http://www.thepunch.com.au/author-bios/scott-morrison/ Scott Morrison is the Liberal Party federal MP for Cook in Sydney’s Sutherland Shire and Shadow Minister for Immigration and Citizenship. Before being elected to Parliament he worked for 15 years as a CEO and senior executive in various industry bodies and government agencies, both within Australia and overseas, including Managing Director of Tourism Australia and NSW State Director of the Liberal Party. You can follow Scott at http://twitter.com/ScottMorrisonMP en Copyright 2012 The Punch penberthyd@newsltd.com.au penberthyd@newsltd.com.au Fri, 10 Feb 2012 02:00:13 +0000 Fri, 10 Feb 2012 02:00:13 +0000 Politics, opinion, world news, sports news, latest news, views, Barack Obama, Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Nathan Rees, Malcolm Turnbull, Peter Garrett, Barnaby Joyce, Australian, federal politics, opinion polls, election, The Punch, thepunch, punch ExpressionEngine 1.6.7 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 15 http://www.thepunch.com.au/images/punch-logo-rss.png http://www.thepunch.com.au/ 144 70 Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. Search The Punch keywords http://www.thepunch.com.au/search/ http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/banks-can-complain-all-they-want-but-hockeys-right/ Our major banks are not like other businesses. If a boat builder in Taren Point, or a plastics manufacturer in Chipping Norton or a motel owner on the Central Coast of NSW gets into trouble, there will be no taxpayer bail out. There will be no funding guarantee to support their continued access to credit. There will be no Reserve Bank to act as their own on-call lender of last resort to see them through their troubles. The GFC proved that our four big banks are too important to fail. They know it and the taxpayers know it. The banks may be a legitimately protected species, but that does not give them a license to be precious, striking out at anyone who would dare raise questions about how they do business. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Scott Morrison) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/banks-can-complain-all-they-want-but-hockeys-right/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/banks-can-complain-all-they-want-but-hockeys-right/#item4368 Sun, 31 Oct 2010 18:45:20 +0000 Scott Morrison | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/if-an-election-means-siding-with-the-mob-then-hand-me-a-pitchfork/ I was intrigued during the recent Leaders debate when they were asked, ‘how are you going to stand up to the mob’. The ‘mob’, otherwise known as Australians who pay taxes, raise families, go to work, volunteer for local charities and drive their mums to the shops apparently haven’t got a clue. The mob seem to be considered by some as dangerous individuals who can’t be trusted to make decisions about who should run the country and what issues are most important to them. They conduct their subversive campaigns on talkback radio, in taxi cabs and on the sidelines of their local weekend sporting fixtures, peddling their seditous beliefs to anyone who will listen. What some believe is needed is for someone to stand up to them? feedback@thepunch.com.au (Scott Morrison) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/if-an-election-means-siding-with-the-mob-then-hand-me-a-pitchfork/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/if-an-election-means-siding-with-the-mob-then-hand-me-a-pitchfork/#item3696 Mon, 02 Aug 2010 18:55:39 +0000 Scott Morrison | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/debating-population-is-not-racist-or-bigoted/ Last week Gordon Brown called one of his voters a bigot. Her crime, voicing her concerns about immigration policy in the UK. Brown was condemned for an act of outrageous insensitivity and dutifully marched back to her home for a 45 minute apology. Talking about immigration is not easy in western democracies. There is an elite consensus that seeks to deny the conversation. Apparently, we’re not mature enough to have this discussion without our raw, untamed racial prejudices overwhelming our capacity for reason and having their way. To protect us all from our dark side, the self appointed elite apply the tags of racism, bigotry and dog whistling to anyone who cares to discuss the topic. After all, it’s for our own good. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Scott Morrison) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/debating-population-is-not-racist-or-bigoted/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/debating-population-is-not-racist-or-bigoted/#item2977 Mon, 03 May 2010 18:50:34 +0000 Scott Morrison | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/a-population-debate-that-the-kevin-rudd-has-already-lost/ As Kevin Rudd welcomed his 100th boat last week, he also started to scramble on the even larger issue of his ‘Big Australia’. The problem for Kevin Rudd is he seems to be repeating the same mistakes on both issues. While some argue that concerns about increased boat arrivals is due to xenophobic fears of being overrun, there is a danger in impugning this motive. Every time Labor attacks the Coalition as racist dog whistlers for raising concerns about border protection, Kevin Rudd insults millions of Australians who share our concerns about Labor’s failures. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Scott Morrison) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/a-population-debate-that-the-kevin-rudd-has-already-lost/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/a-population-debate-that-the-kevin-rudd-has-already-lost/#item2763 Sun, 04 Apr 2010 19:00:27 +0000 Scott Morrison | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/why-kevin-rudd-is-a-border-protection-sceptic/ Earlier this year the Prime Minister sought to justify his stance on climate change by asking three questions of the opposition. Is there a problem, do you think we should do anything about it and are you committed to the solution? ‬‪Last week in parliament I asked these same questions of the Prime Minister in relation to border protection. His answers confirmed something I have long suspected. Kevin Rudd is a border protection sceptic.