Extract from The Guardian
Former PM has confirmed he accepted airfares, accommodation and incidentals for appearances in Seoul and Tokyo, including during a parliament sitting week.
Morrison confirmed on his register of MPs’ interests that he has become a director and shareholder in a new company offering “advisory services”, and that he accepted business class airfares, accommodation and incidentals for appearances in Seoul and Tokyo – the latter when he was absent from parliament during a sitting week.
Morrison was one of the last members of the House of Representatives to have his register published on the parliament’s website, on Friday afternoon. The form shows Morrison accepted honorariums from the Victory of Life Church and the Worldwide Support for Development under the heading “other substantial sources of income”.
In July, Morrison gave a sermon to the Victory Life Centre, a Pentecostal church in Perth run by the former tennis champion Margaret Court, where he told worshippers: “We don’t trust in governments. We don’t trust in the United Nations.” His register of interests notes he accepted a return business class airfare from Sydney to Perth from 16 to 18 July, attributed to Victory Life Centre.
Morrison’s office has been contacted to clarify whether the honorarium payment from “Victory of Life Church” relates to the Victory Life Centre sermon.
The honorarium from Worldwide Support for Development appears to relate to Morrison’s appearance at the global opinion leaders summit in Tokyo, which was organised and sponsored by the Japan International Forum, Worldwide Support for Development and the International Democratic Union – a global alliance of centre-right political parties.
Morrison appeared alongside the former UK prime minister David Cameron, former Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper, and Ukraine’s former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko. In addition to the honorarium, the register shows Morrison accepted a return business class airfare from Sydney to Tokyo, accommodation and incidentals from 24-30 July, also attributed to Worldwide Support For Development.
He said last month he had accepted the invitation “prior to the new government advising the sitting schedule for the remainder of 2022” and was unable to attend the opening week of parliament.
The leader of the House of Representatives, Tony Burke, said last month “it should be revealed” whether Morrison was paid for the engagement.
If someone’s being paid to do another job, I’m not sure how they get away with the taxpayers paying them to do this one,” Burke told Radio National at the time.
Morrison also accepted a return business class airfare from Sydney to Seoul, South Korea, including accommodation and incidentals, from 12-15 July, from the Chosun Ilbo – a Korean newspaper that sponsored the Asian Leadership Conference, where Morrison also made a speech.
“In the interest of full disclosure, my attendance will sometimes be arranged by the Worldwide Speakers Group.”
That agency lists former officials from Donald Trump’s presidential administration on its books, including the former vice president Mike Pence, former chiefs of staff Mick Mulvaney and John Kelly, former defence secretary Mark Esper, and former Trump adviser and Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich. The agency also features the talkshow host and comedian John Oliver, the journalist Anderson Cooper and the NFL star Drew Brees as speakers.
Morrison does not yet appear on the Worldwide Speakers Group website.
Elsewhere in the document, the Morrison Family Trust – which was listed as “dormant” on his previous register of interests, lodged in 2019 – now lists “advisory services” as its nature of operation.
Morrison listed “NIL” as the beneficiary interest of himself and his wife in that trust in 2019, and his children as “not applicable”. The 2022 register lists himself, his wife and dependent children as “beneficiary” of the Morrison Family Trust.
Morrison is also listed as a shareholder, trustee and director of a company called Triginta Pty Ltd. This development was reported earlier this month, after Morrison registered documents with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission on 1 August, appointing himself director and sole shareholder of 10 shares in the company.
The name of the company means “30” in Latin, possibly in reference to Morrison being Australia’s 30th prime minister.
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