Malcolm Turnbull facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Malcolm Turnbull
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Official portrait, 2015
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| 29th Prime Minister of Australia | |
| In office 15 September 2015 – 24 August 2018 |
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| Monarch | Elizabeth II |
| Governor General | Sir Peter Cosgrove |
| Deputy | Warren Truss Barnaby Joyce Michael McCormack |
| Preceded by | Tony Abbott |
| Succeeded by | Scott Morrison |
| Leader of the Liberal Party | |
| In office 14 September 2015 – 24 August 2018 |
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| Deputy | Julie Bishop |
| Preceded by | Tony Abbott |
| Succeeded by | Scott Morrison |
| In office 16 September 2008 – 1 December 2009 |
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| Deputy | Julie Bishop |
| Preceded by | Brendan Nelson |
| Succeeded by | Tony Abbott |
| Leader of the Opposition | |
| In office 16 September 2008 – 1 December 2009 |
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| Prime Minister | Kevin Rudd |
| Deputy | Julie Bishop |
| Preceded by | Brendan Nelson |
| Succeeded by | Tony Abbott |
| Minister for Communications | |
| In office 18 September 2013 – 14 September 2015 |
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| Prime Minister | Tony Abbott |
| Preceded by | Anthony Albanese |
| Succeeded by | Mitch Fifield |
| Minister for the Environment and Water | |
| In office 30 January 2007 – 3 December 2007 |
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| Prime Minister | John Howard |
| Preceded by | Ian Campbell |
| Succeeded by | Peter Garrett |
| Member of the Australian Parliament for Wentworth |
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| In office 9 October 2004 – 31 August 2018 |
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| Preceded by | Peter King |
| Succeeded by | Kerryn Phelps |
| Chairman of the Australian Republican Movement | |
| In office November 1993 – 20 September 2000 |
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| Preceded by | Tom Keneally |
| Succeeded by | Greg Barns |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Malcolm Bligh Turnbull
24 October 1954 Sydney, New South Wales, Australia |
| Political party | Liberal |
| Other political affiliations |
Coalition |
| Spouse |
Lucy Hughes
(m. 1980) |
| Relations | Angela Lansbury (second cousin once removed) |
| Children | 2 |
| Parents | Bruce Turnbull Coral Lansbury |
| Education | Vaucluse Public School Sydney Grammar St Ives Preparatory School Sydney Grammar School |
| Alma mater | University of Sydney (BA, LLB) Brasenose College, Oxford (BCL) |
| Profession |
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Malcolm Bligh Turnbull AC (born 24 October 1954) is an Australian former politician and businessman who served as the 29th prime minister of Australia from 2015 to 2018. He held office as leader of the Liberal Party of Australia.
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, and has joined with his former opponent Kevin Rudd in criticising the dominance of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp in Australian political debate.
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Early life and education
Malcolm Bligh Turnbull was born in Sydney, on 24 October 1954, the only child of Bruce Bligh Turnbull and Coral Magnolia Lansbury. His father was a hotel broker, while his mother was a radio actor, writer, and academic, and a second cousin of the British film and television actress Angela Lansbury. His maternal grandmother, May Lansbury (née Morle), was born in England, while his other grandparents were Australian-born. He is also of Scottish descent; his great-great-great-grandfather John Turnbull (1751–1834) arrived on the Coromandel in 1802 in New South Wales and became a tailor. In an interview in 2015, Turnbull said that his middle name "Bligh" has been a family tradition for generations, originally given in honour of Governor William Bligh. Turnbull's parents married in December 1955, fourteen months after his birth. They separated when he was nine, with his mother leaving first for New Zealand and then the United States. Turnbull was from then raised solely by his father. Turnbull suffered from asthma as a young child.
Turnbull spent his first three years of school at Vaucluse Public School. He then boarded at Sydney Grammar Preparatory School in St Ives, before attending Grammar's high school campus on College Street on a partial scholarship. During this time he lived at the school's former Randwick boarding facilities. He was made senior school co-captain in 1972, as well as winning the Lawrence Campbell Oratory Competition, excelling particularly in the literary subjects such as English and history. However, contrary to certain sources, Turnbull was not the dux of his graduating year at Sydney Grammar. In 1987, in memory of his late father, he set up the Bruce Turnbull means-tested scholarship at Sydney Grammar, which offers full remission of fees to a student unable to afford them.
In 1973, Turnbull attended the University of Sydney, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in political science in 1977 and a Bachelor of Laws in 1978. During his studies, he was involved in student politics, serving as board director of the University of Sydney Union. He also worked part-time as a political journalist for Nation Review, Radio 2SM and Channel 9, covering state politics.
