Two years later, citing consistently poor opinion polling, Turnbull resigned from the Cabinet on 14 September 2015 andchallenged Abbott, successfully reclaiming the leadership of the Liberal Party by ten votes. He was sworn in as prime minister the following day. TheTurnbull government initiated the National Innovation and Science Agenda as its key economic priority, working to promoteSTEM education, increaseventure capital funding for newstart-ups, and launch an "ideas boom".[1] Turnbull also pursued "city deals" with local and state governments to improve planning outcomes and encourage investment in major infrastructure projects such as theWestern Sydney Airport.[2] In 2016, Turnbull led the Coalition to a narrow victory ina double dissolution election.[3] In his second term, Turnbull initiated and campaigned for the "Yes" side in thesame-sex marriage plebiscite, which was ultimately successful. Turnbull also announcedSnowy Hydro 2.0, a major expansion of theSnowy Mountains Scheme as a key component in enabling the transition torenewable energy.[4] In late 2017, the government experienced aparliamentary eligibility crisis that saw fifteen parliamentarians forced out of Parliament due to concerns aboutdual citizenship.
To address climate change and reform energy policy, in August 2018 Turnbull proposed theNational Energy Guarantee. Although initially agreed to by the Cabinet, the policy was ultimately rejected by the party room. This, combined with pooropinion polling, caused a leadership crisis withPeter Dutton challenging Turnbull to aleadership spill 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,Scott Morrison defeated Dutton andJulie Bishop in the contest, and replaced Turnbull as prime minister. Turnbull resigned from Parliament, triggering aby-election in his former seat of Wentworth.[5] The Liberal Party lost the by-election to independent candidateKerryn 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 Australiancybersecurity start-up.[6] He has since been critical of the direction of the Liberal Party, and has joined with his former opponentKevin Rudd in criticising the dominance ofRupert Murdoch'sNews Corp in Australian political debate.
Early life and education
Malcolm Bligh Turnbull was born in Sydney, on 24 October 1954, the only child of Bruce Bligh Turnbull andCoral 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 actressAngela Lansbury.[7][8][9] His maternal grandmother, May Lansbury (née Morle), was born in England, while his other grandparents were Australian-born.[8][10] He is also ofScottish descent; his great-great-great-grandfather John Turnbull (1751–1834) arrived on theCoromandel in 1802 inNew South Wales and became a tailor. In an interview in 2015, Turnbull said that hismiddle name "Bligh" has been a family tradition for generations, originally given in honour of GovernorWilliam Bligh.[11] Turnbull's parents married in December 1955, fourteen months after his birth.[12] The Turnbulls lived in a two-bedroom flat inVaucluse, where Turnbull would attend thenearby public school.[13] Bruce and Coral's marriage was an unhappy one, and Turnbull wrote that the couple rarely slept or spent time together, only staying married due to himself.[13] Coral frequently belittled her husband about his lack of education and that the fortunes of the family depended on her.[14] Coral started spending increasing amounts of time with John Salmon, a professor of history at theUniversity of New South Wales. When Turnbull was nine, Salmon received a teaching post inNew Zealand, and Coral went with him, ending the marriage. Bruce told Turnbull that Coral was studying for another degree, which although Coral did get aPhD in New Zealand, was an effort by Bruce to hide the fact that Coral had left him.[15] Turnbull was from then raised solely by his father.[16][17][18][19] Turnbull suffered fromasthma as a young child.[20]
After spending his first three years of schooling atVaucluse Public School, he started boarding atSydney Grammar School inSt Ives. Turnbull wrote that he hated boarding school, as he was bullied due tobed wetting.[15] Bruce, now a single father, had troubles paying school fees, causing many letters to be sent to the Turnbull residence from the schoolbursar.[21] These financial issues forced the Turnbulls to move from Vaucluse to a small flat inDouble Bay, where they lived without much furniture.[22] Turnbull then began to attend Grammar's high school campus onCollege Street, on a partial scholarship.[23] During this time he lived at the school's formerRandwick boarding facilities.[24][25][26][27] Also during this time Bruce remarried, and his business continued to grow. The Turnbulls moved into a large apartment inPoint Piper, and the pressure of the school fees was relieved.[28] Although a mediocre mathematician, Turnbull excelled in Greek, English, and History, and joined the debating and drama clubs, where he won theLawrence Campbell Oratory Competition and starred in numerousShakespeare plays, respectively.[20][24][29][30] He was made senior school co-captain in 1972,[31] however, contrary to certain sources, Turnbull was not thedux of his graduating year at Sydney Grammar.[27][32] In 1987, in memory of his late father, he set up the Bruce Turnbull means-tested scholarship at Sydney Grammar, offering full remission of fees to a student unable to afford them.[26]
