PM Scott Morrison and Family   View from The Hill: Scott Morrison tells Liberal launch ‘I’m just warming up’, as he pitches on home ownership  THE CONVERSATION  When he mounted the stage as a warm-up speaker at Sunday’s Liberal launch, Josh Frydenberg received a reception beyond the obligatory enthusiasm required of the handpicked party faithful at these affairs. “Wow – I wish I got that reception in Kooyong,” the deputy Liberal leader and treasurer quipped. Frydenberg, fighting a desperate battle to survive against the teal invasion in his Melbourne seat, had already been on ABC Insiders with a defence of Scott Morrison, and various government policies, that wouldn’t do him much good with his local voters. It might have been all hands to the wheel for launch day, but the Brisbane gathering failed to project the image of a party on the verge of defying the odds to score a triumph. Morrison’s message was that he and the government had seen the country succ...

Shane Warne Australians have woken in shock and sadness to the awful news of the death of Shane Warne. Shane was one of our greatest cricketers of all time, one of only a few that could approach the extraordinary achievements of the great Don Bradman.  His achievements were the product of his talent, his discipline and passion for the game he loved. But Shane was more than this to Australians. Shane was one of our nation’s greatest characters.  His humour, his passion, his irreverence, his approachability ensured he was loved by all. Australians loved him. We all did. There was something magical that he brought to our summers. The bleached blonde hair, the almost casual way he moved to send down a delivery, and his engagement with the crowd. He was one of a kind. He inspired so many girls and boys to try their hand at cricket. He made it all look so easy. At some point, in most Australian backyards, we all tried to deliver a flipper. As we heard as a commentator, behind the pl...

PM Morrison and PM Boris Prime Minister ScoMo:  The relationship we have with the United Kingdom is about as long as any relationship we care to mention of all of our great partners around the world and I appreciate the Chamber coming together again here today. There are a couple of things I wanted to mention. I had some prepared remarks today, but I really wanted just to share a couple of views. The first of these is the relationship we have with the United Kingdom. It is strong for many, many reasons. I was remarking last night about my own family’s history in going back to the First Fleet and I had the opportunity to go and visit - very briefly - the little village from which William Roberts came from, over 230 years ago. He didn't come of his own volition to Australia at the time, it was the compulsion of the state, but he never returned. Those family links are obvious to the United Kingdom and that's always obviously been a part of the relationship. But Australia's div...

ScoMo: The first F-35A aircraft has been inducted into BAE Systems Australia’s (BAESA) maintenance depot as part of the next major milestone in the Joint Strike Fighter Program. Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the F-35A fleet was now 33 strong and ready to deploy on operations. “This is about protecting and securing Australia’s interests but it’s also creating jobs and driving investment right here in the Hunter and across the country too,” the Prime Minister said. “This induction demonstrates the world-leading capability of our local defence industry here in Australia. “We want to give as many opportunities to Australian companies as possible which is why there’s already more than 50 local companies sharing in $2.7 billion worth of contracts as part of the F-35 Program. “As we recover from the COVID recession a key plank of our Economic Recovery Plan is our $270 billion investment in Defence capability over the next decade and our $65 billion commitment in air capabilities which in...

PM Scott Morrison PM Scott Morrison, I had a very warm and engaging call with Joe Biden. And we appreciated the opportunity to have that conversation in an early phase, amongst the many nations that have been engaged with early on in that process. As he said to me again today, he sees the Australia - US relationship as providing the anchor for peace and security in our region. And that is true. We share that view. In terms of our relations between Australia and the United States, there's nothing to fix there, only things to build on, and we intend to do just that. We talked about the stewardship we share, A stewardship that has been held by prime ministers and presidents over a very long time, and particularly this year. Some 70 years of the ANZUS Alliance that we will celebrate in September of this year. I spoke to former prime minister Howard when we were at Doug Anthony's funeral the other day, and he reminded me that it was 20 years ago in September, when he was in the Uni...

PM Scott Morrison Prime Minister:  Thank you very much, Laura, and to everybody who is here today. I, of course, begin by acknowledging the Ngunnawal people, their elders past, present and the future. Can I also acknowledge any veterans who are with us today, serving men and women of our Australian Defence Force and say to them thank you for your service. Can I also acknowledge today the beautiful Abdallah and Sakr families on this first national i4Give Day, as we remember their four beautiful angels - Antony, Angelique, Sienna and Veronique - who were taken from us this day a year ago. I also welcome the very many of my colleagues who are here today. Of course, led by the Treasurer Josh Frydenberg. It is great to have you all here today and I acknowledge you all and the great job you have been doing and I know you will do over the course of this year. In 2020, I said we would not let this virus break our Australian spirit. It hasn’t, and it won’t. I said we always believed ourselv...