Malcolm Turnbull

Malcolm Bligh Turnbull (born 24 October 1954) is an Australian former politician and businessman who served as the 29th <a href="/facts/Prime_minister_of_Australia/yzh0N8oH">prime minister of Australia</a> from 2015 to 2018. He held office as <a href="/facts/Liberal_Party_of_Australia/st2oeqFy">leader of the Liberal Party of Australia</a> and was the <a href="/facts/Member_of_parliament/qjfwk6mp">member of parliament</a> (MP) for the <a href="/facts/New_South_Wales/aW7eJXSS">New South Wales</a> division of <a href="/facts/Division_of_Wentworth/86wx23uG">Wentworth</a> from 2004 to 2018.
Turnbull graduated from the <a href="/facts/University_of_Sydney/AzENnAra">University of Sydney</a> as a Bachelor of Arts and a <a href="/facts/Bachelor_of_Laws/2L6qbMDo">Bachelor of Laws</a>, before attending <a href="/facts/Brasenose_College,_Oxford/Af1uDEdS">Brasenose College, Oxford</a>, as a <a href="/facts/Rhodes_Scholarship/aVf26dt3">Rhodes Scholar</a>, earning a <a href="/facts/Bachelor_of_Civil_Law/YoWkd6YE">Bachelor of Civil Law</a> degree. For more than two decades, he worked as a journalist, lawyer, <a href="/facts/Merchant_bank/23JaG4PP">merchant banker</a>, and <a href="/facts/Venture_capital/yeH3m7zo">venture capitalist</a>. He was Chair of the <a href="/facts/Australian_Republic_Movement/JHLS30GP">Australian Republican Movement</a> from 1993 to 2000, and was one of the leaders of the unsuccessful "Yes" campaign in the <a href="/facts/1999_Australian_republic_referendum/SggvpQNb">1999 republic referendum</a>. He was first elected to the <a href="/facts/Australian_House_of_Representatives/3AvaDHs4">Australian House of Representatives</a> as a <a href="/facts/Member_of_parliament/qjfwk6mp">member of parliament</a> (MP) for the <a href="/facts/Division_of_Wentworth/86wx23uG">division of Wentworth</a> in <a href="/facts/New_South_Wales/aW7eJXSS">New South Wales</a> at the <a href="/facts/2004_Australian_federal_election/Y0Pd1nIA">2004 election</a>, and was <a href="/facts/Minister_of_the_Environment_(Australia)/Q7dohVJE">Minister for the Environment and Water</a> in the <a href="/facts/Howard_government/a4Jy6lJz">Howard government</a> from January 2007 until December 2007.
After coming second in the <a href="/facts/2007_Liberal_Party_of_Australia_leadership_election/VPXTvJTG">2007 leadership election</a>, Turnbull won the leadership of the Liberal Party in a <a href="/facts/2008_Liberal_Party_of_Australia_leadership_spill/GAIVgf0S">leadership spill</a> the following year and became <a href="/facts/Leader_of_the_Opposition_(Australia)/uJ6PBk0r">Leader of the Opposition</a>. However, his support of the <a href="/facts/Carbon_Pollution_Reduction_Scheme/hCLwbG1a">Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme</a> proposed by the <a href="/facts/Rudd_government_(2007%E2%80%932010)/1LACYgEe">Rudd government</a> in December 2009 led in turn to a <a href="/facts/2009_Liberal_Party_of_Australia_leadership_spill/fVHlQ4JX">leadership challenge</a> by <a href="/facts/Tony_Abbott/bwbEWJvc">Tony Abbott</a>, who defeated Turnbull by a single vote. Though initially planning to leave politics after this, Turnbull chose to remain and was later appointed <a href="/facts/Minister_for_Communications_(Australia)/PF6rknHl">Minister for Communications</a> in the <a href="/facts/Abbott_government/3YpRpFGb">Abbott government</a> following the <a href="/facts/Coalition_(Australia)/ENAhYx1C">Liberal-National Coalition's</a> victory at the <a href="/facts/2013_Australian_federal_election/5q3RPKeG">2013 election</a>.
