The Players

Scott Morrison.
Minister of Everything.

He took Robodebt to cabinet, started the social impact market as Treasurer, opened every foreign deal to review and secretly took over five portfolios as prime minister.

Now he advises defence and geopolitical firms.

Newsprint cut-out of Scott Morrison’s head and shoulders.
5

Portfolios he secretly took on in 2020 and 2021.[7]

$30m

To build a social impact investing market, announced as Treasurer in 2017.[3]

$0

The foreign investment screening threshold from 29 March 2020.[5]

28

Organisations written into tax law by name as deductible gift recipients while he was prime minister.[16][17][18][19][9]

The Chain

Minister for Social ServicesDecember 2014 to September 2015
TreasurerSeptember 2015 to August 2018
Prime MinisterAugust 2018 to May 2022
American Global StrategiesNon-executive vice chair, after leaving parliament in 2024

Dates from the Parliament of Australia.[15]

What He Did

  1. 2015As social services minister he took Robodebt to cabinet. The Robodebt Royal Commission found “he failed to meet his ministerial responsibility to ensure that Cabinet was properly informed about what the proposal actually entailed and to ensure that it was lawful.” It rejected as untrue his evidence that income averaging was an established practice.[1] In March 2026 the NACC found no corrupt conduct by him under its Act.[2]
  2. 8 August 2017As Treasurer, with Christian Porter, he announces $30 million to develop a social impact investing market.[3] Who started it
  3. 20 September 2018A month into his prime ministership, Stuart Robert introduces the bill that writes the Paul Ramsay Foundation into tax law by name as a deductible gift recipient. It passes in 2019.[4]
  4. 14 and 30 March 2020He has himself sworn in to administer Health, then Finance. The finance minister, Mathias Cormann, isn’t told.[7]
  5. 29 March 2020The screening threshold for every foreign investment drops to $0 until the end of 2020.[5] On 5 June his government announces what Treasury calls “the most comprehensive reforms to Australia’s foreign investment review framework in more than 20 years”.[6]
  6. 15 April 2021He takes on Industry, Science, Energy and Resources to control the decision on the PEP-11 gas permit off the NSW coast.[7][8] In December 2021 he refuses it. In February 2023 the Federal Court quashes his decision, finding it was affected by apprehended bias.[8]
  7. April 2021His education minister, Alan Tudge, warns the national curriculum must not come “at the expense of dishonouring our Western heritage”.[10]
  8. May 2021He takes on Treasury and Home Affairs. Josh Frydenberg and Karen Andrews aren’t told.[7]
  9. 31 March 2022The Ramsay Centre for Western Civilisation and the Australian Future Leaders Foundation are written into tax law by name, backdated to gifts after 30 June 2021. Every listing[9]
  10. November 2022The Bell inquiry finds his undisclosed appointments undermined responsible government.[11]
  11. Since 2022Advisory roles with the International Democrat Union, the Hudson Institute’s China Center and the Center for a New American Security.[14] After leaving parliament in early 2024 he becomes non-executive vice chair of American Global Strategies, the Washington firm founded by Donald Trump’s former national security adviser Robert O’Brien, which advises clients in defence, aerospace, maritime, technology and private equity. He chairs the advisory board of Space Centre Australia.[12] He joins the advisory board of Dyne Maritime, a US venture investor with a $100 million fund for AUKUS-related maritime technology.[13]

Tax Breaks by Name

Most charities apply to the tax office for deductible gift recipient status. These were written into the Income Tax Assessment Act by name while he was prime minister. Donors can deduct gifts to them from their taxable income.

2018 Measures No. 4 Act, 1 March 2019[4][16]

  • Paul Ramsay Foundation Limited (gifts 1 July 2018 to 30 June 2020)
  • Australian Philanthropic Services Limited
  • Foundation 1901 Limited
  • Australian Sports Foundation Charitable Fund
  • Australian Women Donors Network
  • Sydney Chevra Kadisha
  • Smile Like Drake Foundation Limited
  • The Q Foundation Trust
  • Victorian Pride Centre Ltd

2020 Measures No. 3 Act, 19 June 2020[18]

  • The Samuel Griffith Society Inc.
  • Friends of Myall Creek Memorial Incorporated
  • Toy Libraries Australia Inc.