In 1978, Turnbull won aRhodes Scholarship and attendedBrasenose College, Oxford, where he briefly studied for a business degree before switching to apostgraduateBachelor of Civil Law from 1978 to 1980, graduating with honours.[43][44] While at Oxford, he worked forThe Sunday Times and contributed to newspapers and magazines in both the United States and Australia.[45] He befriended the future UK prime ministerTheresa May, who credits Turnbull for encouraging her husbandPhilip May to propose to her.[46] Turnbull also met his future wife,Lucy, during this time.[47] During Turnbull's time at Oxford, auniversity don wrote of him that he was "always going to enter life's rooms without knocking".[48]
Professional career
Costigan commission
After graduating from Oxford, Turnbull returned to Australia and began working as abarrister. He was general counsel and secretary forAustralian Consolidated Press Holdings Group from 1983 to 1985.[49] During this time, he defendedKerry Packer against the "Goanna" allegations made by theCostigan Commission, accusing Packer of the murder of bank manager Ian Coote, among other crimes. The Commission believed that Packer had committed the murder to hide other criminal activities.[50] Turnbull attempted to use the press to goad the counsel assisting the commission, Douglas Meagher QC, into suing him and Packer for a 6000-word statement intentionally defamatory of Costigan and Meagher, accusing them of being "unjust, capricious, dishonest and malicious".[51] The statement worked, and it was printed in full in many newspapers, increasing public opinion of Packer.[52] Turnbull later advised Packer to sue Meagher for defamation, an action that was struck down by JusticeDavid Hunt as being anabuse of process, saying that Turnbull had managed "to poison the fountain of justice". These tactics made Turnbull enemies within the NSW Bar Association, leading to Turnbull's departure from that organisation.[49] After the findings of the Costigan Commission were handed down, accusing Packer of tax evasion, drug trafficking and murder, Turnbull phonedPremier of QueenslandJoh Bjelke-Petersen, requesting an inquest into the Commission's findings. Bjelke-Petersen agreed to hold the inquest, which refuted the Costigan Commission's allegations that Packer had committed murder.[53]
Spycatcher trial
In partnership with Bruce McWilliam, he established his own law firm, Turnbull McWilliam. During 1986, Turnbull defendedPeter Wright, a formerMI5 official who wrote the bookSpycatcher, detailing his work for the spy agency during theCold War.[54] TheBritish government had obtained an injunction to stop the book's sale, and wanted to do the same in Australia.[55] Turnbull argued that the book had nothing new in it, that other books with never-before-seen confidential information had been allowed by the British government with minimal changes while wanting to restrict a different book, and that the government had lied to the court through the trial.[56] The case was successful after going through theNew South Wales Court of Appeal, 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, and causing the book to sell over 2 million copies in Australia.[57][58] Turnbull later wrote a book on the trial, titledThe Spycatcher Trial.[59]
"The fact of the matter is that nothing is achieved in this world, particularly politically, other than with persistence, and persistence involves repetition and it involves argument and re-argument... The public interest in free speech is not just in truthful speech, in correct speech, in fair speech... The interest is in the debate. You see, every person who has ultimately changed the course of history has started off being unpopular."Turnbull's closing submissions, 18 December 1986[60]
