "the Bible is not a policy handbook, and I get very worried when people try to treat it like one". In late 2017, Morrison stated that he would become a stronger advocate for protections for religious freedom.
