He successfully 'stopped the boats' and now Scott Morrison has been given the job of stopping the rot in the economy.
In promoting Morrison to Treasurer new Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has put his faith in someone to turn around the nation's fortunes, something he felt was lacking in previous Treasurer Joe Hockey and deposed leader Tony Abbott.
"Ultimately, the Prime Minister has not been capable of providing the economic leadership ... he has not been capable of providing the economic confidence that business needs," Turnbull said before his successful leadership challenge a week ago.
Morrison has been in the social services portfolio for less than a year. His move from the immigration and border protection portfolio allowed him to get experience in a key budget area - the welfare spend. In June he secured the unlikely support of the Greens for tighter rules around the aged pension assets test and abolition of the seniors supplement. The two measures combined reap A$4 billion in budget savings.
Many inside and outside the Liberal Party have tipped Morrison to be a future leader. His tough stance on asylum seeker boats made him one of the Abbott Government's few standout performers in its first year. Boat arrivals were reduced to one, compared to 300 in 2013 under Labor. But Morrison drew criticism over the secrecy surrounding his tough border controls.