Turnbull left the firm he co-founded in 1997 to become a managing director ofGoldman Sachs Australia, eventually becoming a partner in Goldman Sachs and Co. Additionally, he worked as a director of Star Technology Systems from 1993 to 1995. During this time Turnbull was also the chairman of Axiom Forest Resources, which conducted logging in theSolomon Islands under the trading name Silvania Forest Products. The latter's work was described by theAustralian International Development Assistance Bureau as a "clear-felling operation",[61] and the then Solomon Islands Prime MinisterSolomon Mamaloni reportedly threatened to close it down for "constant breaches of logging practices", according to a critical article in theSolomon Times.[62][63]
In May 2002, Turnbull appeared before theHIH Insuranceroyal commission to be questioned on Goldman Sachs's involvement in the possibleprivatisation of one of the acquisitions of the collapsed insurance company. The Royal Commissioner's report made no adverse findings against him or Goldman Sachs,[65] however, Turnbull was one of nine defendants who settled later litigation over the collapse in undisclosed payments, thought to be worth as much as $500m.[66]
Early political involvement
In 1981, Turnbull stood for Liberal Partypreselection in theDivision of Wentworth prior to the1981 Wentworth by-election. He was defeated byPeter Coleman, who went on to win the seat.[16] In 1982, following his retirement from politics, former prime ministerWilliam McMahon nominated Turnbull as his preferred successor inLowe; the Liberals chose another candidate, and lostthe by-election to Labor.[67] Turnbull later attempted preselection in the safe state seat ofMosman in 1983, losing toPhillip Smiles. He let his membership of the Liberal Party lapse in 1986, before rejoining in 2000.[68] Turnbull was made Federal Treasurer of the Liberal Party in 2000, and was a member of the party's federal and New South Wales executives from 2002 to 2003. He also spent time as a director of theMenzies Research Centre, the Liberal Party's research centre.[citation needed]
Turnbull was an active campaigner in the unsuccessful1999 referendum to establish anAustralian republic, serving as Chair of the Yes Committee. He published a book on the campaign, titledFighting for the Republic. When the referendum failed, he accused incumbent prime minister and monarchistJohn Howard of "breaking the nation's heart".[71] Turnbull retired from the Australian Republican Movement in 2000, having already left the board ofAusflag in 1994; he joined theAustralian National Flag Association in 2004.[72]
In 2000, Turnbull intended to seek Liberal preselection forWentworth but did not eventually contest after concluding that preselection hopefulPeter King had the numbers in the branches.[34] In 2003, Turnbull announced that he would challenge King for the seat and successfully defeated him to become the Liberal candidate.[77][34] During what was a bitter preselection campaign, King accused Turnbull ofbranch stacking, by having local members transferring their membership to a branch that would decide the pre-selection, what King referred to as "branch stripping".[78]
Following his preselection loss, King stood against Turnbull at the2004 federal election as anindependent candidate. As a result, the traditionally safe Liberal seat became an electoral wildcard, the contest becoming a three-person race between Turnbull, King and the Labor candidate David Patch. During the campaign, Turnbull spent overA$600,000 on his campaign.[79] While the Liberal primary vote eventually fell by 10.3% to a total 41.8%, King received only 18% of the primary vote with a 57%/43% Liberal/Labor preference split which meant Turnbull was elected, albeit on a reduced 55.5%two-party vote after a 2.4%swing. The result meant that Wentworth was classified as a marginal seat for the first time since the1993 federal election.[80]
Announcing a cabinet reshuffle on 24 January 2006, Prime Minister John Howard promoted Turnbull from the backbench to the role ofparliamentary secretary, giving him special responsibility for water at the height of the2000s Australian drought.[81] On 26 September 2006, Howard announced the creation of a new Office of Water Resources, sitting within theDepartment of the Prime Minister and Cabinet,[82] to address the problem of drought in Australia; Turnbull was given responsibility for this office.
In January 2007, Howard promoted Turnbull to theCabinet asMinister for the Environment and Water. In this position, Turnbull approved a proposedA$1.7 billionBell Bay Pulp Mill in northTasmania, nearLaunceston.[83] Turnbull's approval of the Bell Bay Pulp Mill project ofGunns came on 4 October 2007 and followed a report by the government's chief scientistJim Peacock on the project's potential environmental impact, which required the project to meet 48 "strict environmental" conditions.
