Scott Morrison - or “ScoMo” as he has come to be known - grew up in the Sydney beachside suburb of Bronte. His father was a police commander and local-government councillor.
Destined to be in the public eye, he had a short-lived career as a child actor, appearing in a number of TV ads.
After completing high school he went on to accomplish an honours degree in applied economic geography at the University of New South Wales.
Mr Morrison, 50, married his childhood sweetheart Jenny when he was 21. They have two daughters.
He has held various positions on councils promoting Australia's tourism industry and was the managing director of Tourism Australia between 2004 and 2006.
He spent four years as the state director of the NSW Liberal Party and entered federal politics in 2007, winning the seat of Cook in the southern suburbs of Sydney, which he has held ever since.
What issues is he known for?
In his maiden speech, Mr Morrison said he was “proud” of Kevin Rudd’s national apology to Indigenous Australians that the parliament had witnessed only the day before.
He also called for greater humanitarian aid to Africa, quoting U2 front-man and activist Bono.
"The African tragedy is driven by war, poverty, disease, famine, corruption, injustice and an evil that is robbing generations of Africans, our fellow human beings, of their future," he said.
"Paul Hewson, better known as Bono, said: There is a continent - Africa - being consumed by flames ... when the history books are written, our age will be remembered for ... what we did -or did not do to put the fire out'."
The speech was dedicated to Mr Morrison's “miracle child” Abbey Rose (who he and Jenny conceived through IVF) “in the hope of an even better future for her and her generation”.
Over the decade he has spent in parliament, he has held three senior federal portfolios.
He made his mark as minister for immigration and border protection in 2013 by launching the "stop the boats" policy (Operation Sovereign Borders) to curtail immigration and people smuggling to Australia.
