Malcom Turnbull facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Malcolm Turnbull
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| 29th Prime Minister of Australia | |
| Assumed office 15 September 2015 |
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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 (designate) |
| 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 |
|
| 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 |
| 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 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 – Incumbent |
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| Preceded by | Peter King |
| 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) |
| Children | 2 |
| Parents | Bruce Turnbull Coral Lansbury |
| Residence | The Lodge |
| Education | Vaucluse Public School Sydney Grammar St Ives Preparatory School Sydney Grammar School |
| Alma mater | Sydney Law School Brasenose College, Oxford |
| Profession | Barrister Businessman Politician |
Malcolm Bligh Turnbull (born 24 October 1954) is an Australian politician who is the outgoing 29th Prime Minister of Australia. He was leader of the Liberal Party from 2015 to 2018. He was previously Leader of the Opposition from 2008 to 2009.
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. For over two decades prior to entering politics, Turnbull worked as a journalist, lawyer, merchant banker, and venture capitalist.
Turnbull served as 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 for the Division of Wentworth in New South Wales at the 2004 federal election, and was Minister for the Environment and Water from January 2007 until December 2007.
After coming second in the 2007 leadership election, Turnbull won the leadership of the Liberal Party in September 2008 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 stay and was later appointed Minister for Communications in the Abbott Government following the 2013 federal election.
On 14 September 2015, citing consistently poor opinion polling for the government, Turnbull resigned from the Cabinet and challenged Abbott, reclaiming the leadership of the Liberal Party by ten votes. He was sworn in as Prime Minister of Australia the following day. At the 2016 federal election, Turnbull led the Coalition to victory by a single seat, the smallest majority since the 1961 federal election.
In February 2017, Turnbull confirmed he had personally donated $1.75 million to the Liberal Party's election campaign.
In August 2018, a leadership challenge by Peter Dutton threw the government into turmoil, resulting in Turnbull calling two spills for the Liberal leadership. Following a spill on 24 August 2018, treasurer Scott Morrison defeated Dutton in a leadership ballot. Turnbull did not nominate as a candidate.
Early life and education
Malcolm Bligh Turnbull was born in Sydney, New South Wales 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.
Turnbull spent his first three years of school at Vaucluse Public School. He then boardered at one of "the city's most academically rigorous private school for boys", 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.
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 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. While at Oxford, a university don wrote of Turnbull that he was "always going to enter life's rooms without knocking".
After graduating from Oxford, Turnbull returned to Australia and began working as a barrister. He was general counsel and secretary for Australian Consolidated Press Holdings Group from 1983 to 1985. In partnership with Bruce McWilliam, he established his own law firm, Turnbull McWilliam. During 1986, Turnbull defended Peter Wright, a former MI5 official who wrote the book Spycatcher, successfully stopping the British Government's attempts to suppress the book's publication in Australia. The case was widely reported, making Turnbull a public figure in Australia and the United Kingdom; Turnbull later wrote a book on the trial.
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 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.
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
1 January 2001 Centenary Medal, for services to the corporate sector.
Images for kids
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President Donald J. Trump shaking hands with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. February 23, 2018
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Malcolm Turnbull, Prime Minister of Australia, and Benigno Aquino III, President of the Philippines, at a joint press conference on 18 November 2015