In February 2007, Turnbull was criticised for claiming a government allowance ofA$175 a night and paying it to his wife as rent while living in a townhouse owned by her in Canberra.[84]
During the2007 federal election campaign, Turnbull announced that if re-elected the government would contributeA$10 million to the investigation of an untried Russian technology that aims to trigger rainfall from the atmosphere, even when there are no clouds. The Australian Rain Corporation presented research documents written in Russian, explained by a Russian researcher who spoke to local experts in Russian.[85] Although Turnbull claimed that the Australian Rain Corporation was Australian-based, investigations revealed that it was 75% Swiss-owned. It was also revealed that a prominent stakeholder in the Australian Rain Corporation, Matt Handbury, is a nephew ofRupert Murdoch. Turnbull refused to answer questions regarding Handbury's contribution to the Wentworth Forum, the main fund-raising organisation for Turnbull's 2007 election campaign.[85]
Opposition
Aftermath of 2007 election
Turnbull retained his seat at the2007 federal election with atwo-party vote 1.3%swing in Wentworth, despite a 5.6% swing away from the Coalition in the state, and a 5.4% swing against them nationwide.[86][87] After John Howard lost his seat ofBennelong, on 25 November 2007Peter Costello, who Howard stated publicly should succeed him, announced he would not seek the party leadership. Turnbull declared his candidacy later that same day, and was considered by the media as a favourite.[88]
On 29 November henarrowly lost the leadership vote toBrendan Nelson by three votes; Nelson quickly appointed TurnbullShadow Treasurer.[89] Shortly after the vote, fellow Shadow Cabinet MinisterNick Minchin publicly suggested that Turnbull's failure to consult with party colleagues before declaring his opinion to the media on issues such as an apology to theStolen Generations was what had cost him the leadership.[90] This led to a disagreement between the two and culminated in Minchin privately telling Turnbull that he was "too fucking sensitive."[91] In May 2008, Turnbull led the Coalition response to the2008 Australian federal budget, criticising the increased taxes on luxury cars and certain alcoholic drinks, citing a possible increase in inflation as a concern.[92]
In June 2009,Godwin Grech, aTreasury civil servant, privately contacted Turnbull, alleging that a car dealer with links to the Labor Party had received preferential treatment under the OzCar program, sparking the 'OzCar affair'. Turnbull later repeated these allegations in Parliament, stating that Prime MinisterKevin Rudd andTreasurerWayne Swan had "used their offices and taxpayers' resources to seek advantage for one of their mates and then lied about it to the Parliament" and that they needed to "either explain their actions or resign".[96] On 22 June, the email Grech had secretly provided to Turnbull supporting allegation was alleged to have been faked by Grech. Grech subsequently admitted the forgery, with anAustralian National Audit Office inquiry on 4 August clearing both Rudd and Swan of any wrongdoing.[97][98] The resulting embarrassment of having repeated false allegations, as well as Turnbull's demeanour throughout the OzCar affair, was judged as the cause of a subsequent significant decline in his approval ratings in opinion polls.[99]
On 24 November 2009, Liberal and National MPs andSenators met to discuss the Rudd government's proposedCarbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS). Turnbull announced that his policy would be to support the CPRS, despite significant disagreement among his colleagues.[100] In response, Liberal MPsWilson Tuckey andDennis Jensen looked to move a leadership spill motion, intending to nominateKevin Andrews as a challenger to Turnbull.[101] While this attempt failed, increasing numbers of MPs and Senators publicly criticised the position, with several resigning from the Shadow Cabinet, includingTony Abbott.[102]
On 1 December 2009, just one week after Turnbull announced the policy on the CPRS, Abbott announced he wouldchallenge Turnbull for the leadership. Though initially regarded as having little chance of success, with Turnbull stating in public that Abbott did not have the numbers to win, Abbott defeated Turnbull in the ballot by a single vote.[103] After the shock result, Turnbull returned to the backbench and said he would serve out the remainder of his term as Member for Wentworth.[104] On 6 April 2010, he announced he would not seek re-election to the Australian Parliament.[105] However, on 1 May 2010 he reversed this decision saying that he had been convinced by former prime minister John Howard to not give up his political career.[106][71]
Delivering the 2012 Alfred Deakin Lecture on digital liberty, he spoke out strongly against the Gillard government's proposed two-year data retention law.[111][112][self-published source?] In July 2012, Turnbull was criticised by some Liberal MPs for saying that civil unions should be introduced as a first step towards establishingsame-sex marriage in Australia. Tony Abbott rejected Turnbull's suggestion of holding a conscience vote on the issue.[113]