2019-20 Bushfire Tax Assistance Act 2020[17]

  • Australian Volunteers Support Trust
  • Community Rebuilding Trust

2020 Measures No. 2 Act, 3 September 2020[19]

  • Governor Phillip International Scholarship Trust
  • High Resolves
  • C E W Bean Foundation
  • Australian Academy of Law
  • Superannuation Consumers’ Centre Ltd
  • Motherless Daughters Australia Limited
  • The Headstone Project (Tas) Inc.
  • Foundation Broken Hill Limited

Cost of Living Support Act, 31 March 2022[9]

  • The Ramsay Centre for Western Civilisation Limited (gifts after 30 June 2021, no end date)
  • The Australian Future Leaders Foundation Limited (gifts after 30 June 2021)
  • Lord Mayor’s Charitable Foundation
  • Royal Humane Society of New South Wales Incorporated
  • Perth Korean War Memorial Committee Incorporated
  • Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia Consolidated Trust Cathedral of the Annunciation of our Lady Restoration Fund

Two more listings were also backdated to 1 July 2021: the Australian Education Research Organisation Limited and the Jewish Education Foundation (Vic) Ltd. They went through in a bill introduced after the 2022 election.[20]

Laws His Government Tried to Change

  1. December 2018 to February 2022He announces a federal integrity commission on 13 December 2018. A draft bill comes out in November 2020. It is never introduced to parliament. The Centre for Public Integrity calls the model “the weakest integrity commission in the country”. In February 2022 the Attorney-General confirms it is off the agenda.[21]
  2. September 2020His government releases the Data Availability and Transparency Bill, Stuart Robert’s law to share Australians’ data across government and with accredited users. It passes in 2022.[25] Stuart Robert
  3. December 2020The Foreign Investment Reform (Protecting Australia’s National Security) Act passes on 8 December 2020, after the $0 screening threshold.[24][6]
  4. 2021NDIS law changes are drafted to bring in independent assessments, which would decide access and plan budgets. The plan is dropped in July 2021.[26]
  5. 25 August 2021Stuart Robert introduces the Investment Funds Legislation Amendment Bill, which would exempt the Future Fund’s investment documents from freedom of information, whether or not they are commercially sensitive. The Australian Centre for International Justice says it would operate as a full exemption for the information civil society groups had been asking for. It passes the House and lapses in the Senate.[23]
  6. 2021The COAG Legislation Amendment Bill would extend cabinet secrecy to National Cabinet, keeping its papers from the public for 20 or 30 years. The Information Commissioner says the existing FOI law already provides “an adequate framework”. It lapses at the 2022 election.[22]

Questions for a Real NACC

  • Which foreign takeovers of care providers were approved while every deal had to be screened, and on what advice?
  • The Treasury advice on writing the Paul Ramsay Foundation and the Ramsay Centre into tax law by name.
  • Every decision he made using the portfolios nobody knew he held.
  • Every meeting between his office and the social impact investors who later helped design government programmes.
Stuart RobertThe digital minister and the data centres. Read it The InstigatorsWho started the social impact market. Read it

