Former prime minister Scott Morrison has further enhanced his international think tank credentials by joining the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), a policy centre based in Washington.
Morrison is an honorary member of the CNAS strategic advisory board. He noted the appointment in his parliamentary register of interests yesterday, as revealed by transparency website Open Politics.
The CNAS describes itself as politically bipartisan. It is home to a host of powerful business, military and diplomatic figures. It was co-founded in 2007 by Kurt Campbell, who is now co-ordinator for Indo-Pacific affairs in the Biden administration.
Campbell was highly influential in bringing the US into the AUKUS agreement at a time when Morrison was working secretly with a handful of others throughout 2020-21, and has been close to Australian administrations for several years.
The centre’s other co-founder is Michèle A Flournoy, a US defence policy adviser in Democrat administrations. Flournoy is a member of US defence contractor Booz Allen Hamilton and a former member of the CIA director’s external advisory board and the Defense Policy Board. The centre’s financial backers include the giant US defence contractor Northrop Grumman as well as other large US corporations.
In addition to his CNAS role, Morrison is on the advisory board of the Hudson Institute’s China Centre where he sits alongside extreme China hawk Mike Pompeo, Donald Trump’s former secretary of state. The Hudson Institute is a conservative think tank that also draws financial support from the US defence industry and heavily supports Taiwan’s independence.
Morrison is also on the advisory board of the politically conservative International Democratic Union (IDU), a position he declared in September last year, five months after losing office. The IDU’s deputy chair is senior Australian Liberal Party figure Brian Loughnane.
The former prime minister’s move comes amid speculation that he may take a role with a UK-based defence company “working in the AUKUS space”.
Morrison has neither confirmed nor denied the report.
Is it past time for Scott Morrison to leave Parliament? Let us know by writing to letters@crikey.com.au. Please include your full name to be considered for publication. We reserve the right to edit for length and clarity.
