Discover the Best Books Written by Malcolm Turnbull

Malcolm Bligh Turnbull AC (born 24 October 1954) is an Australian former politician and businessman who was the 29th prime minister of Australia from 2015 to 2018. He held office as leader of the Liberal Party of Australia. Turnbull graduated from the University of Sydney with a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Laws before attending Brasenose College, Oxford, as a Rhodes Scholar, earning a Bachelor of Civil Law degree. 

He worked as a journalist, lawyer, merchant banker, and venture capitalist for over two decades. He was Chair of the Australian Republican Movement from 1993 to 2000 and was one of the unsuccessful "Yes" campaign leaders in the 1999 republic referendum. He was first elected to the Australian House of Representatives as a member of parliament (MP) for the division of Wentworth in New South Wales at the 2004 election. 

He was Minister for the Environment and Water in the Howard government from January 2007 until December 2007. After coming second in the 2007 leadership election, Turnbull won the leadership of the Liberal Party in a leadership spill the following year and became Leader of the Opposition. 

However, his support of the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme proposed by the Rudd government in December 2009 led to a leadership challenge by Tony Abbott, who defeated Turnbull by a single vote. Though initially planning to leave politics after this, Turnbull chose to remain and was later appointed Minister for Communications in the Abbott government following the Liberal-National Coalition's victory in the 2013 election.

Two years later, citing consistently poor opinion polling, Turnbull resigned from the Cabinet on 14 September 2015 and challenged Abbott, successfully reclaiming the leadership of the Liberal Party by ten votes. He was sworn in as prime minister the following day. The Turnbull government initiated the National Innovation and Science Agenda as its key economic priority, working to promote STEM education, increase venture capital funding for new start-ups, 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 Western Sydney Airport. In 2016, Turnbull led the Coalition to a narrow victory in a double-dissolution election. Turnbull initiated and campaigned for the "Yes" side in the same-sex marriage plebiscite in his second term, which was ultimately successful. 

Turnbull also announced "Snowy Hydro 2.0", a major expansion of the Snowy Mountains Scheme as a key component in enabling the transition to renewable energy. In late 2017, the government experienced a parliamentary eligibility crisis that forced fifteen parliamentarians out of Parliament due to concerns about dual citizenship.

In August 2018, Turnbull proposed the National Energy Guarantee to address climate change and reform energy policy. Although initially agreed to by the Cabinet, the party room ultimately rejected the policy. This, combined with poor opinion polling, led to Peter Dutton challenging Turnbull for the Liberal leadership. Although Turnbull defeated Dutton in the party room, most MPs demanded a second spill, which Turnbull did not contest. 

On 24 August 2018, Scott Morrison defeated Dutton and Julie Bishop in the contest and replaced Turnbull as prime minister. Turnbull resigned from Parliament, triggering a by-election in his former seat of Wentworth. The Liberal Party lost the by-election to independent candidate Kerryn Phelps, 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 cybersecurity start-up. He has been critical of the direction of the Liberal Party. He has joined with fellow former prime minister Kevin Rudd in criticizing the dominance of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp in Australian political debate.