Sources

  1. Royal Commission into the Robodebt Scheme, Report, 7 July 2023, pp. 102 and 106, as quoted by the Prime Minister, 7 July 2023. https://robodebt.royalcommission.gov.au/publications/report https://ministers.dss.gov.au/transcripts/11726
  2. National Anti-Corruption Commission, Operation Myrtleford investigation report, March 2026. https://www.nacc.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/2026-03/Operation%20Myrtleford%20Investigation%20Report.pdf
  3. Scott Morrison and Christian Porter, Developing Australia’s Social Impact Investing Market, 8 August 2017. https://formerministers.dss.gov.au/17344/developing-australias-social-impact-investing-market/
  4. Stuart Robert, second reading speech, Treasury Laws Amendment (2018 Measures No. 4) Bill, 20 September 2018; Treasury Laws Amendment (2018 Measures No. 4) Act 2019. https://www.openaustralia.org.au/debate/?id=2018-09-20.39.2 https://www.legislation.gov.au/C2019A00008/asmade/text
  5. HWL Ebsworth, Foreign investment framework changes in light of extraordinary economic circumstances, 31 March 2020. https://hwlebsworth.com.au/foreign-investment-framework-changes-in-light-of-extraordinary-economic-circumstances/
  6. Treasury, Foreign investment reforms, 5 June 2020. https://treasury.gov.au/publication/p2020-87595
  7. ABC News, Scott Morrison took on a bunch of other jobs in secret. What were they, and why did he do it?, 17 August 2022. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-08-17/what-powers-did-scott-morrison-secretly-give-himself/101341276
  8. The New Daily, Federal Court quashes Scott Morrison’s PEP-11 decision, 14 February 2023. https://www.thenewdaily.com.au/news/2023/02/14/federal-court-scott-morrison-pep11
  9. Treasury Laws Amendment (Cost of Living Support and Other Measures) Act 2022, No. 14 of 2022, Schedule 3. https://www.legislation.gov.au/C2022A00014/asmade/2022-03-31/text/original/epub/OEBPS/document_1/document_1.html
  10. Sydney Morning Herald, Tudge concerned about colonisation emphasis in proposed curriculum changes, 30 April 2021. https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/tudge-concerned-about-colonisation-emphasis-in-proposed-curriculum-changes-20210430-p57nsb.html
  11. Virginia Bell, Inquiry into the appointment of the former Prime Minister to administer multiple departments, November 2022. https://www.ag.gov.au/about-us/publications/bell-inquiry-report
  12. Scott Morrison, Post politics; American Global Strategies, Scott Morrison. https://www.scottmorrison.com.au/post-politics https://americanglobalstrategies.com/team/scott-morrison/
  13. GovCon Executive, Australian ex-PM Scott Morrison joins Dyne Maritime advisory board, January 2024. https://www.govconexec.com/2024/01/scott-morrison-to-serve-on-dyne-maritimes-advisory-board/
  14. Crikey, Anton Nilsson and Sean Johnson, The gravy train list: what powerful politicians do for a living post-Parliament, 24 October 2024. https://www.crikey.com.au/2024/10/24/gravy-train-post-parliament-careers-advisers-consultants/
  15. Parliament of Australia, Scott Morrison parliamentary record; Parliamentary Handbook, ministries. https://www.aph.gov.au/Senators_and_Members/Parliamentarian?MPID=E3L https://handbook.aph.gov.au/ministries/government-ministries/71
  16. Treasury Laws Amendment (2018 Measures No. 4) Act 2019, Schedule 9, assented 1 March 2019. https://www.ato.gov.au/law/view/pdf/acts/20190008.pdf
  17. Explanatory Memorandum, Treasury Laws Amendment (2019-20 Bushfire Tax Assistance) Bill 2020. https://www.ato.gov.au/law/view/print?DocID=NEM/EM20201/NAT/ATO/00004&PiT=99991231235958
  18. Treasury Laws Amendment (2020 Measures No. 3) Act 2020, assented 19 June 2020. https://www.ato.gov.au/law/view/pdf/acts/20200061.pdf
  19. Explanatory Memorandum, Treasury Laws Amendment (2020 Measures No. 2) Bill 2020; Act assented 3 September 2020. https://www.ato.gov.au/law/view/print?DocID=NEM/EM202027/NAT/ATO/00002&PiT=99991231235958 https://www.legislation.gov.au/C2004A05138/2023-09-15/2023-09-15/text/original/word/11
  20. Explanatory Memorandum, Treasury Laws Amendment (2022 Measures No. 5) Bill 2022, Schedule 1. https://www.ato.gov.au/law/view/print?DocID=NEM/EM20231/NAT/ATO/00003&PiT=99991231235958
  21. Sydney Morning Herald, Fact check: what did Morrison say about a federal ICAC?, 15 April 2022. https://www.smh.com.au/national/fact-check-what-did-morrison-say-about-a-federal-icac-20220415-p5adq9.html
  22. Office of the Australian Information Commissioner, submission on the COAG Legislation Amendment Bill 2021; Australasian Study of Parliament Group, Confidentiality and executive accountability, 2022. https://www.oaic.gov.au/engage-with-us/submissions/senate-finance-and-public-administration-legislation-committee-inquiry-coag-legislation-amendment-bill-2021 https://www.aspg.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Confidentiality-and-Executive-Acoountability.pdf
  23. Parliamentary Library, Bills Digest, Investment Funds Legislation Amendment Bill 2021; Australian Centre for International Justice and others, The Future Fund must be transparent and accountable to Australians, 29 November 2021; Rex Patrick, Michael West Media, 12 February 2023. https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Bills_Legislation/bd/bd2122a/22bd022 https://acij.org.au/joint-media-release-the-future-fund-must-be-transparent-and-accountable-to-australians/ https://michaelwest.com.au/rex-patricks-foi-lifts-the-lid-on-future-funds-china-investments/
  24. Parliament of Australia, Foreign Investment Reform (Protecting Australia’s National Security) Bill 2020, bill status. https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Bills_Legislation/Bills_Search_Results/Result?bId=r6612
  25. ABC News, Government releases draft law to share personal data between agencies, 16 September 2020; Department of Finance, Statutory review of the Data Availability and Transparency Act 2022, final report. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-09-16/government-draft-law-share-personal-data-between-agencies/12666792 https://www.finance.gov.au/sites/default/files/2026-03/statutory-review-of-data-availability-and-transparency-act-final-report.pdf
  26. NDIA, consultation information, March 2021; UNSW, NDIS independent assessments are off the table, July 2021. https://www.ndis.gov.au/media/2988/download https://www.unsw.edu.au/newsroom/news/2021/07/ndis-independent-assessments-are-off-the-table-for-now--thats-go
  27. Photo: Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, CC BY 3.0 AU, via Wikimedia Commons. Cut out and halftoned by Enough. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Scott_Morrison_portrait_(3x4_cropped).jpg

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