On 9 April 2013, Turnbull and Tony Abbott presented their party's alternativeNational Broadband Network (NBN) plan.[114] The plan prioritised a modified and scaled-down NBN with "fibre to the node" (FTTN) andlast-mile bycopper cable.[115] The new policy contrasted with the previous position which had called for the dismantling of the entire NBN.[115]
After the Coalition victory in the2013 federal election, Turnbull was appointedMinister for Communications and began implementing the alternative NBN strategy. In 2014, Turnbull announced that the Vertigan Report, acost–benefit analysis of providing fast broadband to regional and rural Australia through wireless and satellite services, revealed that continuing the plan would cost nearlyA$5 billion and was expected to produce onlyA$600 million in economic benefits – a return of just 10%. In spite of the economic cost, Turnbull stated that whilst subsidising broadband to regional areas is "fiendishly expensive", there was no other option.[116]
In December 2014, Turnbull brokered a deal between the Australian government,NBN Co andTelstra whereby NBN Co acquired Telstra's copper network and hybrid-fibre coaxial (HFC) to deliver the NBN. Telstra and NBN Co agreed to work together on the FTTN trial involving 200,000 premises.[117] In August 2015, Turnbull revealed that the overall end cost of the network build would likely expand up to an additional $15 billion, with NBN Co likely to take on the additional expenditure as debt. Though still cheaper than the original Labor Party NBN policy, which aimed to deliver much faster connection speeds, the peak funding requirement under the Liberal model ran to between $46 billion and $56 billion.[118]
Following persistent leadership tensions amidst poor opinion polling, aleadership spill motion was moved against Tony Abbott on 9 February 2015. Although the spill motion was defeated 61 votes to 39, Turnbull had been reported as considering a run for the leadership if the spill motion had succeeded. Before the motion Turnbull had told reporters that "if, for whatever reason, the leadership of a political party is vacant then anyone, any member of the party can stand, whether they be a minister or a backbencher, without any disloyalty to the person whose leadership has been declared vacant."[119][120]
Despite the defeat of the February 2015 spill motion, questions over Abbott's leadership did not abate, with the government consistently performing poorly in opinion polls. On 14 September 2015, after 30 consecutive Newspolls had put the Liberals far behind Labor, Turnbull resigned from the Cabinet and announced he would challenge Abbott for the leadership of the Liberal Party.[121] Turnbull stated that Abbott "was not capable of providing the economic leadership we need" and that the Liberal Party needs a "style of leadership that respects the people's intelligence."[122][123] Turnbull defeated Abbott by 54 votes to 44 at thesubsequent leadership ballot.[124][125] He was sworn in as the 29thprime minister of Australia the following day.[126][127]
Turnbull announced an extensive reshuffle of the Cabinet on 20 September 2015 to form thefirst Turnbull ministry. Notably, he increased the number of female Cabinet ministers from two to five and appointedMarise Payne as Australia's first femaleMinister for Defence. The number of Cabinet ministers rose from 19 to 21. On Turnbull's key policy differences with Abbott, particularlyclimate change, republicanism andsame-sex marriage, he stated that there would be no immediate change before any election.[128] TheNationals successfully negotiated a total of $4 billion worth of deals from Turnbull, as well as control of the water portfolio, in exchange for a continuedCoalition agreement.[129][130] Turnbull stated that he would not lead a government that did not take climate change seriously.[131]
Turnbull visits Peter Cosgrove to request both Houses of Parliament be dissolved ahead of a double dissolution election.
On 21 March 2016, Turnbull announced that Parliament would consider bills to reinstate theAustralian Building and Construction Commission (ABCC), with the bills having previously been rejected twice before. Turnbull stated if the Senate rejected the bills a third time, he would advise the governor-general,Sir Peter Cosgrove, to call adouble dissolution of Parliament and a federal election for 2 July. Turnbull also brought forward the delivery of thefederal budget from 10 to 3 May to facilitate this.[132] On 18 April, the Senate once again rejected the bills to reinstate the ABCC. On 8 May, Turnbull visitedGovernment House to advise Cosgrove to issue the writs for a double dissolution on 9 May; this confirmed the date of the election as 2 July 2016.[133]
During the2016 federal election campaign, a ReachTEL opinion poll of 626Wentworth voters conducted on 31 May predicted atwo-partyswing against Turnbull for the first time since his election to Wentworth, revealing a reduced 58% two-party vote from a large 10.9% two-party swing.[134] A controversy occurred during the election campaign, when the president of theAustralian National Imams Council, SheikhShady Alsuleiman participated in anIftar dinner hosted by Turnbull atKirribilli House. Turnbull said he would not have invited Alsuleiman if he had known of his position regarding homosexuals.[135]
