Ben Morton (born 29 June 1981) is an Australian former politician. He represented the
Australian House of Representatives
The House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the upper house being the Senate. Its composition and powers are established in Chapter I of the Constitution of Australia.
The term of members of the ...
seat of
Tangney
The Division of Tangney is an Australian electoral division in the state of Western Australia. The Division was named after Dame Dorothy Tangney, the first female member of the Australian Senate.
Tangney is an affluent electorate covering t ...
for the
Liberal Party
The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left.
__TOC__ Active liberal parties
This is a li ...
from
2 July 2016 until he lost the seat at the
2022 Australian federal election
The 2022 Australian federal election was held on Saturday 21 May 2022 to elect members of the 47th Parliament of Australia. The incumbent Liberal/National Coalition government, led by Prime Minister Scott Morrison, sought to win a fourth conse ...
.
Morton served as Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister and Cabinet from 2019 to 2020, Assistant Minister to the Minister for the Public Service and Assistant Minister for Electoral Matters from 2020 to 2021, and
Minister for the Public Service and
Special Minister of State
The Special Minister of State (SMOS) in the Government of Australia is a position currently held by Don Farrell since 1 June 2022, following the Australian federal election in 2022. The minister is responsible for various parliamentary, elector ...
from 2021 to 2022.
Early life and education
Morton was born in
Gosford
Gosford is the city and administrative centre of the Central Coast Council local government area in the heart of the Central Coast region, about north of Sydney and about south of Newcastle. The city centre is situated at the northern extre ...
, in the
Central Coast of New South Wales and spent his early years in
Wyong
Wyong () is a town in the Central Coast of New South Wales, located approximately 63 km SSW of Newcastle and 89 km NNE of Sydney. Established in 1888, it is one of the two administrative centres for the local government area.
Hist ...
. He attended and completed his high school education at Wyong Technology High School, prior to enrolling in the
Australian National University
The Australian National University (ANU) is a public research university located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition to several national academies and ...
to complete a
Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...
.
Morton stated that in high school he was "not the most Academic kid".
He then returned to his home town and unsuccessfully stood for election as the Liberal Party candidate in the safe Labor seat of Wyong in 2003 and 2007.
Career
In 2001 Morton became employed as a school bus driver for Deane's Buslines Queanbeyan (NSW), a bus coach and hire company, but later switched to drive for Coastal Liner Coaches from 2002 to 2003. The next year, he transitioned to working as an adviser to the
Federal Government
A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government (federalism). In a federation, the self-governin ...
under
John Howard
John Winston Howard (born 26 July 1939) is an Australian former politician who served as the 25th prime minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007, holding office as leader of the Liberal Party. His eleven-year tenure as prime minister is the s ...
until 2007 before returning to his previous profession as a bus driver for Deane's Buslines. Morton switched professions once more in 2008 to attain the position of State Director of the
Liberal Party
The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left.
__TOC__ Active liberal parties
This is a li ...
(WA), which he retained until 2015. Directly prior to representing the federal division of Tangney he worked as a senior manager at one of Australia's largest home builders,
Buckeridge Group of Companies
Buckeridge Group of Companies, commonly known as BGC, is a private corporate group of construction and building-related companies operating primarily in Western Australia.
BGC is one of the largest privately owned companies in Australia. It w ...
(BGC) from 2015 to 2016.
Political career
At the 2016 federal election, Morton successfully ran as the Liberal candidate against sitting member
Dennis Jensen
Dennis Geoffrey Jensen (born 28 February 1962) is a former Australian politician. He was elected to the House of Representatives at the 2004 federal election, winning the Division of Tangney for the Liberal Party. Jensen lost Liberal preselect ...
, who had been disendorsed by the Liberals and was running as an independent.
Morton was appointed as Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister and the Cabinet from 29 May 2019, which includes a duty of responding on behalf of the Prime Minister regarding the
National Cabinet
National Cabinet is the Australian intergovernmental decision-making forum composed of the Prime Minister of Australia, prime minister and Premiers and Chief Ministers of the Australian states and territories, state and territory premiers an ...
.
Relating to this position, Morton has pointed out infrastructure as a primary issue.
On 6 April 2020, Morton was temporarily appointed the responsibilities of Assistant Public Service Minister by Prime Minister
Scott Morrison
Scott John Morrison (; born 13 May 1968) is an Australian politician. He served as the 30th prime minister of Australia and as Leader of the Liberal Party of Australia from 2018 to 2022, and is currently the member of parliament (MP) for t ...
.
As of 22 December 2020, Morton has been appointed Assistant Minister for Electoral Matters and Assistant Minister for the Public Service.
Morton has previously held multiple committee standings, including a chairing the Joint Standing for Electoral Matters in the National Capital and External Territories from 9 February 2017 to 1 July 2019. He also served on the
House of Representatives
House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...
Standing Committee for Social Policy and Legal Affairs from 14 September 2016 until 9 February 2017. Lastly, he was a part of the House of Representatives Select Committee on Intergenerational Welfare Dependence from 28 June 2018 to 2 April 2019.
Morton currently holds two party positions, Member of the Liberal Party Applecross Branch (WA) and Member of the Liberal Party Wyong and District Branch (NSW). He previously held the position of State Director of the Liberal Party State Branch (WA) in 2008 until 2015, which is now led by
David Honey.
Morton was Minister for the Public Service and
Special Minister of State
The Special Minister of State (SMOS) in the Government of Australia is a position currently held by Don Farrell since 1 June 2022, following the Australian federal election in 2022. The minister is responsible for various parliamentary, elector ...
from 8 October 2021 until May 2022, following the appointment of the
Albanese ministry, and Morton's own defeat as an MP.
Political views
Morton is a member of the centre-right faction of the Liberal Party.
As a member of parliament, Morton votes on the behalf of the
Division of Tangney
The Division of Tangney is an Australian electoral division in the state of Western Australia. The Division was named after Dame Dorothy Tangney, the first female member of the Australian Senate.
Tangney is an affluent electorate covering t ...
and in affiliation with the
Liberal Party
The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left.
__TOC__ Active liberal parties
This is a li ...
of Australia. Since entering parliament in July 2016, he has always voted on party lines and never crossed the floor.
Morton has voted on some topics where a party line was not enforced during his service, including for the issue of holding a plebiscite national vote
legalising same-sex marriage in Australia (Plebiscite (Same-Sex Marriage) Bill 2016), from which result led to the legalisation of same-sex marriage in Australia. On the same note, he has also voted in support of the Marriage Amendment (Definition and Religious Freedoms) Bill 2017 for protecting the right of celebrants to refuse marrying same-sex couples if doing so opposes their own religious or conscientious beliefs.
Morton was personally opposed to legalising same sex marriage, but committed to vote in favour of it if it was endorsed in the 2017 same sex marriage postal survey.
Morton did not vote on the outcome of the federal independent commission for anti-corruption.
Personal life
Morton is the son of Trevor and Linda Morton. Morton's mother died from cancer in December 2015. His mother immigrated to Australia from England after
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
with her previous husband and Morton's two brothers. His father's family had history in farming pulpwood, citrus, and dairy in the Dooralong Valley, near to where Morton was raised.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Morton, Ben
1981 births
Living people
Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia
Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Tangney
Members of the Australian House of Representatives
21st-century Australian politicians
Bus drivers