Former Australian prime minister Scott Morrison to quit politics

SYDNEY — Australia’s former Prime Minister Scott Morrison has announced he will quit parliament to join the private sector. Morrison, a conservative who was first elected in 2007, was the country’s leader from 2018 to 2022. He oversaw Australia’s pandemic response, the Aukus defense pact, and was embroiled in a historic scandal for secretly appointing himself to several ministerial positions while PM. “The time has come for me to return to private life,” he said on Tuesday. In a statement Morrison, 55, said he would now take on “strategic advisory roles” across Asia to focus on security matters in the Indo-Pacific. A devout Christian, he said he was “looking forward to being more active” in his church and spending time…