Turnbull and U.S. PresidentDonald Trump in New York City, May 2017
Asylum seeker policy is a contentiouswedge issue in Australian politics, especially since theTampa affair. Continuing the bipartisan stance ofOperation Sovereign Borders has been at the forefront the Coalition'sasylum seeker policy. Around 1,250 asylum seekers remain in the offshore processing centres onManus Island andNauru. In August 2016, protestors called for the closure of camps on Manus and Nauru[139] afterThe Guardian released leaked incident reports alleging "routine dysfunction and cruelty" on Nauru.[140]
Turnbull and PresidentDonald Trump held a phone conversation on 28 January 2017, the transcript of which was later leaked toThe Washington Post.[146] On 2 February 2017, Trump tweeted that Obama's deal was "dumb".[147][148] US Vice PresidentMike Pence later confirmed that the United States would honour the deal, subject to "extreme vetting" of asylum seekers.[149] Australia began receiving Central American asylum seekers in July 2017.[150]
Energy policy
Since the 2016 election, the Turnbull government had followed prior Coalition government energy policies. This involved the wholesale dismissal ofrenewable energy targets andemissions intensity schemes. This had only hardened whenSouth Australia faced large blackouts, which Turnbull had blamed on the state's "ambitious" renewable energy target.[151] In response to the gas and energy crisis that occurred in March 2017,[152] Malcolm Turnbull announced a 50% increase in the capacity ofSnowy Hydro through "pumped hydro" technology.[153]
In April 2017, Turnbull announced that he would use the Commonwealth government's powers to place export restrictions on the nation'sliquified natural gas ("LNG") industry.[154] He announced that these changes were in response to the high wholesale gas prices that were a result of a shortage of gas in the domestic gas market, and that it was "unacceptable" that domestic prices were so high, indicating that a consequence of these restrictions would be a decrease in the wholesale gas price. Themultinational gas companies and the gas industry association heavily criticised the policy, saying that it would neither increase supply nor reduce the wholesale price of gas.[155]
Prior to Turnbull becoming prime minister, the parliamentary Liberal Party voted to resolve the issue of same-sex marriage by putting the question to Australian voters via aplebiscite.[156] Enabling legislation was rejected twice by the Senate,[157][158] and so the government decided to adopt apostal plebiscite option, which involved theAustralian Bureau of Statistics conducting a nationwide survey asking voters whether they would like to see a change in the definition of marriage.[159] Sending out of ballots began on 12 September 2017, as attempts to prevent the survey through a High Court challenge failed. The survey ended 7 November 2017 and results released 15 November the same year. It returned with a total of 7,817,247 (61.6%) "Yes" responses and 4,873,987 (38.4%) "No" responses.[160]
Following the vote, after four days of debates regarding amendments which included proposals to increase religious protections to refuse services to same-sex couples, on 7 December 2017 same-sex marriage was legalised through a parliamentary vote by the House of Representatives; Turnbull himself voted "Yes".[161][162] The first same-sex marriages in Australia occurred as a result of the law change from 9 January 2018.[163]
Members of Turnbull's government were among those embroiled in the parliamentary eligibility crisis that arose in 2017, which disqualified several parliamentarians who held dual citizenship in accordance withsubsection 44(i) of the Australian Constitution.[164][165] Three Cabinet members were among the "Citizenship Seven" whose cases were heard in theHigh Court of Australia: the leader and deputy leader of theco-governingNational Party, Deputy Prime MinisterBarnaby Joyce, SenatorFiona Nash, and Resources MinisterMatt Canavan, who resigned from Cabinet after discovering his potential dual citizenship.[166][167] The High Courtruled that Canavan was eligible, but disqualified dual citizens Joyce and Nash from Parliament.[168][169][170][171]
The Turnbull government temporarily lost its one-seat majority in the House of Representatives after Joyce's disqualification and the resignation of Liberal Party MPJohn Alexander, who also held dual citizenship. However, in December 2017 both Joyce and Alexander, having renounced their foreign citizenships, contested and wonby-elections in their former seats ofNew England andBennelong respectively, thereby retaining Turnbull's governing majority in the House of Representatives.[172]
