Former prime minister Scott Morrison makes surprise pitch for Wanneroo mayor Linda Aitken

Former prime minister Scott Morrison has made a surprise pitch for Wanneroo mayor Linda Aitken’s re-election, jokingly telling churchgoers on Sunday “new church buildings need building and development approvals”. In a 20-minute guest sermon at Encounter City Church in Girrawheen at the weekend, Mr Morrison also referred to his 2022 election loss as “when he stepped down as prime minister”. The former Federal Liberal leader made the trip to Perth to mark the 50th anniversary of the northern suburbs church. Speaking to the congregation ahead of local government elections next month, Mr Morrison praised Mrs Aitken, who was Liberal candidate for the Federal seat of Pearce in 2022 before becoming mayor. “Linda, it’s great to see you. I’m so thrilled that she’s serving in the way she is here as the mayor of Wanneroo,” Mr Morrison said. Referring to earlier comments from church leadership around future plans for expansion, Mr Morrison joked new buildings needed to go to council. “This isn’t a political message, but new church buildings need building and development approvals. (If) you want to see the favour on that approval, vote one Linda Aiken.” Turning to Mrs Aitken, Mr Morrison said to laughter: “I can do that, you can’t do that.” Speaking under a slide titled “Where to from here”, Mr Morrison at one point described the 2022 election loss which unseated his government as when he “stepped down” as PM. “After I stepped down as prime minister, (I was asked) to come and say a few words and I felt it was such a time for this,” he said. Mr Morrison also revealed he had stayed with former ministerial colleague Ben Morton while in Perth. He was advertised prior to the event as a “special guest preacher”. Since his election defeat, Mr Morrison has remained the NSW member for Cook, but speculation has mounted over the course of this year that he will retire from politics before the next election. Taking to social media after the event, Encounter City Church posted: “What an amazing morning as we celebrated the past and set our focus on the future. The best is yet to come.” It is not the first time the former PM has spoken at a Perth church, after he addressed Margaret Court’s congregation in Osborne Park in July 2022. “Do you believe if you lose an election that God still loves you and has a plan for you?” he said at the time. “I do. Because I still believe in miracles.” He also said he and other worshippers “don’t trust in governments” and “don’t trust in the United Nations” during the sermon. On Monday, Mr Morrison revealed that he plans to detail his faith in a new book. The 288-page book, Plans for Your Good — A Prime Minister’s Testimony of God’s Faithfulness, will be published by Thomas Nelson, a division of HarperCollins Christian Publishing in May 2024. The publisher’s website blurb for the book says it “offers a unique insider’s account of a Christian who was open about his faith and operated at the top level of politics for more than a decade”. “During one of the toughest periods since the Second World War, covering drought, wildfires, a global pandemic and recession, he chronicles God’s faithfulness throughout, win or lose, public criticism or public success,” it says. “Less political memoir and more pastoral encouragement, Morrison is passionate about encouraging others to discover how they can access and see the many blessings of God in their own lives, no matter their circumstances, drawing on Jeremiah 29:11, that God’s plans are for our good and not our harm, to give us a future and a hope. “Morrison’s honest, vulnerable and reflective answers offers a unique lens to better understand your relationship with God and the blessing that can flow from such a relationship.” He was Australia’s first Pentecostal prime minister, declaring the Coalition’s 2019 election win a “miracle”. Mr Morrison noted on his MP interest register earlier this year he had received a royalties advance for the book.