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Scott Morrison Awarded Nation’s Top Honour for COVID Leadership and AUKUS Deal

Scott Morrison Awarded Nation’s Top Honour for COVID Leadership and AUKUS Deal

Former PM receives top honour in King’s Birthday list

Scott Morrison has received Australia’s highest honour for his leadership during the COVID pandemic and multiple national crises. The former prime minister was appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) for his “eminent service” to the nation. The announcement came as part of the 2025 King’s Birthday honours list, recognising 830 Australians across various fields.

Scott Morrison

Crisis leadership earns national recognition

Mr Morrison credited Australians for their “courage and resilience” during a period he described as filled with “every crisis you can imagine”. His term as prime minister lasted from August 2018 to May 2022, covering bushfires, floods, regional threats and the global pandemic.

In an interview ahead of the announcement, he said, “From natural disasters to a global pandemic, once in a hundred years, and of course the threats we faced in our region, and a recession caused by that global pandemic.” He continued, “Through all of this Australians were just incredible and the one assumption I made is that that’s how they would be — their character would pull them through and that’s the basis on which we built the policies that helped us to achieve that.”

COVID-19 response and economic impact

The former Liberal leader made the early decision to shut international borders in 2020 after the outbreak in China. Australia closed borders to international travellers and implemented domestic lockdowns. This policy likely delayed the virus’s spread but left many Australians stranded overseas and separated from families.

Borders remained closed for nearly two years. They reopened in early 2022 to vaccinated travellers after the Omicron variant surged across the country. Mr Morrison oversaw one of the country’s largest economic responses. The government launched the $90 billion JobKeeper wage subsidy program to support struggling businesses.

Scott Morrison

Mr Morrison honoured for his leadership during COVID

Honour highlights sovereignty and national security

The AC award also recognises Mr Morrison’s contributions to economic initiatives, national security and international partnerships. He played a key role in securing the AUKUS security agreement with the United States and the United Kingdom.

Mr Morrison named AUKUS as one of his proudest achievements during office. He said, “The resilience and sovereignty of the country, whether it was building our resilience against disasters of the future, having dealt with them at the time, our economic resilience, incredibly important, the way we bounced back after COVID was incredible, and we had invested heavily in our small business sector in particular.”

He added, “It really was about protecting our sovereignty and building that up so we could deal with the significant challenges into the future.”

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No regrets but constant challenges

Asked about regrets from the period, Mr Morrison said, “You don’t get everything right, particularly when you face that many challenges.” He added, “But I tend not to dwell too much on that, because frankly there was just the next challenge coming the next day. You do the best job you can on the day and then you shake yourself off the next day and you do it all again.”

Secret ministries and political departure

Mr Morrison left parliament in early 2024 after losing the 2022 federal election to Labor’s Anthony Albanese. The end of his term was marked by controversy over secret ministerial appointments. He had sworn himself into five additional portfolios during the pandemic.

He described the move as a “latent redundancy that was never active”. He added, “These were unusual times and there were many things we did that were unusual.”

Continued advocacy and political silence

Since retiring, Mr Morrison has continued to advocate for AUKUS internationally. He claimed the partnership remains strong despite political shifts in the United States. He refused to comment on the current direction of the Liberal Party.

He said, “The party’s principles remain as important as they ever have been. And they are ensuring a strong economy, a strong defence force, guaranteeing those services, responsible financial management — all of those things over the last 70 years and more have meant that Australia is in the strong position it is today. And for most of that time it has been Coalition governments that have been in government.”

Honours list includes 830 recipients

This year’s King’s Birthday honours recognised 830 Australians, including artists, journalists, advocates and community leaders. The Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) remains the highest distinction, granted for service to Australia or humanity.

Mr Morrison’s appointment marks a common tradition of honouring former prime ministers, though timelines for recognition vary. The honour reflects his leadership during a turbulent period and his long-term contributions to national resilience, economy and international alliances.

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