On 21 August 2018, Turnbull survived a challenge to his leadership of the Liberal Party by Home Affairs MinisterPeter Dutton, winning by 48 votes to 35.[173][174] Thespill highlighted ideological tensions within the Liberal Party, between themoderate wing led by Turnbull and the conservative wing represented by Dutton and Tony Abbott. From 21 to 23 August, tensions mounted and Dutton announced that he would seek a second spill. Turnbull responded that, pending a report from theSolicitor-General of Australia on the eligibility of Dutton to serve in Parliament and the receipt of a petition calling for a party room meeting that bore the signatures of at least half (43) of the parliamentary party, he would call such a meeting, vacate the leadership (regarding the petition as a vote of no confidence) and not stand in the subsequent leadership election. On the morning of 24 August, the Solicitor-General advised that Peter Dutton was "not ineligible" to serve. Later that morning, Dutton presented to Turnbull a document calling for a party room meeting that contained the minimum 43 signatures.[175]A party meeting was then called and the leadership was spilled, withScott Morrison elected as Turnbull's successor by 45 votes over Dutton with 40. In his final press conference as prime minister, Turnbull denounced Dutton and Abbott as "wreckers".[176]
On 27 August Turnbull announced that he would resign from Parliament over the coming days. On 31 August 2018 he tendered a formal notice of resignation to theSpeaker of the House of Representatives.[5]
Coming from themoderate faction of theLiberal Party, Turnbull has been described as being pragmatic and holding acentrist ideology,[177] withprogressive[178] andsocially liberal views.[179][180][181] An acolyte of formerPrime MinistersAlfred Deakin[182] andRobert Menzies,[183][177] Turnbull said in a 2017 speech: "In 1944 Menzies went to great pains not to call his new political party, consolidating the centre right of Australian politics, "conservative" – but rather the Liberal Party, which he firmly anchored in the centre of Australian politics." Later he added: "The sensible centre, to use my predecessor Tony Abbott's phrase, was the place to be and it remains the place to be now."[183] Since the end of his political career, he has been highly critical of the Liberal Party's perceived shift to more overt right-wing politics.[184][185]
Life after politics
On 1 June 2019, Turnbull returned to the private sector as a senior advisor to major global private equity firmKKR.[186] Turnbull returned to Australia in December 2019 and appeared on the final episode ofQ&A hosted by Tony Jones on 9 December 2019.
Turnbull publicly criticised theMorrison government for not taking strong enough action on climate change, arguing that they should readopt hisNational Energy Guarantee (NEG) policy. In a piece inThe Guardian, he stated that, "Scott Morrison can't afford to waste the bushfire crisis when Australia urgently needs its ownGreen New Deal...There are simply no more excuses. We cannot allow political prejudice and vested interests to hold us up any longer. If ever there was a crisis not to waste, it is this one. Morrison has the chance now to reinstate the NEG with higher targets. Both he and Josh Frydenberg were among its strongest supporters when I was PM. They abandoned it in the lead-up to an election, to pacify the right wing of the Coalition that sabotaged it in the first place."[187]
On 25 October 2020, Turnbull gave his support to former Australian prime ministerKevin Rudd's petition for a "Royal Commission to ensure a strong, diverse Australian news media" with the goal of investigatingRupert Murdoch's control over Australian news media, tweeting that he had signed it and encouraging others to follow suit.[188][189] The petition became the most signed parliamentary e-petition in Australia, with more than 500,000 signatures.[190] The petition was tabled in the House of Representatives byLabor MPAndrew Leigh on 9 November 2020.[191]
In 2023, Turnbull gave a speech at the Centre for Asia Pacific Resilience and Innovation, at the organisation's annual forum inTaipei, Taiwan. In the speech, he stated that Taiwan was under a greater threat from local actors who spread lies than external forces, seemingly hinting at recent issues involving China.[194]
Turnbull and Lucy have two adult children, Alex and Daisy, and as of July 2016[update], three grandchildren.[196][197] Alex Turnbull is married to Yvonne Wang, who is of Chinese descent.[198][199]
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 deposedGovernorWilliam Bligh at the time of theRum Rebellion.[200]
In 2008, Turnbull became the first Liberal leader to have admitted to smokingcannabis.[201]
In 2005, the combined net worth of Malcolm and Lucy Turnbull was estimated atA$133 million,[211] making him Australia's richest parliamentarian[212] until the election of billionaireClive Palmer in the 2013 election.[213][214]
Turnbull made theBRW Rich 200 list for the second year running in 2010, and although he slipped from 182 to 197, his estimated net worth increased toA$186 million, and he continued to be the only sitting politician to make the list.[215] Turnbull was not listed in the 2014 list of theBRW Rich 200.[216] As of 2015, his estimated net worth is in excess ofA$200 million.[217]
Honours
On 1 January 2001, Turnbull received theCentenary Medal for services to the corporate sector.[218] In the2021 Australia Day Honours, he was awardedCompanion 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".[219]
Published works
Turnbull has written several books:
Turnbull, Malcolm (1988).The Spycatcher Trial. William Heinemann Australia.ISBN978-0-85561-239-9.
