Australia has its seventh prime minister in 11 years, with Scott Morrison, ruling Liberal Party finance minister, replacing ousted Malcolm Turnbull as the country’s 30th leader. “ScoMo” -- who has served as treasurer since 2015 -- won the Liberal Party leadership bid 45 votes to 40 in a bitter battle on Thursday. The son of a policeman, Morrison was born in 1968 in a wealthy eastern beach suburb of Sydney. He studied economics and geography at the University of New South Wales. First elected under Prime Minister Tony Abbott in 2013, he was appointed immigration minister and launched Operation Sovereign Borders to stop asylum seekers from attempting to reach Australian shores by boat.
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