Ex Tourism Australia’s Scott Morrison makes anticipated next political step

A report in The Australian this morning reveals, as reported in TravelMole recently that Scott Morrison, the recently ousted head of Tourism Australia and former NSW Liberal director would remerge somewhere in the political arena.

After a series of political stumbles the NSW Opposition Leader Peter Debnam’s office has been reorganised and Scott Morrison, now described as Political Consultant will join Mr Debnam’s team today, taking the role of what is described as a “minder” to  “follow Mr Debnam along every step of the road to the March 24 state election”.

The Australian reports that it understands the move has been made on the advice and encouragement of John Howard, who worked closely with Mr Morrison on the successful 2001 and 2004 federal election campaigns.

TravelMole subscribers will recall that last August as reported first in TravelMole  that Mr Morrison, 38, took what was described as an “agreed separation” from Tourism Australia, where he was Managing Director, after a massive spat with Federal Tourism Minister Fran Bailey. 

It is also reported that he agreed not to talk publicly about the termination in exchange for a $500,000 payout.

Scott Morrison’s appointment to Mr Debnam’s staff follows a pretty disastrous final two weeks in the NSW Parliament for the Coalition leader.

After riding high on the political fallout from the November 8 arrest of former NSW Aboriginal affairs minister Milton Orkopoulos, who faces 30 child-sex-related charges, Mr Debnam launched an ill-fated attack on the reputation of Attorney-General Bob Debus, but a series of parliamentary questions on Mr Debus’s alleged improper conduct as corrective services minister in the late 1990s petered out as it became clear the Opposition was relying on the discredited testimony of a convicted pedophile and bank robber.

Apparently Mr Morrison will attempt to refocus voter attention on the sluggish NSW economy while exploiting a public perception that the Government of NSW Premier Morris Iemma has reached its use-by date.

He is a member of Sydney’s evangelical Hillsong Church and belongs to the same faction as Mr Howard, the Right.

When Mr Morrison took over as State Director in 2000, after a role at KPMG, the party in NSW was deep in debt and disorganised.

In 12 months though he turned the party machine into a political strike-force that snatched three seats from Labor.  Shortly after the 2004 federal election, when Mr Morrison worked hard to get fellow Hillsong member Louise Markus elected in the marginal Sydney seat of Greenway, the Prime Minister singled him out for particular praise and declared he had never seen the NSW party in a better state organisationally.

In recent times, Mr Howard has made clear his concerns about the operation of his home branch in NSW and at a gala dinner in March, he urged the party to select its candidates based on merit, not factional allegiance.

While Mr Debnam agreed yesterday the new appointment had the Prime Minister’s full support he did not say whether he agreed with it.

As a result of Mr Morrison’s recent learning curve at Tourism Australia, let’s hope the Tourism industry will receive more attention from the NSW Liberal Party in the run up to the election and if they succeed after the election. 

The government tourism field in NSW is clear and ripe for substantial reorganisation with Labour Minister Sandra Nori not receiving preselection in addition to considerable industry dissatisfaction and criticism of her performance and that of TNSW with the Labour Government slashing funds to tourism leaving the State lagging far behind in the both international and domestic tourism stakes.

Report by The Mole