Malcolm Turnbull

Malcolm Bligh Turnbull is a former Liberal prime minister, born in Sydney in 1954. A Rhodes Scholar, he worked as a journalist, barrister, merchant banker and venture capitalist, and chaired the Australian Republican Movement in the 1999 referendum. He won the seat of Wentworth in 2004 and led the Liberals in opposition from 2008 until 2009, when his support for an emissions trading scheme cost him the leadership. He returned by defeating Tony Abbott in 2015 and narrowly won the 2016 election. His party replaced him with Scott Morrison in 2018 and he left parliament.

Supporters credit Turnbull with legalising same-sex marriage after the 2017 postal survey, the Snowy Hydro 2.0 pumped hydro project, an innovation agenda and a string of trade agreements. Critics on the right argued that he was too progressive for the Liberal base, while critics on the left said he compromised on climate policy to keep his party together, and that his fibre-to-the-node broadband plan relied on old copper lines. His government was also hit by the 2017 dual citizenship crisis. His final attempt at an energy policy, the National Energy Guarantee, was rejected by his party room and triggered the challenge that ended his prime ministership.