‬‪ The Rudd Government is now in the nervous nineties on illegal boat arrivals. Julia Gillard used to say another boat arrival, another policy failure. Well 93 boats on Kevin Rudd’s watch and more than 4250 people can’t be wrong.‬‪ feedback@thepunch.com.au (Scott Morrison) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/why-kevin-rudd-is-a-border-protection-sceptic/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/why-kevin-rudd-is-a-border-protection-sceptic/#item2670 Sun, 21 Mar 2010 18:52:02 +0000 Scott Morrison | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/rudd-fails-the-tampa-test/ You learn a lot about people when the pressure is on. Some interesting facts emerged recently about what really happened during those extraordinary four weeks last year when the Oceanic Viking abandoned our Patagonian tooth fish to become home to 78 Tamil asylum seekers. During these events the debate raged about who knew what and when. Where would they go and on what terms? The answers to many of these questions came to light during recent questioning in Senate estimates. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Scott Morrison) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/rudd-fails-the-tampa-test/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/rudd-fails-the-tampa-test/#item2552 Sun, 07 Mar 2010 18:40:07 +0000 Scott Morrison | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-unions-were-complicit-in-garretts-insulation-failure/ I have a confession to make. I have a soft spot for the Australian Workers Union. Before anyone gets too excited, let me explain. My great, great aunt was Dame Mary Gilmore, the first female member of the AWU. Dame Mary was one of Australia’s greatest ever poets who now graces our ten dollar note. Dame Mary edited the women’s page of the Australian Worker before heading off to South America in 1900 to be part of William Lane’s ‘New Australia’ commune in Paraguay. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Scott Morrison) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-unions-were-complicit-in-garretts-insulation-failure/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-unions-were-complicit-in-garretts-insulation-failure/#item2449 Sun, 21 Feb 2010 18:35:06 +0000 Scott Morrison | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/you-cant-debate-immigration-without-being-called-a-racist/ Last week I returned from a visit to Christmas Island to Parliament where the Labor Member MP, John Sullivan, from Longman in Brisbane, interjected during a speech and called me a racist. At the time, I was speaking to an Appropriations Bill that was seeking additional funds to make up for shortfalls in this year’s budget. Included in these shortfalls was $132 million for off shore processing of asylum seekers.  We were supporting the Bill. I noted that the 100 per cent plus blow out in costs demonstrated the Government had failed to appreciate the impact of their policy changes on the detention population on Christmas Island, that is now at unsustainable levels. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Scott Morrison) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/you-cant-debate-immigration-without-being-called-a-racist/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/you-cant-debate-immigration-without-being-called-a-racist/#item2333 Sun, 07 Feb 2010 18:55:25 +0000 Scott Morrison | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/its-time-we-took-our-own-pledge-of-allegiance/ As our annual obsession with national identity reaches its peak, after weeks of debate into the meaning of red meat, high carb beverages and the quaint French phrase ‘oi, oi, oi’, here is one more idea to think about. On Australia Day 1999 the Coalition Government introduced the reaffirmation ceremony to mark 50 years of Australian Citizenship. It’s a pretty simple idea where natural born Australians join with those who are taking up citizenship for the first time to recite the pledge together: “As an Australian citizen, I affirm my loyalty to Australia and its people, whose democratic beliefs I share, whose rights and liberties I respect, and whose laws I uphold and obey.” feedback@thepunch.com.au (Scott Morrison) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/its-time-we-took-our-own-pledge-of-allegiance/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/its-time-we-took-our-own-pledge-of-allegiance/#item2221 Sun, 24 Jan 2010 18:55:01 +0000 Scott Morrison | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/one-million-women-cant-be-wrong/ Two weeks ago I argued that, as a politician, real action on reducing carbon emissions is always going to be more about what individuals do than just what Governments do. That’s why yesterday I was excited to learn about a new initiative called one million women (www.1millionwomen.com.au). Now I doubt I would agree with the politics of all those backing this scheme, but that’s not the point. What I agree with is their focus on keeping the politics out of this debate and focussing on the practical choices of individual Australian women. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Scott Morrison) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/one-million-women-cant-be-wrong/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/one-million-women-cant-be-wrong/#item1798 Sun, 22 Nov 2009 18:30:58 +0000 Scott Morrison | Author bios | The Punch