Turnbull, Malcolm (1993).The Reluctant Republic. William Heinemann Australia.ISBN978-0-85561-372-3.
Turnbull, Malcolm (1999).Fighting for the Republic: The Ultimate Insider's Account. Hardie Grant.ISBN978-1-86498-107-0.
^abNolan, Melanie (2021) [2015]."Lansbury, Coral Magnolia (1929–1991)".Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography,Australian National University.Archived from the original on 4 September 2015. Retrieved15 September 2015.Lansbury was to marry three times. Her first marriage, on 20 February 1953 at the registrar general's office, Sydney, was to the sixty-four-year-old veteran actor and producer George Harold Edwards; it was his fourth. He contracted pneumonia and was hospitalised two days after the wedding; six months later he died. Lansbury's son, Malcolm Turnbull, was born in October 1954; she married his father, Bruce Bligh Turnbull, electrician and later a travelling salesman, on 29 December 1955 at Campbell Street Presbyterian Church, Balmain. Malcolm was sent as a boarder to Sydney Grammar School in 1963, and Bruce took care of him when Lansbury left the marriage soon after. She married John (Jock) Salmon after their respective divorces.
^"Biography". Malcolm Turnbull MP.Archived from the original on 14 January 2014. Retrieved29 December 2013.
^ab"Panellist: Malcolm Turnbull".Q&A. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 20 December 2018.Archived from the original on 2 January 2014. Retrieved29 December 2013.
^Bryant, Nick (22 June 2023)."The prime minister factory: How a UK uni is shaping Australian life".The Sydney Morning Herald.Archived from the original on 26 August 2023. Retrieved26 August 2023.As a law student at Oxford in the late 1970s, Malcolm Turnbull befriended the future Conservative prime minister Theresa May. Indeed, she credits Turnbull for nudging her husband, Philip, another Oxford contemporary, into proposing.
^"Turnbull's turn".The Economist. Sydney. 19 September 2015. Archived fromthe original on 18 July 2022.In the late 1970s Mr Turnbull was a Rhodes scholar at Oxford, where a don wrote of him that he was "always going to enter life's rooms without knocking". Back in Australia he made his name as a lawyer and a fortune as a banker and IT entrepreneur.
^Silmalis, Linda (28 February 2009). Malcolm Turnbull linked to mass logging operation in Solomon Islands,The Sunday Telegraph. Reposted from the original, 2 March 2009:Malum Nalu – Happenings in Papua New GuineaArchived 14 December 2020 at theWayback Machine Retrieved 27 December 2020.
^Colley, Andrew (28 March 2012)."OzEmail trio presses delete on 18-year association".After listing on the NASDAQ in 1996 with Turnbull's help, OzEmail purchased a 50 per cent stake in web hosting company, WebCentral. Three years later, the trio split $240m between them when MCI Worldcom bought OzEmail for $520m (Howard walked away with $120m, and Turnbull and Kennedy took $60m each). News Corp. The Australian.Archived from the original on 29 March 2012. Retrieved31 May 2016.
^Turnbull, Malcolm (9 July 2012)."Artistic Politics"(transcript).Q&A (television panel interview). Interviewed byVirginia Trioli. Australia:ABC TV.Archived from the original on 26 February 2015. Retrieved26 December 2014.
^Misha Schubert; Jewel Topsfield (15 February 2006)."Cardinal Pell enters RU486 debate".The Sydney Morning Herald.Archived from the original on 18 October 2015. Retrieved15 September 2015.
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McCaffrie, Brendan. "Trust Me, I'm the Prime Minister: Prime Ministerial Statecraft under Malcolm Turnbull and Scott Morrison." inFrom Turnbull to Morrison: The Trust Divide (Melbourne University Press, 2019) pp . 354-369.
McDougall, Derek. "From Malcolm Turnbull to ScoMo: crisis for the centre-right in Australia."The Round Table 107.5 (2018): 557-570.
Masters, Adam B., and John Uhr. "Malcolm Turnbull: From Hope to Disappointment." inLeadership Performance and Rhetoric (Palgrave Macmillan, Cham, 2017) pp. 119-134.
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