Two years later, citing consistently poor opinion polling, Turnbull resigned from the Cabinet on 14 September 2015 and <a href="/facts/September_2015_Liberal_Party_of_Australia_leadership_spill/Utdvrtqg">challenged</a> Abbott, successfully reclaiming the leadership of the Liberal Party by ten votes. He was sworn in as prime minister the following day. The <a href="/facts/Turnbull_government/cjAJ20oW">Turnbull government</a> initiated the National Innovation and Science Agenda as its key economic priority, working to promote <a href="/facts/STEM/NAsAI1nG">STEM</a> education, increase <a href="/facts/Venture_capital/yeH3m7zo">venture capital</a> funding for new <a href="/facts/Start-ups/9lsjFELt">start-ups</a>, and launch an "ideas boom". Turnbull also pursued "city deals" with local and state governments to improve planning outcomes and encourage investment in major infrastructure projects such as the <a href="/facts/Western_Sydney_Airport/JIjSJ4KT">Western Sydney Airport</a>. In 2016, Turnbull led the Coalition to a narrow victory in a <a href="/facts/2016_Australian_federal_election/AaxQWldh">double dissolution election</a>. In his second term, Turnbull initiated and campaigned for the "Yes" side in the <a href="/facts/Australian_Marriage_Law_Postal_Survey/5zLP1wxh">same-sex marriage plebiscite</a>, which was ultimately successful. Turnbull also announced <a href="/facts/Snowy_Hydro_2.0/Woe5ts6v">Snowy Hydro 2.0</a>, a major expansion of the <a href="/facts/Snowy_Mountains_Scheme/Woe5ts6v">Snowy Mountains Scheme</a> as a key component in enabling the transition to <a href="/facts/Renewable_energy/6Bu6IrpF">renewable energy</a>. In late 2017, the government experienced a <a href="/facts/2017-18_Australian_parliamentary_eligibility_crisis/IgdPSwWc">parliamentary eligibility crisis</a> that saw fifteen parliamentarians forced out of Parliament due to concerns about <a href="/facts/Dual_citizenship/kjN33Plr">dual citizenship</a>.
To address climate change and reform energy policy, in August 2018 Turnbull proposed the <a href="/facts/National_Energy_Guarantee/cSkKe0mY">National Energy Guarantee</a>. Although initially agreed to by the Cabinet, the policy was ultimately rejected by the party room. This, combined with poor <a href="/facts/Opinion_polls/59PEtq3t">opinion polling</a>, caused a leadership crisis with <a href="/facts/Peter_Dutton/mIGk2lx1">Peter Dutton</a> challenging Turnbull to a <a href="/facts/2018_Liberal_Party_of_Australia_leadership_spills/zEdC1S0c">leadership spill</a> for the Liberal leadership. Although Turnbull defeated Dutton in the ballot, a majority of MPs demanded a second spill, which Turnbull did not contest. On 24 August 2018, <a href="/facts/Scott_Morrison/EtHGAg6T">Scott Morrison</a> defeated Dutton and <a href="/facts/Julie_Bishop/0ljWszpF">Julie Bishop</a> in the contest, and replaced Turnbull as prime minister. Turnbull resigned from Parliament, triggering a <a href="/facts/2018_Wentworth_by-election/e3MQQb9M">by-election in his former seat of Wentworth</a>. The Liberal Party lost the by-election to independent candidate <a href="/facts/Kerryn_Phelps/Q1ydxNdx">Kerryn Phelps</a>, which resulted in the Coalition losing its absolute majority in the House of Representatives.
Since retiring from politics, Turnbull has become an advisor to Kasada, an Australian <a href="/facts/Cybersecurity/7E5dIy7G">cybersecurity</a> start-up. He has since been critical of the direction of the Liberal Party, and has joined with his former opponent <a href="/facts/Kevin_Rudd/wQHEEfoz">Kevin Rudd</a> in criticising the dominance of <a href="/facts/Rupert_Murdoch/KE5e3wCG">Rupert Murdoch</a>'s <a href="/facts/News_Corp_Australia/YXSuodcj">News Corp</a> in Australian political debate.

Malcolm Turnbull open-in-new

Malcolm Turnbull