In 1978, Turnbull won a Rhodes Scholarship and attended Brasenose College, Oxford, where he studied for a postgraduate Bachelor of Civil Law from 1978 to 1980, graduating with honours. While at Oxford, he worked for The Sunday Times and contributed to newspapers and magazines in both the United States and Australia. During Turnbull's time at Oxford, a university don wrote of him that he was "always going to enter life's rooms without knocking".
Career
For more than two decades, Turnbull worked as a journalist, lawyer, merchant banker, and venture capitalist. He was Chair of the Australian Republican Movement from 1993 to 2000, and was one of the leaders of the unsuccessful "Yes" campaign 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, and 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 in turn 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 at 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.
Prime Minister of Australia (2015–2018)
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Premiership of Malcolm Turnbull
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| 15 September 2015 – 24 August 2018 | |
| Elizabeth II | |
| Premier | Malcolm Turnbull |
| Cabinet | First Turnbull Ministry Second Turnbull Ministry |
| Party | Liberal Party |
| Election | 2016 |
| Appointer | Sir Peter Cosgrove |
| Seat | The Lodge (Canberra) Kirribilli House (Sydney) |
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← Tony Abbott • Scott Morrison →
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| Coat of arms of Australia | |
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. In his second term, Turnbull initiated and campaigned for the "Yes" side in the same-sex marriage plebiscite, 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 saw fifteen parliamentarians forced out of Parliament due to concerns about dual citizenship.
To address climate change and reform energy policy, in August 2018 Turnbull proposed the National Energy Guarantee. Although initially agreed to by the Cabinet, the policy was ultimately rejected by the party room. This, combined with poor opinion polling, led to Peter Dutton challenging Turnbull for the Liberal leadership. Although Turnbull defeated Dutton in the party room, a majority of 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.
Life after politics
On 1 June 2019, Turnbull returned to the private sector as a senior advisor to major global private equity firm KKR. Turnbull returned to Australia in December 2019 and appeared on the final episode of Q&A hosted by Tony Jones on 9 December 2019.
In January 2021, Turnbull joined the board of the International Hydropower Association as a non-executive member, also becoming a co-chair of the organisation's International Forum on Pumped Storage Hydropower.
Personal life
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Turnbull is married to Lucy Turnbull (née Hughes), who was the Lord Mayor of Sydney from 2003 to 2004 and has held a number of other prominent positions. The couple were married on 22 March 1980 at Cumnor, Oxfordshire, by a Church of England priest while Turnbull was attending the University of Oxford. They live in the eastern suburbs of Sydney.
Turnbull and Lucy have two adult children, Alex and Daisy, and as of July 2016[update], three grandchildren. Alex Turnbull is married to Yvonne Wang, who is of Chinese descent.
The use of Bligh as a male middle name is a tradition in the Turnbull family. It is also Turnbull's son's middle name. One of Turnbull's ancestors was colonist John Turnbull, who named his youngest son William Bligh Turnbull in honour of deposed Governor William Bligh at the time of the Rum Rebellion.
Religion
Raised Presbyterian, Turnbull became agnostic in the beginning of his adult life and later converted to Roman Catholicism "by mid-2002"; his wife's family is Roman Catholic.
Personal wealth
In 2005, the combined net worth of Malcolm and Lucy Turnbull was estimated at A$133 million, making him Australia's richest parliamentarian until the election of billionaire Clive Palmer in the 2013 election.
Turnbull made the BRW Rich 200 list for the second year running in 2010, and although he slipped from 182 to 197, his estimated net worth increased to A$186 million, and he continued to be the only sitting politician to make the list. Turnbull was not listed in the 2014 list of the BRW Rich 200. As of 2015, his estimated net worth is in excess of A$200 million.
Honours
On 1 January 2001, Turnbull received the Centenary Medal for services to the corporate sector. In the 2021 Australia Day Honours, he was awarded Companion of the Order of Australia for "eminent service to the people and Parliament of Australia, particularly as Prime Minister, through significant contributions to national security, free trade, the environment and clean energy, innovation, economic reform and marriage equality, and to business and philanthropy".
Images for kids
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Turnbull sworn in as Prime Minister by Governor-General Sir Peter Cosgrove
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Turnbull visits Peter Cosgrove to request both Houses of Parliament be dissolved ahead of a double dissolution election.
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Turnbull and U.S. President Donald Trump in New York City, May 2017
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Turnbull takes a selfie with Trần Đại Quang, Donald Trump, and Xi Jinping, November 2017
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Turnbull in June 2017
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See also
In Spanish: Malcolm Turnbull para niños
- 2016 Australian federal election
- Turnbull government
- First Turnbull ministry
- Second Turnbull ministry
