Malcolm Turnbull
Prime Minister of Australia
Malcolm Turnbull is an Australian politician and the current Prime Minister of Australia. Let's take a look at his childhood, family, personal life, career, achievements, and some fun facts. Malcolm Turnbull is an Australian politician and the current and overall the 29th Prime Minister of Australia. He is the leader of Liberal Party of Australia. A multi-talented personality, Turnbull studied Arts and Laws in college and was engaged in many different professions before entering politics, only to slowly climb his way up to the top. He has worked as a businessman and a banker in the past, and collected a wealth worth several millions to become one of the richest people in Australia. In the 2004 Federal elections, he was elected to the House of Representatives for Wentworth and later became the leader of opposition. His influence and respect among his followers made it smooth for him to become the National Communications Minister under the Tony Abbott government. In September 2015, Turnbull resigned from his post as the Communications Minister and in the leadership ballot challenge, he defeated Abbott by 10 votes and became the Prime Minister. In January 2001, Malcolm was honoured with the Centenary Medal for his incredible services to the corporate sector as a businessman.
Childhood & Early Life:
Malcolm Turnbull was born in Sydney on 24th October 1954 to a hotel broker father, Bruce, and to an actor/writer mother who divorced his father when Malcolm was nine years old. The separation of his parents had a negative impact on Malcolm and around that time, he caught Asthma. His mother made a move to England and Malcolm had to stay with his father back in Australia. Malcolm was an excellent student while in school and his teachers described him as one of the most ‘gifted’ kids they had ever come across. Malcolm excelled in English and history. However, he was more interested in the very recent history and read a lot about World Wars and the constantly shifting political scenario around the world in those years and right around his high school years, he made up his mind to study art. Malcolm attended the University of Sydney and did his Bachelors in Art, then did major in political science. His first tryst with politics happened in college when he became board director of the students union. He also did political journalism for publications such as Nation Review and covered the local political scenario for them. In 1978, Malcolm attended Brasenose College, Oxford, on
a scholarship and studied Civil Law, finishing a bachelor’s degree in 1980. During his college, he started working with ‘The Sunday Times’ and also contributed to magazines and newspapers in the US and Australia. He was an inspiring figure to other students and a hard working young man, constantly challenging the norms. Anyone could tell that he was destined to achieve great success in later life, which he certainly did.
Initial Career:
In the early 80s, after his studies, Malcolm Turnbull headed back to Australia and immediately started practicing law. His journalistic past proved to be a key point in his success as a lawyer and he rose to a fair amount of national fame when he successfully defended Peter Wright in the ‘Spycatcher Trial’, where he was pitted against the British government. In 1987, Turnbull deviated from practising law and embarked into an investment banking business with establishing Whitlam Turnbull and Co. along with Nicholas Whitlam, a former State Bank of south Wales’s chief executive. The company turned out to be profitable for both but eventually, trouble started brewing between the two, leading the two go separate ways 3 years later when Whitlam left, and the company was renamed as Turnbull and Partners Ltd. Malcolm then focused his attention on other companies such as FTR Holdings and Star Technology Systems, making huge money and he also kept earning fame among the Australians for taking Australian tech companies to a world stage. In 1994, Turnbull made the best investment of his business career and bought a stake in the famed internet service provider company ‘Ozemail’ for half a million dollars and sold his stakes for a whopping 57 Millions in 1999. His company ‘FTR Holdings’ bought a number of internet companies in the same year. Malcolm could see the internet revolution and he made some really good financial choices and took key positions in WebCentral and Chaos.com.
Political Career:
Malcolm’s first political aspiration came in 1981 with a quest to get the Parliament seat for Wentworth, but he ended up losing it to Peter Coleman. A few more failed attempts later, Malcolm started concentrating on his business and law career. But in 1993, he was appointed as Republic Advisory Committee’s chairman by Paul Keating and for the following seven years, Malcolm remained the chairman of the Australian Republican movement. Turnbull retired in 2000 from the post and in 2004, he joined the Australian National Flag Association. Malcolm had an inclination towards the Liberal Party of Australia since the very beginning and had aspirations to run for the parliament seat, which he had lost twice in the past. He wanted to try again against Peter King, but he was aware of the general support Peter had and despite that, he fought him and ended up beating him in 2004 elections. Amidst the accusation of branch stacking, Malcolm ended up spending more than half a million Australian dollars for his campaign. At the height of Australian 2000s draught, the then Prime Minister John Howard promoted Malcolm and made him a parliament secretary, a position which allowed him to report directly to the PM. Sometime later, Howard offered him the post of Minister of Environment and Water, which Malcolm gladly accepted. In December 2007, Malcolm held the position in the government as Shadow Treasurer and later, his colleagues elected him as the leader of the opposition Liberal party in 2008, a position which Malcolm accepted and held until December 2009. For the leadership of the Liberal party, Malcolm challenged Abbott and claimed that he doesn’t understand the economic leadership concept and that in order to stand tall the Liberal party required a leader who cared about the general public’s intelligence. At the Liberal Leadership Ballot in 2015, Malcolm became the leader of the party after defeating Abbott by 54 votes. And on 15th September 2015, Malcolm became the 29th Prime Minister of Australia. At the 2016 federal elections, he officially became the Prime Minister.
Personal Life:
Malcolm Turnbull is married to businesswoman and politician, Lucy Turnbull, who has served as the mayor of Sydney. The couple got married in 1980 while Malcolm was studying in the Oxford University and the couple currently lives in the suburbs of Sydney. The couple has two children, Alex and Daisy, and two grandchildren. Despite his huge success, Malcolm is infamous among his colleagues for being too over expressive and loud. He doesn’t adhere to the common path and has this conviction to move left while the rest of party wants to move right. He is also known to be an eccentric man, and he received a lot of flak for publicly condemning Abbott’s climate change plan with the use of abrasive language.